Kerry Blue Terrier Facts You Should Know (with Pictures).

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Kerry Blue Terrier Breed Overview

The Kerry Blue Terrier is a medium-sized dog.

The adult Kerry Blue Terrier stands 17 to 19 inches tall at the shoulder.

The Kerry Blue Terrier belongs to the Terrier Dogs group.

Dogs in the Terrier Dogs group, like the Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue Terriers belong to the Terrier Dogs group is one of the reasons why Kerry Blue Terriers have the personality and temperament that they have.

The temperament of the Kerry Blue Terrier is generally described as:

  • Affectionate
  • Alert
  • Gentle
  • Loyal
  • Spirited
  • Strong Willed

History of the Kerry Blue Terrier Breed. Where Kerry Blue Terriers came from

The Kerry Blue Terrier was named after the county of Kerry in Ireland where it was born in the 1700s.

The blue refers to the dominant color of the dog`s coat.

The Kerry Terrier is Ireland`s national Terrier, also known as the Irish Blue Terrier.

These dogs were bred to hunt small game and vermin while retaining their natural instincts.

It is also useful for herding sheep and cattle on the farm.

Because of its popularity as a companion dog, the United States formed its own Kerry Blue Terrier club, and the breed was recognized by the AKC in 1924.

The Portuguese Water Dog is credited with the single silky wavy coat.

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What the Kerry Blue Terrier Looks Like

They are best described as a medium-sized dog, with a muscular body and a long head that is proportionate to the body.

With a slight stop, the skull is flat and boxy.

Kerry Blue Terrier eyes are small, dark, and alert.

The Kerry is an attractive looking dog with their soft wavy dense coats that can range in color from a deep black to a dark blue and shades of blue gray or even a tinge of brown.

They carry themselves with dignity, standing tall and erect.

The tail is set high and straight, and it is docked to a medium length, which is illegal in most parts of Europe.

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How Much is the Kerry Blue Terrier Puppy?

How Much Kerry Blue Terriers Cost

The average price of a Kerry Blue Terrier puppy is $2150. The price of a Kerry Blue Terrier puppy ranges from $2000 to $2250.

A lot of factors determine the price of the Kerry Blue Terrier. These factors include what health records the Kerry Blue Terrier puppy has, the lineage of the Kerry Blue Terrier puppy, the US state the breeder is located in, etc.

To estimate how much you can expect to pay for a puppy Kerry Blue Terrier based on the many factors that determine the price of the Kerry Blue Terrier puppy, check out our calculator that lets you estimate how much you should expect to pay for the Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue Terrier Breeders

Kerry Blue Terrier Breeders in the United States

We have researched reputable Kerry Blue Terrier breeders that you can buy a puppy.

Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Kerry Blue 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.

  1. Karen Tucker

    Puppy Price: Check with breeder

  2. EIDMAR

    Puppy Price: $2000

  3. BRENRIL Where we are making better dogs!

    Puppy Price: $3000

  4. Krisma Kerry Blue Terriers

    Puppy Price: Check with breeder

  5. Karla Niggl

    Puppy Price: $3500

What Colors do Kerry Blue Terriers Have?

Kerry Blue Terriers come in the following beautiful primary colors:

  • Black

Kerry Blue Terrier Litter Size

Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 5 different Kerry Blue Terrier birth litters.

From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Kerry Blue Terriers can have is 4 puppies. Also, the Kerry Blue Terrier can have as few as 1 puppies per litter and as many as 7 puppies per litter.

The number of puppies that the Kerry Blue Terrier will have depends on factors such as the age of the Kerry Blue Terrier, the method of pregnancy, etc.

Click here to see our calculator for predicting how many puppies your Kerry Blue Terrier will have and how the litter size of the Kerry Blue Terrier compares to the litter size of other dog breeds.

How Fast Kerry Blue 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 27 different Kerry Blue Terriers, the average speed of the Kerry Blue Terrier is 23.2 mph (37.4 kmph).

The fastest speed on AKC record that the Kerry Blue Terrier ran in a race is 27.41 mph (44.1 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Kerry Blue Terrier is 12.93 mph (20.8 kmph).

Click here to see how the speed of the Kerry Blue Terrier compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.

How fast Kerry Blue Terrier can run compared to other mammals

Good Names for Kerry Blue Terriers

Here are some really good names that are typical for the Kerry Blue Terrier ranked by popularity:

  • Blue

How Intelligent are Kerry Blue Terriers?

Kerry Blue Terrier
Intelligence Rank 35 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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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 Kerry Blue Terrier has an obedience intelligence rank of 35 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Kerry Blue Terriers in the `Above Average Working Dogs` category.

This means that Kerry Blue 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
German Shepherd Dog 3
Doberman Pinscher 5
Belgian Sheepdog 15
English Cocker Spaniel 18
Weimaraner 21
Airedale Terrier 29
Manchester Terrier 32
American Staffordshire Terrier 34
Scottish Deerhound 47
Rhodesian Ridgeback 52
French Bulldog 58
Maltese 59
Italian Greyhound 60
Dandie Dinmont Terrier 62
Saint Bernard 65
Lhasa Apso 68
Bullmastiff 69
Shih Tzu 70
American Bulldog 77
Basenji 78

How Popular are Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue Terrier.

The popularity of the Kerry Blue Terrier averaged over the years is Number 129 out of about 200 dog breeds.

Popularity of Kerry Blue Terrier

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 Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue Terrier puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue Terriers for:

  1. Clear By Parentage
  2. Degenerative Myelopathy
  3. Eye Examination
  4. Factor XI Deficiency
  5. Hip Dysplasia
  6. von Willebrand`s Disease

You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Kerry Blue Terriers here.

Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Kerry Blue 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 Kerry Blue Terrier.

We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Kerry Blue Terrier:

Other Things to Know About Kerry Blue Terriers

Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Kerry Blue Terrier that you need to know about the Kerry Blue Terrier breed:

  • Kerry Blue Terriers do not shed a lot. They are good for people with dog allergies.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers do not have the tendency to drool.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are not the best dogs for new dog owners.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers do not get along well with other dogs.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers require a lot of grooming and are not very easy to groom.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers can tolerate cold weather.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are great family dogs. They are very affectionate with family.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers get along well with kids. They are kid-friendly.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are very easy to train.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are highly intelligent.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are prone to nip and chew at things.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are highly vocal. They have the tendency to bark and howl.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers have very high energy levels. They need a lot of exercise time to release their high energy.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers do things with high intensity. They can be very forceful.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are very playful.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are very friendly towards strangers.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers require a lot of exercise. They are good for owners who like to exercise.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers weigh 33 to 40 pounds when fully grown.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers are 17 to 19 inches tall at the shoulder when fully grown.
  • Kerry Blue Terriers have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.