Manchester Terrier Facts You Should Know (with Pictures).

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Manchester Terrier Breed Overview

The Manchester Terrier is a small-sized dog.

The adult Manchester Terrier stands 15 to 16 inches tall at the shoulder.

The Manchester Terrier belongs to the Terrier Dogs group.

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

The temperament of the Manchester Terrier is generally described as:

  • Active
  • Alert
  • Devoted
  • Discerning
  • Gay
  • Keen

History of the Manchester Terrier Breed. Where Manchester Terriers came from

The Manchester Terrier, as the name suggests, is a Terrier breed that originated in Manchester, England.

In the early nineteenth century, sanitation conditions in cities were deplorable, and rats thrived in the streets.

Rats are a constant source of disease and a poor quality of life, and rat terrier breeds worked to eliminate the rodent population in cities.

The Manchester Terrier was created by combining a Whippet and a cross-bred terrier to create a new, energetic ratting dog.

By the mid-nineteenth century, Manchester, England was well known for its “Rat Terrier,” thus earning the breed`s name, the Manchester Terrier.

Manchester Terriers were also great hare and rabbit coursing companions.

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What the Manchester Terrier Looks Like

Manchester Terriers are small black dogs with mahogany markings and a tapered tail.

The coat is glossy and dense, but not particularly soft to the touch.

The Manchester Terrier is a slim, sleek dog with a long head and a bright, alert expression.

The muscular structure is smooth and compact, highlighting the breed`s exceptional agility.

The only difference between the Standard and Toy Manchester Terriers is their size and ears.

The eyes of this breed are nearly black and almond-shaped.

They are moderately separated and slightly slanted.

The ears of a standard breed can stand straight up, be cropped, or buttoned, whereas the ears of a toy breed stand straight up.

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How Much is the Manchester Terrier Puppy?

How Much Manchester Terriers Cost

The average price of a Manchester Terrier puppy is $1030. The price of a Manchester Terrier puppy ranges from $725 to $1300.

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

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

Adopting or Rescuing the Manchester Terrier

You may consider adopting a dog instead of buying a puppy. Many dogs, Manchester 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 Manchester Terrier named Derby that is currently available for adoption on Petfinder.com. You can find other lovely Manchester Terriers like Derby on pefinder.com.

Manchester Terriers like Derby are available for Adoption! It is cheaper to adopt. Image from petfinder.com

Dexter is the name of another Manchester Terrier (Male) on petfinder.com that is looking for a new forever home.

Dexter the Manchester Terrier is available for adoption on petfinder.com. Information from petfinder.com

You can find more Manchester Terriers that are available for adoption on petfinder.

Manchester Terrier Growth

Manchester Terrier Growth

New Manchester Terrier owners need to know about the growth of their Manchester Terriers. This will help them plan their living spaces accordingly.

Also, knowing the typical growth pattern of the Manchester Terrier will help new owners catch the abnormal growth of their Manchester Terrier early.

See our calculator for predicting how big your Manchester Terrier puppy will get. You will also learn about the typical weight of the Manchester Terrier at different ages and how to catch abnormal growth in your Manchester Terrier

What Colors do Manchester Terriers Have?

Manchester Terriers come in the following beautiful primary colors:

  • Black
  • Yellow / Tan / Blond / Fawn
  • Tricolor (Brown, Black, & White)
  • Red / Chestnut / Orange

Manchester Terriers come in the following lovely secondary colors in addition to their primary colors:

  • Brown / Chocolate
  • Yellow / Tan / Blond / Fawn

Manchester Terrier Litter Size

Researchers from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science did a study where they counted the numbers of puppies in 21 different Manchester Terrier birth litters.

From this study, the researchers found that the average number of puppies that Manchester Terriers can have is 4 puppies. Also, the Manchester Terrier can have as few as 2 puppies per litter and as many as 7 puppies per litter.

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

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

How Fast Manchester 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 65 different Manchester Terriers, the average speed of the Manchester Terrier is 22.1 mph (35.5 kmph).

The fastest speed on AKC record that the Manchester Terrier ran in a race is 28.37 mph (45.7 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Manchester Terrier is 13.08 mph (21.1 kmph).

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

How fast Manchester Terrier can run compared to other mammals

Good Names for Manchester Terriers

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

  • Bozo
  • Pappas
  • Derby
  • Miller
  • Shiloh
  • Buddy
  • Xenon
  • Ozzy
  • De
  • Buster

How Intelligent are Manchester Terriers?

