Scottish Terrier breed guide

The Scottish Terrier's working style has been called efficient and businesslike and aloofness toward strangers makes it an excellent watchdog. Scottish Terriers do best with training sessions of 15 minutes or less.

Be creative, since the breed is a thinker and stops responding when bored and remember that farmers kept the dogs who could figure things out.

Scottish Terriers live 12 years. The Scottish Terrier Club of America provides excellent health information on its website and a good breeder will discuss what they have encountered in their lines.

Research supported by the club helps breeders identify health conditions and make better breeding decisions.

Scottish Terriers need regularly scheduled grooming. They are dual-coated with a harsh, wiry outer layer and a dense, soft undercoat and are ideally hand stripped, which should start when they are young so they get used to it, about once a month once the coat has started.

Scottish Terriers need a good walk and good playtime. They expend energy in bursts. Throwing a ball or toy to chase works well and a game of tug shows why they are called Diehards, since they will not let go until you do.

Developed to hunt rats, foxes and badgers on the craggy Scottish Highlands, the Scottish Terrier is thought to be the oldest of the Highland terriers and one authority calls it the oldest variety of the canine race native to Britain.

Dog folks spent much of the 1800s arguing over what was a Scottish Terrier and what was a terrier that happened to be Scottish and despite humble farm-dog origins the Scottish Terrier had friends in high places.