The Jagdterrier (pronounced “yack-terrier”) whose name literally means “hunt terrier,” is a fierce and tenacious little dog, but today we’re going to talk about his coat.
In this breed, there are really three coat types: The smooth, the broken, and the rough coat. In the FCI breed standard, these types are called “plain” (dense), “hard” (rough), and coarse (smooth). The coat needs to have correct texture to protect this hunting dynamo in underbrush or ground holes.
The dog below has a smooth body coat, but the beard, fuzzy face, and scruffy leg indicate that Christopher Hampson’s Jagdterrier has a broken coat.
The length of a broken coat can be seen especially on the underbelly and the dog’s neck and/or withers. True rough coats tend to be more uniform in length over the body, can be quite long (an inch or more), and very scruffy, which is to say they’re utterly appealing. Elsa YeVette’s photo below shows her Jagdterrier with a broken coat:
We are beholding to Henna Rouhiainen for sharing the following photos which beautifully show side-by-side the smooth, broken, and rough coats:
Henna Rouhiainen’s photo of a smooth, broken, and rough coated Jagdterrier
On the top is a broken coat, on the bottom is a rough. Photo by Henna Rouhiainen
When we featured this breed as a Purebred of Interest on our Facebook page, we learned that in the smooth coat, there shouldn’t be trace hair on the head, face, legs or body. A rough coat is very similar to a smooth coat, but as mentioned above, there is hair on the head, face, legs or body. A broken coat shouldn’t be soft, but harshly textured. And finally, a rough coat has excess hair on the head, face, legs or body, and is longer than on a smooth or broken coat. Again, a rough coat shouldn’t be soft or wooly, but harsh as protection from the elements.
This breed is usually black and tan, but the Jagdterrier can be dark brown or grayish-black, as well. The shade of tan can vary significantly from creamy tan to rusty copper, and the tan markings are on the muzzle, eyebrows, feet, and belly.
There was a Jagdterrier breed Club of America Facebook page, but seems to be out of commission. There is also the American Hunting Terrier Association Jagdterrier Breed Club which emphases the breed’s work ethic through terrier trials. At the moment, the Jagdterrier is an FSS breed with the AKC, and we look forward to full recognition so that we might see more of these fabulous dogs.
Own a terrier? You might want one of National Purebred Dog Day’s “Terriers No Guts • No Glory” insulted ring-side tote bags to carry both dog and human treats, as well as grooming tools. Available in Forest Green, Navy Blue, and Purple. Get it here.
Image: Photo by Pleple2000 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=894293