Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Australian Terrier Breed Overview
- History of the Australian Terrier Breed. Where Australian Terriers came from
- What the Australian Terrier Looks Like
- How Much is the Australian Terrier Puppy?
- Best Australian Terrier Breeders
- Adopting or Rescuing the Australian Terrier
- What Colors do Australian Terriers Have?
- Australian Terrier Litter Size
- How Fast Australian Terriers Can Run
- Good Names for Australian Terriers
- How Intelligent are Australian Terriers?
- How Popular are Australian Terriers with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Australian Terriers and How to Prevent Them
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Australian Terriers
- Other Things to Know About Australian Terriers
Australian Terrier Breed Overview
The Australian Terrier is a tiny-sized dog.
The adult Australian Terrier stands 10 to 11 inches tall at the shoulder.
The Australian Terrier belongs to the Terrier Dogs group.
Dogs in the Terrier Dogs group, like the Australian Terrier, were originally bred to go underground to hunt rodents and other small wild animals (vermin).
Terriers come in a wide range of sizes and shapes, but all terriers are energetic, highly intelligent, and territorial. Terries also have the tendency to escape. They require a securely fenced yard.
The fact that Australian Terriers belong to the Terrier Dogs group is one of the reasons why Australian Terriers have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Australian Terrier is generally described as:
- Alert
- Companionable
- Courageous
- Even Tempered
- Loyal
- Spirited
History of the Australian Terrier Breed. Where Australian Terriers came from
Australian Terriers started out as the Rough Coated Terrier in Australia in 1820s but was changed to be the Australian Terrier soon after.
The United Kennel Club in the United Kingdom recognized Australian Terriers in 1930 and the American Kennel Club recognized Australian Terriers in 1960.
The breed was worked on and perfected during this time of recognition and now holds a place in most registered kennel clubs across the world.
This is a great dog to catch and kill rats and mice and is instinctually in tune with its prey drive.
It is not smart to keep other smaller animals like rabbits, gerbils, or mice as pets with an Australian Terrier in the home as it is really hard to train an Australian Terrier against its instincts.
As with any dog, take care around small children.
Although Australian Terriers have outgoing and friendly personalities, they may not get along well with small children who don’t respect boundaries and pull ears and tails.
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What the Australian Terrier Looks Like
The Australian Terrier is a small breed of dog that was bred in England and in Australia in the early 1800s on to kill rats, snakes, and mice.
Australian Terriers are tiny and quirky little breeds with a coarse double-coat of short fur.
This breed can be seen in blue, silver, tan, and red colors with darker bodies and muzzles and lighter manes around the neck.
Smaller Terriers are happy and energetic little dogs that have preferred owners in their house holds.
An Australian Terrier can be protective and always seems to be alert.
This breed is intelligent and is highly trainable, enjoying activities like jumping or digging.
Australian Terriers do shed a little here and there and should be brushed weekly to avoid snags or matts.
This is not a hypoallergenic breed and should not be considered for homes with allergies.
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How Much is the Australian Terrier Puppy?
The average price of a Australian Terrier puppy is $1250. The price of a Australian Terrier puppy ranges from $1050 to $1500.
A lot of factors determine the price of the Australian Terrier. These factors include what health records the Australian Terrier puppy has, the lineage of the Australian Terrier puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.
To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Australian Terrier based on the many factors that determine the price of the Australian Terrier puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Australian Terrier puppy based on what you want in the puppy.
When looking to buy a puppy, look at buying a puppy only from well-established breeders that breed puppies primarily for the love of the Australian Terrier breed, and secondarily for profit. Do not buy a puppy from a puppy mill. Puppy mills mass-produce puppies in bad living conditions for maximum profit.
You may also consider adopting instead of buying a puppy. Adoption costs are very low compared to the price of a puppy.
Best Australian Terrier Breeders
We have researched reputable Australian Terrier breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Australian Terrier breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
Johmanda
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Joviu2019s Australian Terriers
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Dana Dean
Puppy Price: $1500.00
Benayr Australian Terriers
Puppy Price: $2000.00
Agavebulldogs
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
Adopting or Rescuing the Australian Terrier
You may consider adopting a dog instead of buying a puppy. Many dogs, Australian Terriers included, are currently available for adoption in your local dog shelters.
These helpless but adorable dogs are waiting in dog shelters hoping that someday someone will rescue them. Dog adoption costs are lesser than the cost of a new puppy. Dog adoption costs are usually around $300 or even less.
In addition to your local dog shelter, another good place to find dogs that are available for adoption is petfinder.com.
Below is an adorable Male Australian Terrier named Edgar that is currently available for adoption on Petfinder.com. You can find other lovely Australian Terriers like Edgar on pefinder.com.
