Kerry Blue Terrier

Playful at home, reputedly quarrelsome with other dogs.
A Kerry Blue Terrier
Photo: Eponimm
Adult male
15–18 kg
33–40 lb
Adult female
10–13 kg
22–29 lb
Lifespan
12.4 yrs
Class · Watchdog
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament the breed is lively, clever and alert. It is affectionate and playful with its own household and watchful with strangers, which suited its old role as a farm guard. It keeps the determination of a working terrier and has a reputation for being quarrelsome with other dogs.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs an experienced owner
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Likely to chase small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Kerry Blue Terrier right for you?
Take the breed matcher

Living with one

It has a wavy coat. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on brushing a few times a week. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Kerry Blue Terrier is a medium dog, about the weight of a grown Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Males end up clearly heavier than females. It is one of the lightest medium breeds.

It is a compact, muscular dog with a long head, a beard and a fringe falling over the eyes, and small folded ears. The soft, wavy coat has no undercoat and sheds little. Puppies are born black, and the coat clears to its slate-blue or blue-grey shade only as they mature.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Kerry Blue Terrier puppy is already as heavy as a grown Pug. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
051015202m4m6m9m12m18m
051015202m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
3.3–3.9 kg 7.3–8.6 lb
2.8–3.7 kg 6.2–8.2 lb
3 months
4.8–5.8 kg 10.6–12.8 lb
3.6–4.7 kg 7.9–10.4 lb
4 months
7.0–8.4 kg 15.4–18.5 lb
4.9–6.4 kg 10.8–14.1 lb
5 months
9.0–10.8 kg 19.8–23.8 lb
5.9–7.7 kg 13.0–17.0 lb
6 months
10.7–12.9 kg 23.6–28.4 lb
6.7–8.8 kg 14.8–19.4 lb
7 months
12.0–14.4 kg 26.5–31.7 lb
7.4–9.6 kg 16.3–21.2 lb
8 months
12.9–15.5 kg 28.4–34.2 lb
7.9–10.2 kg 17.4–22.5 lb
9 months
13.6–16.3 kg 30.0–35.9 lb
8.3–10.7 kg 18.3–23.6 lb
10 months
14.0–16.8 kg 30.9–37.0 lb
8.6–11.1 kg 19.0–24.5 lb
11 months
14.3–17.2 kg 31.5–37.9 lb
8.8–11.5 kg 19.4–25.4 lb
12 months
14.5–17.4 kg 32.0–38.4 lb
9.0–11.8 kg 19.8–26.0 lb
15 months
14.9–17.9 kg 32.8–39.5 lb
9.5–12.4 kg 20.9–27.3 lb
18 months
15–18 kg 33–40 lb
9.9–12.9 kg 21.8–28.4 lb

Health and lifespan

In UK lab records, mouth melanoma turns up more often in Kerry Blue Terriers than in crossbreeds: it is much more likely. It can shorten a life. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name.
  • Mouth melanoma
    Lab-confirmed cases
    Much more likely
    Impact: life-limiting
Lab-confirmed: compares dogs whose tumour samples went to a lab with dogs seen in general practice, so the figures run higher than vet-record ones.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Kerry Blue Terrier lived to about 12 and a half years, shorter than the typical medium breed.

Where it comes from

It is assumed that the Kerry Blue Terrier has been in Ireland for centuries as a ratter and farm dog, but such humble dogs left almost no written trace before 1900; the likeliest early mention, from 1847, describes a blue-grey terrier said to be common in Kerry. First shown in 1913, it caught on so fast as a kind of emblem for Irish patriots that four clubs briefly championed it4.

The Kerry Blue Terrier took its modern shape in the decades after its first appearances in the show ring. Irish shows at first required the breed to be exhibited untrimmed, in its natural coat, while British exhibitors favoured a groomed outline, and the trimmed style eventually prevailed. The Kennel Club in Britain recognised the breed in the early nineteen-twenties, and it reached America in the same decade. The Irish leader Michael Collins kept one, and the breed is sometimes described, informally, as Ireland's national dog. It was an all-purpose working terrier, used against vermin and small game, and also to herd stock and guard the farm.

Breed standard

The Kerry Blue Terrier is judged against standard no. 3, in group 3, Terriers4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Kerry Blue Terrier figure: 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, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Standard Schnauzer
Pinschers & molossoids · Medium
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
Terriers · Medium
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Terriers · Medium
Glen of Imaal Terrier
Terriers · Medium
Or compare the Kerry Blue Terrier with any breed you choose
Track your own Kerry Blue Terrier
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

Something wrong on this page?
Parts of this page were written by AI ·