Manchester Terrier
Intelligence Rank 32 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 Manchester Terrier has an obedience intelligence rank of 32 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put Manchester Terriers in the `Above Average Working Dogs` category.

This means that Manchester 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
Border Collie 1
Labrador Retriever 7
Rottweiler 9
Pembroke Welsh Corgi 11
Miniature Schnauzer 12
English Springer Spaniel 13
Belgian Tervuren 14
Belgian Sheepdog 15
Belgian Malinois 22
Chesapeake Bay Retriever 27
Norwegian Elkhound 36
Dalmatian 39
Bichon Frise 45
Chinese Shar-Pei 51
Chinese Crested 61
Old English Sheepdog 63
Saint Bernard 65
Shih Tzu 70
Basset Hound 71
Pekingese 73

How Popular are Manchester 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 Manchester Terrier.

The popularity of the Manchester Terrier averaged over the years is Number 133 out of about 200 dog breeds.

Popularity of Manchester 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 Manchester 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 Manchester 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 Manchester Terrier puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Manchester 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 Manchester Terriers for:

  1. Autoimmune thyroiditis
  2. Cardiac Evaluation
  3. Eye Examination
  4. Juvenile Dialated Cardiomyopathy
  5. Legg-Calve-Perthes
  6. von Willebrand`s Disease
  7. Xanthinuria type 2A

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

How to Take Care of Manchester Terrier

How to feed your Manchester Terrier.

To take good care of your Manchester Terrier, you need to make sure that you groom your Manchester Terrier regularly.

Secondly, you need to find a veterinarian in your area that will routinely check the health status of your Manchester Terrier regularly, and give you appropriate recommendations on your Manchester Terrier`s preventative care.

Thirdly, you need to commit some time to exercise your Manchester Terrier daily. Regular exercise helps improve the health and quality of life of your Manchester Terrier.

Also, you need to feed your Manchester Terrier high-quality dog food, and the food should be of the right amount to prevent your Manchester Terrier from getting overweight or underweight.

See our recommendations on what to feed the Manchester Terrier and how much food to feed the Manchester Terrier at different life stages.

Finally, you need to make sure that your Manchester Terrier has access to clean water all the time. See our recommendations on how much water your Manchester Terrier needs to drink at different ages.

How much water your Manchester Terrier needs.

Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Manchester 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 Manchester Terrier.

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

  • Dachshund (75 percent match with Manchester Terrier). Learn more about the Dachshund here.
  • American Hairless Terrier (79 percent match with Manchester Terrier). Learn more about the American Hairless Terrier here.
  • Beaglier (74 percent match with Manchester Terrier). Learn more about the Beaglier here.
  • Miniature Pinscher (79 percent match with Manchester Terrier). Learn more about the Miniature Pinscher here.
  • Silky Terrier (79 percent match with Manchester Terrier). Learn more about the Silky Terrier here.

Other Things to Know About Manchester Terriers

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

  • Manchester Terriers cannot tolerate cold weather. They are vulnerable to the cold.
  • Manchester Terriers do not have the tendency to drool.
  • Manchester Terriers have the tendency to develop certain health problems.
  • Manchester Terriers are not easy to train.
  • Manchester Terriers are not prone to nip and chew at things.
  • Manchester Terriers are great family dogs. They are very affectionate with family.
  • Manchester Terriers gain weight easily. You need to pay careful attention to what you feed them.
  • Manchester Terriers are highly intelligent.
  • Manchester Terriers have a high prey drive. They do not get along well with other pets.
  • Manchester Terriers are highly vocal. They have the tendency to bark and howl.
  • Manchester Terriers have a high tendency to wander. They are easily distracted by other animals or objects.
  • Manchester Terriers have very high energy levels. They need a lot of exercise time to release their high energy.
  • Manchester Terriers do things with high intensity. They can be very forceful.
  • Manchester Terriers require a lot of exercise. They are good for owners who like to exercise.
  • Manchester Terriers are very playful.
  • Manchester Terriers adapt well to apartment living.
  • Manchester Terriers are very easy to groom.
  • Manchester Terriers weigh 12 to 22 pounds when fully grown.
  • Manchester Terriers are 15 to 16 inches tall at the shoulder when fully grown.
  • Manchester Terriers have a lifespan of 14 to 16 years.