Ratter (dog)

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A ratter is any dog used for catching and killing rats and similar vermin. [1] Specialized rat-catching breeds are found in many countries. A typical ratter is small to medium-sized and has a short and smooth coat, however a wide range of dog breeds and landraces may be used. [2] [1] [3] The use of ratting dogs is widely considered to be the most environmentally friendly, humane and efficient methods of exterminating rodents. [4] [2] Ratting dogs are considered more efficient than domestic cats. [1]

Contents

History

German Ratting Dog published in 1895 Rattler Beckmann.jpg
German Ratting Dog published in 1895

Ratting has existed for centuries, especially in Europe. [4] [5] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list over 20 diseases directly linked to rats, making ratting dogs popular as a way of curbing disease [4] [6] [2] Rats are associated with damage to crops and buildings. [7] [2] In Medieval times, rat-catchers were employed to curb the spread of disease. Rat-catchers who employed dogs were considerably more successful and rat-catchers with packs of ratting dogs would frequently travel from town to town. [2] [5] [3]

Many of the first documented ratters were during the mid to late 1800s in the United Kingdom. As the population in London grew, overcrowding and inadequate waste management systems caused the hygiene levels to fall and the use of rat-catchers and their ratting dogs rose in popularity. [4] [5] [8]

The Guinness Book of World Records lists as the "fastest canine rat catcher" a bull-and-terrier dog named Billy, who killed 100 rats in 5 minutes 30 seconds (average of one rat every 3.3 seconds) at an event in 1825. [9] Guinness also credits Billy with having killed 4000 rats within a 17-hour period (average of one rat every 15.3 seconds) on an unspecified occasion; [9] other sources, including the 1993 edition of Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World, credit him with killing 2501 rats within a 7-hour period (average of one rat every 10 seconds). [10] [11] [12] [13]

During World War I, ratting dogs were used to control rat populations in trenches. [2]

Plummer Terriers ratting Ratting on a farm 2015 with the Plummer terrier rat pack.jpg
Plummer Terriers ratting

The use of ratting dogs is increasing again in many areas as rats have developed an immunity to rat poisons. [14] [15] Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society (R.A.T.S.) is a New York City group founded in the 1990s [16] that conducts organized rat hunting with dogs. The group was named by founding member Richard Reynolds after Ryders Alley in Manhattan, which was once rat infested, and the trencher-fed pack assembled to hunt. [17] [18] [19] The group often hunts in Lower Manhattan locations like Theatre Alley where garbage is accessible to vermin. [20] [21]

Sport

Rat-baiting in 1873 Police records and recollections, or, Boston by daylight and gaslight - for two hundred and forty years (1873) (14780252001).jpg
Rat-baiting in 1873

Rat-baiting is a blood sport that involves releasing captured rats in an enclosed space with spectators betting on how long a dog, usually a terrier, takes to kill the rats. It is now illegal in most countries.

An earthdog trial tests the working ability and instinct of the small, often short-legged terriers or Dachshunds. Earthdog trials involve man-made tunnels that the dogs must navigate, while scenting a rat, "the quarry". The dog must follow the scent to the quarry and then "work" the quarry. Depending on the sanctioning organization, "working" means barking, scratching, staring, pawing, digging; any active behavior. The quarry is protected at all times by wooden bars across the end of the tunnel. The hunting encounter is controlled, and neither the dog nor the quarry (usually two rats) are endangered by the activity. [22] [23]

Barn Hunt is the competitive sport of finding rats hidden within hay bales. Tame rats are placed in a hard tube to prevent injury and hidden in hay bales while the dogs find them. [24]

Ratter breeds

Jerry the Celebrated Champion Ratter of Australia, c.1865 JERRY THE CELEBRATED CHAMPION RATTER OF AUSTRALIA c1865.jpg
Jerry the Celebrated Champion Ratter of Australia, c.1865

Among the many breeds used for ratting are several terriers, various pinschers and schnauzers, and the ratonero breeds of Spain. Rat-catchers will also use cross-breed dogs to catch rats. including lurchers and pointer crosses. [3]

Terriers and Feists

A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. [25] A feist is a small hunting dog crossed with a terrier, developed in the rural South by breeders for hunting small game and eliminating vermin. [26] Terrier and feists commonly used as ratters include:

Ratoneros

Ratting Dog in Basque country Arratoi-txakurra (2).jpg
Ratting Dog in Basque country

There are five regional breeds of ratonero or ratter in Spain:

Pinschers and Schnauzers

Many dogs of pinscher and schnauzer type were traditionally used to catch rats; modern breeds derived from those include:

Other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrier</span> Dog type

Terrier is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. There are five different groups of terrier, with each group having different shapes and sizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Affenpinscher</span> German breed of dog

The Affenpinscher is a German breed of small toy dog of Pinscher type. Originally developed as a mouser, the Affenpinscher is now commonly found as a companion worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miniature Schnauzer</span> Dog breed

The Miniature Schnauzer is a breed of small dog of the Schnauzer type that originated in Germany in the mid-to-late 19th century. Miniature Schnauzers may have been developed from the smallest specimens of the Standard Schnauzer, or crosses between the standard and one or more smaller breeds such as the Affenpinscher, Miniature Pinscher, and Poodles, as farmers bred a small dog that was an efficient ratting dog. They are described as "spunky" but aloof dogs, with good guarding tendencies without some guard dogs' predisposition to bite. Miniature Schnauzers are recognized in four colors internationally: solid black, black and silver, salt and pepper, and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rat Terrier</span> Dog breed

