Did you know that Australian Terriers were being exhibited at dog shows in their home country even before Australia became a nation?

In 1864 at the first dog show held in Melbourne, Australia, the catalog listed 25 “Rough Coated Terriers” as they were known then. There were 15 dogs and 10 bitches over seven pounds, and another seven dogs that were under seven pounds.

That said, it was still 13 years later before the first pedigree of the breed (still known as the Rough Coated Terrier) was recorded, and two more years after that before the breed had a breed standard in 1889. Mind you, between that first Melbourne show and 1899, the breed was shown in South Australia in 1880, in Queensland in 1886, and in Sydney, New South Wales in 1899 – but each time, it was listed as the Rough Coated Terrier. It wasn’t until 1909 that the Australian Terrier Club heard from the Victorian Poultry and Kennel Club that it was now officially “okay” to use the name, Australian Terrier.”

We circle back to Melbourn because its show was specifically cited as the first time the breed was shown under the official name “Australian Terrier” though our sense is that the name was already being used three years earlier. Don’t tell anyone.