American Canine Association

Breeds

Norfolk Terrier


History

Originating hundreds of years ago, it is unknown for certain which bloodlines make up this small, feisty breed. What we do know for a fact is that this breed was developed in England at one point, and was used to hunt small animals and vermin for both farmers and hunters. This breed was taught to sniff out, find and chase this prey, but never kill.

Appearance

The Norfolk Terrier is with those of the smallest terrier types, with males and females measuring up to 10 inches in height and weighing a maximum of 12 pounds in weight. This small breed has a slightly rounded head forming into a short, rectangular muzzle. Their two round, medium sized eyes are available in a light hazel to black in color. Their two small ears are triangular in shape and generally folded alongside of their face, or folded directly forward. This breed is built low to the ground, stocky and rectangular in shape. Their tail is generally cropped to 3 inches long, standing firmly upwards. Their single layer, wired hair coat is medium in length and available in red, wheat, tan, black and tan, grizzle with or without spots and in some occasions, white spots.

Temperament

The Norfolk Terrier is a small breed dog with a big personality. This breed is brave, outgoing, active, friendly, loyal and always ready to learn something new. This breed is a wonderful choice to add to any family, including growing ones! Great with children of all ages, with proper socialization at an early age, this breed will be both entertaining and loving towards them. The Norfolk Terrier is fine living with cats and dogs, but due to their natural instincts, they shouldn't be in a home with small non-canine pets. This breed does have a habit of digging holes outside and searching for small vermin, however with proper mental and physical exercise, these certain habits will be little to none. This breed is still a Terrier breed, so they require a firm and confident owner who is able to set clear rules and boundaries to follow daily.

Grooming

This breed requires daily brushing and bathing when needed. This breed does shed. We recommend professional grooming at least once every 6 months.

Special Notes

Please fully educate yourself about the Norfolk Terrier prior to adding one to your home to ensure you are able to provide proper physical and financial care to your new family member, life long. This breed is prone to back issues and eye issues. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

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