The Border Terrier was originally bred in the Cheviot Hills area near the border between England and Scotland to help farmers drive predatory foxes from their dens and kill them. This sturdy little fellow has long enough legs and enough stamina to keep up with a horse, even though he is quite small. The bold little Border Terrier has also been used to hunt marten, otter and the fierce badger. The breed was once known as the Coquetdale Terrier (among other names), but the name Border Terrier, taken from the Border Hunt, was adopted in 1870. As with most terriers, the Border Terrier gradually began to be taken into the home. Today due to his winning personality, adaptability and friendliness, the breed is highly esteemed as a companion dog, yet he can still serve as a fine farm dog, helping to control vermin.

Appearance
The Border Terrier has a double coat consisting of a soft undercoat and harsh, wiry outer coat. The coat type of a Border Terrier has a lot of variation across individual dogs, some develop longish, shaggy hair and others never go on to develop a full coat and remain relatively smooth in coat.

Character
Border Terriers are friendly, smart, energetic and playful. They can make good family pets as they are generally good with children. Border Terriers are strong chewers and tend to destroy all but the most durable toys. They can remove the squeak from a squeaky toy within 30 seconds, and reduce such toys to fragments within a matter of minutes. Solid, tough rubber toys such as rubber rings are suitable. If a Border Terrier adopts a household object as a toy, the object will soon be ruined. It is therefore useful to teach a Border Terrier from an early age what he or she is and isn't allowed to chew.
 

Temperament
If the owners of a Border Terrier cannot give them a lot of attention, they are best kept with other dogs of similar temperament. Some members of the breed make a highly effective alternative to a doorbell, due to their sharp hearing and the distinctive frenzied barking that results when they hear someone approaching the door. Usually when puppies are first taken to their home, they, like other dogs have an opinion on the owner/owners. They especially like jumping a lot, and a lot of times, when owners first buy their Border Terrier they sometimes find they wake up by their dog licking them in their bed! Some Borders like to lick.

Exercise/Training
The Border Terrier likes activity and needs a good walk on leash, a vigorous game session or an off-lead expedition in a safe area every day. Playing and obedience are very good types of mental exercises. 20 minutes obedience and playing with your Border Terrier will be more useful for the dogs exercise then an hour walk on the leash. The key to training a Border Terrier is through its heart. They are big-hearted little dogs that love their owners and if they know that something pleases you then that is what they do.

Color
The colors of the Border Terrier include grizzle and tan (a sort of salt and pepper look), blue and tan (sometimes looks almost black), red grizzle, and less commonly, wheaten.

Grooming
The harsh coat of the Border Terrier needs brushing weekly, plus stripping of dead hairs about four times yearly to maintain its clean outline. Never clip a Border Terrier, except around the face area where there are scraggy bits of hair. Clipping a Border Terrier's coat around its back may ruin its fur and make it go curly. After clipping, a Border Terrier's coat may never return to normal. Clipping also encourages coat and skin problems as the dead hair is prevented from falling naturally, changing the micro-climate next to the Border Terrier's skin.

Any breed described as "good with children", the dog must be accustomed to children. Any dog that is not well socialized with children will not behave predictably around them. As with all dogs, they should never be left alone with young children.