Norwich Terrier

Affectionate and fearless, with a strong urge to dig.
A Norwich Terrier
Photo: Svenska Mässan from Sweden
Adult weight
4.9–6 kg
11–13 lb
Lifespan
14 yrs
Class · Companion
also Family

What it's like

The Norwich is affectionate, lively and fearless, with a strong urge to hunt and dig. It often worked in company with other dogs, and many get on well with them. It remains self-assured and quick to give chase.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Friendly with everyone
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
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 Norwich Terrier right for you?
Take the breed matcher

Living with one

It has a wire or harsh coat. Loose hair stays caught in the coat until it is brushed, stripped or clipped out. Plan on a brush once a week, plus hand-stripping two or three times a year. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Norwich Terrier is a small dog, about the weight of a grown Jack Russell. It is one of the lightest small breeds. Its weight is an estimate, not a published figure.

It is a short-legged, compact dog with a sturdy body, a slightly foxy expression, dark eyes and medium-sized, upright, pointed ears. The hard, wiry coat lies close and straight. It is thicker around the neck and shoulders, where it almost forms a ruff, and comes in red, wheaten, black and tan or grizzle.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 3 months, a male Norwich Terrier puppy is already as heavy as a grown Chihuahua. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
02462m4m6m9m12m18m
02462m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.6–1.9 kg 3.5–4.2 lb
1.7–2.1 kg 3.7–4.6 lb
3 months
2.0–2.4 kg 4.4–5.3 lb
2.1–2.6 kg 4.6–5.7 lb
4 months
2.6–3.2 kg 5.7–7.1 lb
2.7–3.3 kg 6.0–7.3 lb
5 months
3.1–3.8 kg 6.8–8.4 lb
3.1–3.8 kg 6.8–8.4 lb
6 months
3.5–4.2 kg 7.7–9.3 lb
3.4–4.2 kg 7.5–9.3 lb
7 months
3.8–4.6 kg 8.4–10.1 lb
3.7–4.5 kg 8.2–9.9 lb
8 months
4.0–4.9 kg 8.8–10.8 lb
3.9–4.8 kg 8.6–10.6 lb
9 months
4.1–5.1 kg 9.0–11.2 lb
4.0–4.9 kg 8.8–10.8 lb
10 months
4.3–5.2 kg 9.5–11.5 lb
4.2–5.1 kg 9.3–11.2 lb
11 months
4.4–5.3 kg 9.7–11.7 lb
4.3–5.2 kg 9.5–11.5 lb
12 months
4.4–5.4 kg 9.7–11.9 lb
4.4–5.3 kg 9.7–11.7 lb
15 months
4.7–5.7 kg 10.4–12.6 lb
4.6–5.6 kg 10.1–12.3 lb
18 months
4.8–5.9 kg 10.6–13.0 lb
4.8–5.9 kg 10.6–13.0 lb

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Norwich Terrier lived to about 14 years, longer than the typical small breed. The group was small, so treat the figure as rough.

Where it comes from

The Norwich Terrier comes from East Anglia, where its forerunners were general farm dogs in the early and mid-1800s, and Glen of Imaal, red Cairn and Dandie Dinmont blood are among the strains behind it. The Kennel Club recognised it in 1932 with prick or drop ears, and in 1964 the drop-eared dogs became a separate breed, the Norfolk Terrier4,8.

The Norwich Terrier took its modern shape in the late nineteenth century, when small red terriers became fashionable among Cambridge undergraduates. Students reportedly kept them in their college rooms, and the dogs became known as Cantab or Trumpington Terriers. A horse dealer named Frank Jones bred and sold many of them, and the dogs he sent to America early in the twentieth century were long known there as Jones Terriers. The American Kennel Club kept prick and drop ears together in one breed until the late nineteen-seventies. The breed was kept to kill rats and other vermin and to bolt foxes from their earths, often working alongside hounds.

Breed standard

The Norwich Terrier is judged against standard no. 72, in group 3, Terriers4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Norwich 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 small breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Cairn Terrier
Terriers · Small
West Highland White Terrier
Terriers · Small
Yorkshire Terrier
Terriers · Small
Jack Russell Terrier
Terriers · Small
Or compare the Norwich Terrier with any breed you choose
Track your own Norwich 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 ·