The Deutscher JagdTerrier Dog Breed

The origins of the deutscher iagd terrier dog breed are German. In fact, its name can be translated as ‘German hunting dog’. It is a typical terrier, which was created mainly for hunting, especially hunting in dens of foxes and badgers, given its small size, but given its indomitable character and not being afraid of anything even for hares and wild boars, even hunting bears.

Its story begins in the early years of the last century. In the 1920s, a female fox terrier gave birth to black-furred puppies without white spots. From here, some hunters and dog experts started crossing these cubs with various breeds. There is talk of fox, fell, patterdale, welsh - terrier or old english terrier (black and tan terrier).

According to other rumours, they also received contributions from the teckel and pinscher. In any case, it was thanks to the work of C. E. Gruenwald, R. Fiess, H. Lackner and W. Zangenbert that the breed was officially born and was recognised in 1968 by the FCI and named deutscher jagdterrier.

It is, however, a purely hunting dog, not suitable for living in a flat, and needs a lot of exercise.

Character of the deutscher jagdterrier dog breed

As already mentioned, the deutscher jagdterrier is predominantly a hunting dog. In fact, it is recognised as one of the best terriers for flushing out foxes and badgers, excellent as a retrieving dog for small game on land and water and a good bloodhound.

Its character is brave and indomitable to the extreme, fearing neither danger nor any of its fellows. He establishes a very close relationship with his master and is very loyal and receptive to him. It is difficult to handle due to its indomitable and very stubborn character, so it needs an owner who has a certain amount of wrist for its upbringing and who is familiar with the breed. It is as intelligent as it is stubborn.

It is not suitable as a first dog, nor is it suitable for elderly people or families with children.

It is an excellent guard dog, although small in size, but its courage leads it to attack if it senses danger in its territory, and it is very wary of strangers. But it is in hunting that he shows his best qualities. It is a fast dog, always on the alert and very resistant. Because of its combative character, it is extraordinarily tenacious when hunting small game; it never gives up the chase and has no fear of jumping into brambles or water, or sneaking into burrows.

With other animals, it is difficult for it to get along because its strong temperament leads it to want to establish its supremacy over other breeds, so it needs early socialisation to get along with other dogs. With cats it is very difficult because it sees them as prey.

Appearance of the deutscher jagdterrier dog breed

The deutscher jagdterrier is a small dog, the height at withers for both males and females being between 33 and 40 centimetres, the male weighing between 9 and 10 kilograms and the female between 7 and 8 kilograms.

Its proportions make it a very handsome dog, its constitution is of incredible solidity. His body has the right ratios and is well proportioned. His musculature is firm and his bones are heavy. His limbs are strong, with powerful hindquarters that give him the drive for excellent elongation. The tail is well set into a long croup, carried mostly horizontally, sometimes a little sloping, but never high. It is morphologically classified as a wolf type.

Its head is slightly flattened and a little wide in the part between the two ears, the truffle is black and small. The ears have the typical ‘v’ shape attached high on the head and falling down on the cheeks. The muzzle is strong, the lower jaw is strong, the chin is very pronounced. The eyes are dark, small and oval, the expression of this small dog is resolute.

The coat may be of two varieties, one hard-coated and one smooth-coated. In both cases it can be either short or fairly long, and is rough to the touch.

The colour is mainly black, but there are variations that may range from grey to dark brown and may be especially on the limbs, eyebrows and muzzle. On the muzzle there is usually a mask that can be either light or dark.

Health and care of the deutscher jagdterrier dog breed

The health of the deutscher jagd terrier is very good and it rarely falls ill. He can suffer from dislocation of the lens and in this case there is only surgery, where the dislocated lens will be extracted. It is a genetic disease that also gives pain. While hunting, he comes into direct contact with prey, so he may suffer some injuries.

His life expectancy is about 14 - 15 years.

It has no problems with both cold and heat, but it must have shelter to protect itself from the weather. It is a very rustic dog that requires almost no grooming, except for an occasional brushing; it should however be checked every time it returns from hunting.

As far as feeding is concerned, it is a dog that tends to eat more than is necessary and must also have several exercise sessions during the day in order to let off all its energy, which is really a lot.