Border Terrier

Terriers

Small

Median 14.2 y

FCI group 3 · Terriers · Derived from the adult weight midpoint (10.1 kg)

Median survival across 11,814 UK dogs (VetCompass, McMillan 2024) · half live 11–16 y

The Border Terrier is a British breed of small, rough-coated terrier. It originates from the area of the Anglo-Scottish border, and shares ancestry with the Dandie Dinmont Terrier and the Bedlington Terrier from the same area. The dogs were traditionally used in fox-hunting, and worked with the Border Hunt in Northumberland.

Affectionate

Plucky

Happy

Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · reference ranges from the Kintail breed dataset

Adult weight

Reference

Male

9.6–12.3 kg

Female

8.2–10.3 kg

Typical of real dogs — VetCompass UK, n=1,161, middle 50%

Weight for age

Stock data

Male

Female

Expected range

Expected range from the breed's own adult weight, kilograms. Growth reference: Salt et al. 2017, WALTHAM (9–15 kg band).

Heat cycles · females

Stock data

First heat

8–12 mo

typical

Interval

180 d

typical

Bleeding

~9 d

typical

Proestrus 9d

Estrus 9d

Diestrus 52d

Anestrus 110d

General figures for dogs, not for this breed — individual cycles vary widely.

Questions people ask

Adult males usually weigh 9.6–12.3 kg and females 8.2–10.3 kg. Most are close to their full size by around 18 months, though the last little bit of filling out takes longer. Growth reference: Salt et al. 2017, WALTHAM (9–15 kg band).

No Border Terrier cycle figures are published here yet, so this is general guidance rather than a breed number: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later.

The median is 14.2 y. Median survival across 11,814 UK dogs (VetCompass, McMillan 2024) · half live 11–16 y. How the later years go comes down to weight, teeth, exercise and regular check-ups far more than to the breed.