Buddy is the name of another Australian Terrier (Male) on petfinder.com that is looking for a new forever home.
You can find more Australian Terriers that are available for adoption on petfinder.
What Colors do Australian Terriers Have?
Australian Terriers come in the following beautiful primary colors:
- Yellow / Tan / Blond / Fawn
- Gray / Blue / Silver
- Red / Chestnut / Orange
- Bicolor
- Black
- Tricolor (Brown, Black, & White)
- Brown / Chocolate
Australian Terrier Litter Size
Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 22 different Australian Terrier birth litters.
From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Australian Terriers can have is 5 puppies. Also, the Australian Terrier can have as few as 1 puppies per litter and as many as 8 puppies per litter.
The number of puppies that the Australian Terrier will have depends on factors such as the age of the Australian Terrier, the method of pregnancy, etc.
Click here to see our calculator for predicting how many puppies your Australian Terrier will have and how the litter size of the Australian Terrier compares to the litter size of other dog breeds.
How Fast Australian Terriers Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 31 different Australian Terriers, the average speed of the Australian Terrier is 18.9 mph (30.4 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Australian Terrier ran in a race is 25.5 mph (41.0 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Australian Terrier is 12.78 mph (20.6 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Australian Terrier compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
Good Names for Australian Terriers
Here are some really good names that are typical for the Australian Terrier ranked by popularity:
- Arthur
- Buddy
- Garnet
- Opie
- Zorro
- Edgar
- Sunny
- Aries
- Duncan
- Yoda
How Intelligent are Australian Terriers?
| Australian Terrier | |
|---|---|
| Intelligence Rank | 34 out of 130 dog breeds |
| Trainability | Tend To Learn New Commands After 15 To 25 Repetitions |
According to Prof. Stanley Coren, a Canadian psychology professor/dog trainer, the total intelligence that a dog demonstrates is the addition of three types of intelligence. These intelligence types are:
- Instinctive Intelligence: This is the natural intelligence that comes from instinct. For example, dog breeds that have been historically bred to be guard dogs will have a high `guarding` intelligence compared to dogs that were not bred for guarding.
- Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability): This indicates what a dog can learn to do for himself or herself. Adaptive intelligence is specific to each dog, and not breed specific. You can improve your dog`s adaptive intelligence by investing time to train your dog.
- Working/Obedience Intelligence: This type of intelligence is breed-specific. Certain dog breeds tend to have higher working/obedience intelligence than some other breeds. This intelligence is the closest to what we might call school-learning ability and it is based upon what the dog can learn to do when instructed by humans. This type of intelligence can be measured for each dog breed and compared to that of other dog breeds.
Professor Stanley Coren measured and ranked the working intelligence of about 130 different dog breeds.
Prof. Coren found that the Australian Terrier has an obedience intelligence rank of 34 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Australian Terriers in the `Above Average Working Dogs` category.
This means that Australian Terriers tend to learn new commands after 15 to 25 repetitions.
However, we should mention that a dog should not be judged based on its intelligence alone. There are other important factors you need to consider when deciding on which dog breed to get. These other factors include sociability, adorability, and compatibility of the dog breed with your lifestyle.
See the intelligence ranking of some other dog breeds below:
| Breed | Intelligence Rank |
|---|---|
| Standard Poodle | 2 |
| German Shepherd Dog | 3 |
| Papillon | 8 |
| Belgian Sheepdog | 15 |
| Pomeranian | 23 |
| Vizsla | 25 |
| Chesapeake Bay Retriever | 27 |
| Border Terrier | 30 |
| Cairn Terrier | 35 |
| Affenpinscher | 37 |
| Norwich Terrier | 38 |
| Dalmatian | 39 |
| Curly-Coated Retriever | 41 |
| Scottish Deerhound | 47 |
| Boxer | 48 |
| Alaskan Malamute | 50 |
| Norfolk Terrier | 56 |
| Lhasa Apso | 68 |
| Pekingese | 73 |
| Bloodhound | 74 |
How Popular are Australian Terriers with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Australian Terrier.
The popularity of the Australian Terrier averaged over the years is Number 136 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Australian Terriers and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Australian Terrier is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Australian Terrier puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Australian Terrier breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Australian Terriers for:
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Australian Terriers here.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Australian Terriers
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Australian Terrier.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Australian Terrier:
- Glen of Imaal Terrier (79 percent match with Australian Terrier). Learn more about the Glen of Imaal Terrier here.
- Lakeland Terrier (76 percent match with Australian Terrier). Learn more about the Lakeland Terrier here.
- Silky Terrier (79 percent match with Australian Terrier). Learn more about the Silky Terrier here.
Other Things to Know About Australian Terriers
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Australian Terrier that you need to know about the Australian Terrier breed: