HISTORy OF THe MANCHESTER TERRIER by ROd HeRNeR
T he origin of the Manchester Terrier can be traced back to the Black & Tan Terrier, a breed that was mentioned in a 1570 manuscript of Dr. Caius, which was the first written account of dogs of England. The first time a full chapter was devoted to the Black and Tan Terrier as an established breed was published in the early 1800s. In the Stonehenge Book, The Dog In Health and Dis- ease , J. A. Walsh describes the breed as smooth haired with a long tapering nose; narrow, flat skull; eyes small and bright; chest rather deep than wide and the only true color as black and tan. This description serves today’s standard of perfection quite well. Early in the 1800s, poor sanitation policies in English cities resulted in the emergence of hordes of rats and other vermin, creating a great menace to health. As the need to control these pests ensued, the sport of rat killing contests became one of the most popu- lar sports of the day. Dogs were placed in a public pit, which was filled with rats. The dog that killed the most rats in a given time was declared the winner. A star in the sport named “Billy”, a dog with decided Manchester Terrier char- acteristics, was reported to have killed as many as 100 rats in 12 minutes. His feats in the rat pit gave impetus to the game and consequently to the breeding of swifter moving, rat-killing Terriers. John Hulme, of the Manchester Dis- trict in Lancashire, was a very enthusi- astic devotee to the sports of rat killing and rabbit coursing. He mapped out a breeding program, including the infu- sion of Whippet blood, which would add greater speed and keener sight to the stolid English Terrier, while pre- serving his alertness, gameness and endurance. This resulted in a breed
Ch. Renreh Girl Friday. Bred, owned and handled by Rod Herner.
Ch. Renreh Loreli of Charmaron; Multi BIS Winner and Westminster KC Toy Group Winner. Owned by C.A.T. and Mari-Beth O’Neill; bred by Rod Herner.
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