The word "terrier" is clearly French. Yet of the 55 French dog breeds, none is in the terrier group. Loads of hunting hounds and gun dogs, but not a single terrier.

This has been puzzling me since it occurred to me a couple of days ago. V grateful if anybody could put me out of my misery with an explanation.

I think it's from the Middle Ages when French was the language of Court; they were the 'chiens terrier' (earth dogs). But why the French didn't have any such breeds is a mystery to me - I'm sure they must have needed small dogs to go to earth after prey just as much as we did!

> But why the French didn't have any such breeds is a mystery to me - I'm sure they must have needed small dogs to go to earth after prey just as much as we did!

They probably nicked ours during the Norman Conquest.... <grin>

Derivation from latin root 'terra'. It is thought that the Romans introduced terrier type dogs to our isles when they invaded. From these our modern terrier types evolved.

You are probably right there - but that still doesn't explain why the French have no terriers of their own! :)
We didn't have rabbits here until the Normans, would that explain anything?
It also begs the question as to what breeds back then dealt with badgers and foxes, unless they weren't as numerous as they are now (as we didn't have wild rabbits).

I do believe that 'twas the Romans who introduced rabbits to British shores- they bred them for an easy and moveable source of meat. It also rather makes sense that terrier type dogs and rabbits were introduced around the same time. Hares, however, were already on our shores, but few dogs can actually catch and bring down a hare time after time.

I guess in France any handy hunting dog or dog of small size could tackle a rabbit/ hare/ badger ie PBGV. I mean even certain old spaniel breeds could be more feisty and game and might take a rabbit if so trained.

I suspect most European breeds have their roots in Greek and Roman dog types, see, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/canes/canes.html

My conclusion would be that our classification of breeds into this and that is sometimes artificially limiting. A certain old terrier man taught a pack of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels to hunt and kill rabbit...which they did with gusto.

and of course the Brittany is a HPR, so could be used on Rabbit etc.

As for Earth dogs the Dachs seem to fulfil the Terrier roles in most of Europe especially the wire.

> I do believe that 'twas the Romans who introduced rabbits to British shores- they bred them for an easy and moveable source of meat.

Yes, there is a little evidence to show that they probably did, but re-established by the Normans who introduced rabbit farming in the form of artificial warrens. Wild rabbits as we know them today are descendants of warren escapees. Apparently rabbits were unknown to the Anglo-Saxons.
The Archaeology of Rabbit Warrens

  I remember reading that historically, (or is that hysterically?) only the aristocracy could own Hound dogs.    So it would have made sense that lesser mortals would have owned other dogs,  herding dogs for farmers, and smaller dogs for  guarding and hunting small game/keeping houses free of vermin.  

These smaller dogs would have developed into terrier like dogs that we know today :-)

Of course this could all be bunkum and I'm talking out of my hat ;-)

But it does make a kind of sense to me...

>  I remember reading that historically, (or is that hysterically?) only the aristocracy could own Hound dogs.

Good point. I wonder if things changed after the French Revolution, and some "common peoples' dog breeds" were lost?