My Rat Terriers

A Rat Terrier? Registered?? I had never heard of a Rat Terrier and certainly not any such dog that was recognized by a national registry (such as the United Kennel Club/UKC or the American Kennel Club/AKC). But my son and his girlfriend assured me that Winston was a true Rat Terrier and that there was indeed such a kind of dog. We had agreed to our son and his girlfriend coming to stay at the house during their transition from living in New Hampshire to living in Northern Virginia. What we hadn’t known at the time was that Winston was part of the deal. In fact, we didn’t know there was a Winston. My son, I think knowing I loved all kinds of dogs, assured me that Winston would not be a problem (considering I have a home office and see clients throughout the week, necessitating a relatively quiet environment). We agreed to a trial period of 2 weeks.

In two days it was settled … Winston could stay. We still had one Lab – Sam, our older Lab (Effie) having passed a couple years previously. Winston got along fine with Sam, snuggled like a cat, but could be fierce like a dog when chasing squirrels and other small rodent creatures. I can’t lay my hands on an earlier picture of Winston but here’s one of him a little over two years ago with our first granddaughter.

Well, time as always marched on. Our last Lab passed, my son and soon-to-be fiance moved out and we were dogless … (for all of two weeks!) … before I began the search for a Rat Terrier breeder within driving distance of our home. It was time to downsize to a smaller dog and I had discovered the perfect breed.