Talk:Rat Terrier

Photo of Ears

I noticed all photos of the Rat Terriers on this page have tipped ears. In my experience working with rat terriers, this is less common than the upright variety...

As such I inserted a photo of a rat terrier with upright ears.--Macboots 17:56, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

My rat terrier had tipped years when he was a puppy, but as years passed, his ears became upright. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RosyM (talk • contribs) 05:27, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

In my experience with multiple Rat Terriers, the ears will always be tipped in puppies. If they're going to stand up, they probably will be upright by the time the dog is 4 or 5 months old. White Arabian Filly ^Neigh 20:56, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

Health - Longevity

The health section states that

The average lifespan of a Rat Terrier is 18–23 years old.

There is no reference for this assertion and the numbers seem very high. Compared to other listings of average life span the numbers are high; most estimates range from 11 to 18. In no case have I seen anything over 18 years.

This website says life expectancy is 17-18 years: http://www.newrattitude.org/adoptasenior.htm

This website says it is 11-14 years: http://www.caninecrib.com/dog/breeds/rat-terrier/

This website says 12-18 years: http://www.vetstreet.com/dogs/rat-terrier

This website says 15-18 years: http://www.purebredpups.org/breed_info/159/rat_terrier.aspx

WebMD lists the lifespans for 20 breeds of dogs (from the World Atlas of Dog Breeds) and none exceed 15 years: http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/features/dogs-and-life-span-which-breeds-live-longest?page=2

Poodles are considered among the most long-lived dogs where 17 "is not unusual" - from a quote of "Mark Stickney, DVM, director of General Surgery Services at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences" on the first page of the WebMD article.

There's a website that lists dog longevity data: Dog Longevity, Created by Dr. Kelly M. Cassidy, 2007. This site looks at both Vet school studies and surveys. While the site doesn't have specific data for Rat Terriers, its data on "Traditional Terriers" indicates that the longest lived terrier breeds live to 14 years. http://users.pullman.com/lostriver/breeddata.htm#Terrier_Traditional

Only 5 breeds live to the 14 to 15 year old range and these are all miniature breeds. http://users.pullman.com/lostriver/weight_and_lifespan.htm

I would replace this sentence with one that says "the life expectancy for Rat Terriers is about 14-15 years but that estimates range from as low as 11 to as high as 18" and I would cite some of these sources. Or, simply say "the life expectancy estimates for Rat Terriers range from as low as 11 to as high as 18."Ileanadu (talk) 19:38, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

From my own experience with RT Standards over the last 35+ years I've found they tend to live a bit on the long side. The shortest lifespan of my dogs was a 16 year, 3 month old female and a 15 year, 5 month old male. The longest lifespan was an 18 year, 1 month old female and a 17 year, 7 month old male. The average lifespan for my females was 16.91 years and the males averaged 16.47 years. I know this is drawing on a limited number of individuals (4 Females / 3 Males) but they seem to easily make it to their 15th year. The current quoted lifespan of 16-19 years is better but needs refined. Averages are supposed to be averages not overall ranges encompassing every possibility. Based on my experience I would quote the average lifespan for a well-bred UKC/AKC/NRTA registered Rat Terrier Standard to be 15-17 years for 80%+ of individuals with a small minority (less than 20%) either falling a little short of average or making it a bit beyond. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RobertEHayesIII (talk • contribs) 19:24, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

2,501 rats in seven hours

Hello DragonflySixtyseven, given the source does not specifically state this incident involved a Rat Terrier, and actually implies it occurred in England, I would support the removal of this paragraph entirely from the article (it has been removed previously [1]). What are your thoughts? Kind regards, Cavalryman (talk) 04:40, 12 July 2021 (UTC).

Given that there's a published source making this statement - and I'd be fascinated to know what source they cite, and whether that's actually the number provided - I think that if we remove it entirely, someone will eventually put it back in. We could comment it out, or leave it attributed? DS (talk) 05:28, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

You’re right, perhaps we just leave it. Although instead of “One source claims”, I think we should say “It has been claimed”, we don’t know if it is only one source. Cavalryman (talk) 11:25, 12 July 2021 (UTC).

"It has been claimed" is much too passive a phrasing. We know that one source claims it; if other sources are found to repeat this assertion (although we'd have to be very careful of citogenesis), the text can be updated DS (talk) 15:19, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Per archive.org: the 1989 edition of Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World had the "2,501 rats" claim; however, although Atlas listed its sources in an extensive multi-page bibliography, it did not even specify which source supported which article, much less which statement.

Archive only has the first volume of the 1993 edition; the entry on rat terriers is in volume 2, as is the bibliography (and I won't be surprised if that edition's bibliography is similarly unhelpful). DS (talk) 15:40, 13 October 2022 (UTC)