Yes, your eyes are seeing spots, Merle pattern spots to be exact. I do not know where my Toy Rat Terrier interest will go, but I will share with you my experience.
Sara, our first Toy Rat Terrier
And so the madness begins! I'm pretty excited about my exotic beauty. OK, I'm obsessed. Thank you Doreen Lester of Microratz in Gilbert, AZ for giving us the opportunity to learn a new rattitude!
Basically my obsession for merle came from being owned by a Harlequin Great Dane named Fancy who also had a merle patch on her shoulder. Age takes many Danes early and I lost her in 2008 to the rainbow bridge. When Fancy was gone, I decided I wanted a Merle something again someday. For my eyes, the Merle pattern is stunning to behold. This time I wanted a breed that would be able to play and interact with my MinPins and TFTs safely.
I kept running into the Toy Rat Terrier. Finally something merle and small enough in size and tough/big enough in big breed attitude to play with our show dogs.
The Rat Terrier was initially a Universal Kennel Club International UKCI (est 1938) registered breed and it still is the largest registrar of pure bred Rat Terriers today. The UKCI has a specific designation for Toy and also registers Merles. The UKCI registers them as pure bred and has a written standard, but being as the registry is not a conformation registry there are no judged shows to grade the breed for perfection.
In 1999, the Toy Rat is now a size considered a Miniature Rat Terrier (any Rat Terrier less than 13") in UKC. Finally a competition registry where the breed can be officially judged, but the UKC’s ARTA club no longer accepted the registration of Merle. Why didn’t the Merle fanciers join the club to promote their dogs when there was obviously a following for up to 19 years prior to the UKC’s acceptance of the breed?
In 2010 the Toy Rat (a size less than 10") is not recognized at all in AKC. Ok, first Merle didn’t have a following with the UKC club members, so now where did the Toy fanciers go when the AKC’s RTCA club formed? I began my research to investigate the reasoning behind the Toy and Merle DQs to see if there were valid reasons/arguments to support the omissions.
Merle is said to have been introduced in the 1980s and accepted by the UKCI (the only registrar of the breed at that time) as a pure bred Rat Terriers. The breed did not have a closed stud book or an official club of breeders. Crosses with other breeds would have still been common until 1999 when a stud book, standard and club were accepted by the UKC and the ARTA. By that time, Rat Terrier breeders had been breeding Merle pattern Rat Terriers for a minimum of 9 to 19 years. Merle can be as safely bred as piebald. Most Merles of any breed are Piebald. Piebald patterning is well known for its risks in causing deafness and blindness. According to the standard the Rat Terrier MUST be piebald, so obviously educated breeding of a gene with risks can be done or there would be no Rat Terrier than can see or hear. Merle can be bred just as responsibly by breeders who study coat color inheritance as well as eye and ear health.
I was surprised that the Toy Rat Terrier was not recognized by the AKC’s RTCA. When I was a kid in the 1970s and 80s, the only examples of Rat Terriers I knew were TOY Rat Terriers. I had never seen a Rat Terrier larger than a MinPin until I attended a UKC dog show in 2007. Obviously the farmers, breeders and owners in central/eastern Virginia fancied the Toy Rats for at least 30 years. Could it be that the Toy Rat fanciers weren’t saavy enough to join & promote their version of the breed when the RTCA and standard were being formed?
I want the Toy Rat Terrier that I knew as a kid. I do not understand the Toys being as magically omitted from the AKC just as Merle with the UKC. I love Toy Fox Terriers, but TFTs are not Toy Rats and therefore do not fill the niche. As far as Merles go, I will simply have mine CERF & BAER tested for sight & hearing and go with the facts as they present themselves. Do your own research, consult the veterinary experts personally and decide for yourself, I did. ![[Home Page]](http://www.TriDelMinPins.com/Background/ivyhome.jpg)
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