what is the terrier breed bred for?

Answer 1

There are several varieties of Terriers. They are all bred to hunt a variety of vermin.

Edited to add- our local all-breed dog club hosts AKC Earth Dog trials twice a year.... and just had one this past weekend. My husband & I volunteer as stewards. It's amazing to watch these dogs' natural instincts take over....

Answer 2

Yeah, terrier isn't a breed. It is a breed group. And there are other terriers that weren't bred for varmint control. American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and Bull Terriers all came from bull baiting and general working dog backgrounds. Some of them are weakened forms of the original bull and terrier dogs but they still have the heritage.

Answer 3

Terrier is broken down into the meaning "to tear earth"
They were bred for getting small rodents out of holes and hidings.

Answer 4

Terrier is a GROUP,not a breed. There are 25+(I've forgotten!shame on me)breeds in that group. Go to the AKC site & read the standards.

And YES! People still use terriers for vermin control!! Not just mousing(that's for cats). Airedales are used on bear,boar,lion...all the way down to the smallest (like Norwich)used on coon,possum,'chuck,fox,etc.,etc.
It's BLAST!!

Answer 5

used to be called rat terrier, to catch the mice and what have you but now people dont like to think about those things so they just call em terrier, sounds kinda evil for such a cute dog.

Answer 6

Dogs in this group were originally bred for hunting and killing rodents and small game and today are kept primarily as companions.

Answer 7

HUnting