The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a background as a farm dog and hunting companion. They share much ancestry with the small hunting dogs known as feists. Common throughout family farms in the 1920s and 1930s, they are now recognized by the United (UKC) and American Kennel Clubs (AKC) and are considered a rare breed. Rat Terriers are an intelligent and active breed that can be kept both for pest control and as a family pet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Hairless Terrier</span> Dog breed

The American Hairless Terrier is a breed of companion dog from the United States that was developed from naturally hairless Rat Terriers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schnauzer</span> Dog breed type

A Schnauzer is a dog breed type that originated in Germany from the 14th to 16th centuries. The term comes from the German word for "snout" and means colloquially "moustache", or "whiskered snout", because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout. Initially it was called Wire-Haired Pinscher, while Schnauzer was adopted in 1879.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinscher</span> Dog type

The Pinscher is a group of German dog breeds, developed originally as ratters on farms or as guard dogs. In the twenty-first century they are commonly kept as companion animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rat-catcher</span> Type of professional in pest control

A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a professional form of pest control. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases, most notoriously the Black Death, and to prevent damage to food supplies. In modern developed countries, such a professional is otherwise known as a pest control operative or pest exterminator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Roosevelt Terrier</span> Dog breed

The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is a small to medium-sized American hunting terrier. It is lower-set, with shorter legs, and is more muscular with heavier bone density than the related American Rat Terrier. Much diversity exists in the history of the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier breed, and it shares a common early history with the American Rat Terrier, Fox Paulistinha, and Tenterfield Terrier. The Rat Terrier's background is said to stem from the terriers or other dogs that were brought over by early English and other working-class immigrants. Since the breed was a farm, hunting, and utility dog, little to no planned breeding was used other than breeding dogs with agreeable traits to each other to produce the desired work ethic in the dog. The Feist (dog), Bull Terrier, Smooth Fox Terrier, Manchester Terrier, Whippet, Italian Greyhound, the now extinct English White Terrier, Turnspit Dog, and Wry-legged Terrier all share in the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier's ancestry. These early ratting terriers were then most likely bred to the Beagle or Beagle crossbred dogs and other dogs. Maximizing the influences from these various breeds provides the modern Teddy Roosevelt Terrier with a keen sense of awareness and prey drive, an acute sense of smell, and a very high intellect. Although they tend to be aloof with strangers, they are devoted companion dogs with a strong desire to please and be near their owners at all times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earthdog trial</span>

An earthdog test or earthdog trial tests the working ability and instinct of the small, often short-legged terriers or Dachshunds. These dogs were bred to hunt vermin and other quarry which lived in underground dens. Earthdog den tests involve human-made tunnels that the dogs must navigate, while scenting a rat, "the quarry". The dog must follow the scent to the quarry and then "work" the quarry. Depending on the sanctioning organization, "working" means barking, scratching, staring, pawing, digging; any active behavior. The quarry is protected at all times by wooden bars across the end of the tunnel. The hunting encounter is controlled, and neither the dog nor the quarry are endangered by the activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rat-baiting</span> Blood sport

Rat-baiting is a blood sport that involves releasing captured rats in an enclosed space with spectators betting on how long a dog, usually a terrier and sometimes referred to as a ratter, takes to kill the rats. Often, two dogs competed, with the winner receiving a cash prize. It is now illegal in most countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andalusian Terrier</span> Dog breed

The Andalusian Terrier or Sherry Terrier is a Spanish breed of dog of the terrier type. Its Spanish name reflects its main occupation: hunting rats and mice hidden between barrels in the wineries of Andalusia in Spain. It was recognised as an indigenous Spanish breed in 2000 by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and by the Spanish Kennel Club, the Real Sociedad Canina de España.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feist (dog breed)</span> Dog crossbreed

A feist is a small hunting dog. This group descended from the terriers brought over to the United States by British miners and other immigrants. These terriers probably included crosses between the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier, and the now-extinct English White Terrier. These dogs were used as ratters, and gambling on their prowess in killing rats was a favorite hobby of their owners. Some of these dogs have been crossed with Greyhounds, Whippets or Italian Greyhounds, and Beagles or other hounds — extending the family to include a larger variety of purpose than the original ratter, or Rat Terrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treeing Feist</span> Dog breed

The Treeing Feist is a breed of feist from the Southeastern United States. Originally considered a single breed, Treeing Feist and Mountain Feist are now separately recognized by the United Kennel Club. Feist, originally bred to hunt squirrels, were separated into several breeds, often crossed with rat terriers. Several Appalachian breeders chose black Feists and bred smaller to tree, 'ring' and retrieve squirrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plummer Terrier</span> Dog breed

The Plummer Terrier is a working terrier. It was originally bred by Brian Plummer to primarily be a ratter and hunt vermin. The breed, while unrecognized by any kennel club, is known for its rugged determination and hardiness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telomian</span> Dog breed

The Telomian is a type of dog found in isolated villages near the Telom River in the rainforests of the Malay Peninsula. It has been introduced into the United States. Some US-based breeders were selling these dogs as pure breds, which was dismissed with the Malaysian Kennel Association in a statement that these are pariah dogs and not a breed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Smoushond</span> Dog breed

The Dutch Smoushond is a small breed of dog, related to the Pinscher and Schnauzer breed type kept in stables to eliminate rats and mice in Germany and the Netherlands. It is very rare and not well known outside the Netherlands, its country of origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African village dog</span> Type of dog

African village dogs are dogs found in Africa that are directly descended from an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs. African village dogs became the close companion of people in Africa, beginning in North Africa and spreading south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Staghound</span> Dog crossbreed

The American Staghound, referred to by various names including the Cold-Blooded Greyhound, the Longdog of the Prairie and the American Lurcher, is a crossbreed of various sighthounds. It has been bred in the United States from the 19th century where it is used for hunting.

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