The Manchester Terrier is a hardy and long-lived breed. They are very adaptable and make an excellent and devoted companion for most people. Equally at home in the country or city, the Manchester is intelligence, versatile, and naturally clean in his habits. This has prompted breed fanciers to conclude that “As a sagacious, intelligent house pet and companion, no breed is superior to the well-bred Manchester Terrier." In America, the Manchester Terrier is considered to be one breed with two varieties: the Standard and the Toy. The Toy variety can weigh up to 12 pounds and has only naturally erect ears. The Standard variety weighs over 12 pounds but not over 22 pounds, and may have three ear types: cropped, button, or naturally erect like the Toys.
In both varieties, the only allowable color is black and tan. This accounts for the breed's original name the Black and Tan Terrier. The placement and brilliant contrast of the tan markings against the black face and the black markings against the tan legs, while occurring naturally, are essential to the dog's work as a ratter. A cornered rat will always go for its attacker's eyes to disable it; the bright tan spots around the less visible black eyes of the Manchester Terrier draw the rat to leap for the spots and miss its intended target. Following is a short history of the development of the Manchester Terrier in England and America. Knowing the origins of a breed and the purposes for which it was developed helps one to understand why the breed looks and behaves the way it does.
As with most of the Terrier breeds, the Manchester Terrier sprang from the British Isles; in his case, central England. The origins of the breed may well rest in one of the oldest of all identifiable terrier breeds: in 1570, Dr. Caius' Encyclopedia of Dogs mentions the 'Black and Tan Terrier,' though he referred to a rougher coated, shorter legged dog than we know today as the Manchester Terrier. Nevertheless, these little dogs plied their trade in the coal mines and around the ports and wharves of central and northern England even then as the indomitable vermin killers which they remain to this day.
The first time that the Black and Tan was recognized as an established breed was in the early 1800s, when J. A. Walsh devoted a chapter of his book, The Dog in Health and Disease, to the Black and Tan. Walsh's description of the breed was very close to the Manchester of today: “smooth haired, long tapering nose, narrow flat skull, eyes small and bright, chest rather deep than wide, only true color Black and Tan”.
At that time in England, urban centers were developing quickly due to the Industrial Revolution. The factories, and the jobs they offered, drew people to live in much closer proximity to each other than they had when nearly everyone was a farmer of one kind or another. Sanitation was poor. Rats soon became a health menace and rat killing became a popular sport. John Hulme, enthusiastic devotee to the sports of rat killing and rabbit coursing, crossed a Whippet to a cross-bred terrier to produce a tenacious yet streamlined animal perfectly suited to both sports. This cross proved so successful that it was repeated, resulting in the establishment of a definite type thus the modern Manchester Terrier was born.
By 1827 the breed's vermin-killing prowess was notorious. The Manchester Terrier proved he could tackle, with silent determination, an opponent twice his size. Ears were cropped to save the risk of their being torn in frequent scraps. When rat-killing became illegal in England, the Manchester was welcomed by the owners of dining halls and public houses, all of which were infested by rats. Each inn kept a few Black and Tans. When the taprooms closed, the dogs were turned loose for the night to dispatch any rats and mice unfortunate enough to wander out of the cellars looking for food.
By mid century, the Manchester district of England had evolved as the breed center for these "Ratting Terriers" and the name Manchester Terrier surfaced. By the end of the 1800's, the two sizes of Manchester Terrier in England were recognized as two different breeds. America's “Standard Manchester Terrier” was called, simply, the Manchester Terrier. The “Toy Manchester Terrier”, in England, was named the English Toy Terrier. They remain two separate breeds in England to this day.
In America, the Manchester Terrier gained quick acceptance as a recognized breed. In 1886, just two years after the American Kennel Club was organized, the first Black and Tan Terrier was registered in the stud book. The following year "Lever" (AKC #7585) became the first AKC recognized Manchester Terrier. In 1923 the Manchester Terrier Club of America was recognized as the parent club of the [Standard] Manchester Terrier. In 1934, the name “Toy Black and Tan Terrier” was changed to “Toy Manchester Terrier”, and in 1938 the American Toy Manchester Terrier Club was recognized.
As a result of the meat rationing which occurred during the second World War as well as the drafting of so many kennel owners and managers into service, many breeding kennels in both England and America were sadly disbanded. Never a breed of large numbers in America, by 1952 the Manchester Terrier Club of America (Standards) was without organized breed representation. Britain had no dogs to spare for export, as their sacrifices during the war had been even more severe than America's. Therefore, the American Kennel Club authorized that the two breeds (and the two clubs) be combined into one, with two Varieties Standard & Toy. The American Manchester Terrier Club was formed in 1958 and is the parent club which represents the breed to this day.
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