Border Terrier Twin Finder: 133 in the Pool

To find your Border Terrier's twin, upload one clear photo to PetMatch and the model compares your dog's face against the 133 Border Terriers already in the pool, returning the real dog whose face sits closest to yours. The wiry jacket is what people notice first, but the match leans on the otter head, the short well-filled muzzle, the dark hazel eyes, and the small V-shaped ears that drop forward close to the cheek.

An otter head

The AKC standard, approved March 14, 1950 and reformatted July 13, 1990, calls the Border Terrier an active terrier of medium bone, rather narrow in shoulder, body, and quarter. The characteristic otter head, with its keen eye, combined with a body poise which is "at the alert," gives the breed its look. Dogs of 13 to 15½ pounds and bitches of 11½ to 14 pounds are the weights it calls appropriate in hardworking condition. The height at the withers is slightly greater than the distance from the withers to the tail, by possibly 1 to 1½ inches in a 14-pound dog. The body should be capable of being spanned by a man's hands behind the shoulders. A face photo shows none of that.

The head is similar to that of an otter. The skull is moderately broad and flat, with plenty of width between the eyes and between the ears. There is a slight, moderately broad curve at the stop rather than a pronounced indentation. The cheeks are slightly full. The muzzle is short and "well filled." A dark muzzle is characteristic and desirable. A few short whiskers are natural to the breed. The nose is black and of a good size. The teeth are strong, with a scissors bite, and large in proportion to the size of the dog. The eyes are dark hazel and full of fire and intelligence, moderate in size, neither prominent nor small and beady. The ears are small, V-shaped, and of moderate thickness, dark preferred. They are not set high on the head but somewhat on the side, dropping forward close to the cheeks. They should not break above the level of the skull.

A close, wiry jacket

The jacket is somewhat broken, close-fitting, and intensely wiry: a short, dense undercoat under a very wiry topcoat that should lie closely and must not curl or wave. With that coat, a Border should be able to be exhibited almost in his natural state. The only trim the standard describes is a tidying up of the head, neck, and feet. The hide is very thick and loose fitting. The Kennel Club standard calls that coat harsh and dense, with a close undercoat.

Color is red, grizzle and tan, blue and tan, or wheaten. A small amount of white may be allowed on the chest, but white on the feet should be penalized. The tail, which a head-on crop misses, is moderately short, thick at the base, then tapering. It is not set on too high. It is carried gaily when the dog is at the alert, but not over the back. When at ease, a Border may drop his stern.

Border or Scottie?

The same wiry, broken jacket puts a Border next to a Scottish Terrier in a tight crop. The Scottish Terrier lookalike finder covers that face, and the Scottish Terrier pool holds 277 dogs, separate from these 133. The AKC standard, approved October 12, 1993 and effective November 30, 1993, calls for a head long in proportion to the dog, with the skull and muzzle as two parallel planes and the muzzle approximately equal to the skull. The ears are small, prick, set well up on the skull, and pointed. A Border muzzle is short and well filled on a moderately broad skull, and the ear drops forward and should not break above the level of the skull.

A Scottie stands about 10 inches at the withers. A well-balanced dog generally weighs 19 to 22 pounds, and a bitch 18 to 21. The coat is hard and wiry over a soft, dense undercoat, and the longer hair on the beard is trimmed into furnishings. Scottie color is black, wheaten, or brindle of any color. Wheaten is the overlap. Red, grizzle and tan, and blue and tan are Border colors.

When the twin is a mix

Mixed-breed dogs are the largest dog group on PetMatch, at 10,185. A mix that kept the otter head, the short well-filled muzzle, the dark hazel eyes, and the small V-shaped ears can place ahead of the Border Terriers. The model is matching the face in the photo, not guessing at a pedigree.

A photo that shows the otter head

Shoot head-on at eye level in open shade, mouth closed, so both eyes, the slight stop, the short muzzle, and both ears stay in the frame. The ears should drop forward close to the cheek, as the standard describes. Open shade keeps a red or wheaten jacket from washing out, and it keeps a grizzle or a blue and tan coat from flattening into one dark mass. Leave the few short whiskers alone.