Hi everyone;

Wonder if anyone owns these beautiful dogs?

I'm currently trying to find as much information about them as possible, as I may soon think about putting my name down for the breed -- if they are suitable for me, and my family.

My family and I own two others dogs, small breed, and I have a eight week old baby, who would be growing up with any dog that we have.

I'm just currently wondering if there are any good books on them; excerise requirements, if they're good with children, and others dogs.

If anyone can help, this would be greatfully appreciated.

Abigail.

Hi,

We have the smaller, related breed - English Toy Terrier.  I know several MT owners and breeders. Try here for a start: http://www.british-manchester-terrier-club.co.uk/

I'll try and point my breeder friends to this thread, but not sure if they're registered.

Cheers,

TFG

There was a chap at my old dog club that had one, nice dog called Angus. He always seemed perfectly friendly with all the people and dogs at the club, and worked obedience jolly well too! I imagine as a small-ish terrier that they are sturdy enough (with age and fitness taken into account) to do a good long walk, but will manage with less if need be. I'm not an expert on the breed by any means though. :-)

I owned one that had the total opposite temperament to what the breed standard calls for! When I saw him at the breeders I should have walked away as his mum was nervous and he took ages to come out from behind the setee. If I knew then what I do now I would have walked away.

I called him my Schitzo Dog - one day normal, the next a wuss and the day after wanting to kill all dogs on sight. He was not the easiest do to live with but looked stunning and could outrun a whippet

We're usually benched near the Manchesters at shows and I've found them lovely, if I didn't have Bedlingtons I'd have had Manchesters :-D    They are very loving and the ones I have met have been fine with other dogs - but then they've been show dogs and very well socialised.   

The ones I've met seem very similar in temperament to Bedlingtons, won't start a fight but will finish it if pushed, exercise needs would be similar to ours - a good blast off lead needed as well as regular walks.   Needs to be well socialised with other dogs and people (as with all dogs)  Won't take being treated like a toy,  or being climbed/bounced on by children as they are too small for that ;)  Having said that our Bedlies are all brilliant with young children, but will give me 'the look' if they've had enough of small children trying to pick them up or just in their face for too long - not all children have been taught to respect dogs ;)  But then my dogs have never been expected to put up with being a toy ;)    When walloped on the nose at the last show (in the Manchester benches - we were visiting) my youngest sneezed for 2 minutes and then wanted to 'love' the toddler who did it LOL  Luckily toddler's mum was mortified and brought the child back to apologise and be thoroughly forgiven by my bitch :-D  The Manchester owners didn't seem surprised at my bitch's reaction at all ;)

More info here
http://www.british-manchester-terrier-club.co.uk/characteristics.htm

I really think I'll have to have one when I'm finally 'over' the clipping and grooming of Bedlingtons - the size and similar nature to Bedlingtons but without the extra coat care :-D

FWIW, I have a MT cross bitch, now eight, who was virtually given away by the rescue because she'd been there so long. 

She is fabulous.  Wonderful with people, totally loyal, has incredible canine social skills and confidence to spare. Currently rules a GSD and a lurcher with an iron paw in a velvet glove. Her coat seems to be made of Teflon so grooming is minimal.  She is intuitive to the point I sometimes wonder if she's telepathic.

Have met pure bred MTs at shows and would have one in a heartbeat.

I had the unfortune of one living next door to us for 8 years. It did nothing but yapped all day and night [if left outside]
We live on a hill and they lived below us so it echoed up the hill and drove us all mad. Thank god they  moved away before christmas! All quiet now till another little yapper arrives..

In fairness that could happen with any breed.

When we moved to this house we were kept awake all hours by a German Shepherd who appeared not to live inside at all.   Then a couple moved into the street with a Dobermann - same story.

Dogs bark unless they are trained not to, and if they are left alone for too long they bark from boredom.  Not the dog's fault - it's the owner's ;)

MT's are not known to be yappers, but as Dill says, bad habits can be learned. This is a dog that would particularly object to being left out in the garden for hours on end particulalrly at night- heavens, what were the owners thinking. They are both sensitive and reactive and it is known that they are not really a 'kennel' dog. They also have a strong watchdog ability and being innately wary need bags of committed socialisation to give them the tools to decide what is okay and what is not.

Of course it can happen with any dog, but the difference is big dogs bark not yap and we all know that small dogs are more yappy. Some breeds more than others!
Our road has 2 GSD's, 4 labradors, 1 Goldie, 1 Collie, 1 Rottie, my 3 Giants, some little designer thing and a Westie. Guess who you can hear most days?  Tip, not the Rottie ;)

In general manchesters have for their size an unusually big, deep bark, as I said they are not known for 'yapping', though there are always exceptions to the rule :)
I would hazard a guess that what you heard was a deeply distressed dog. This is not a breed to be left out alone for hours on end- they do not have the coat for it.

Same with the Bedlingtons - they like to be with company - either their people or their own kind, otherwise they will get distressed if left alone for hours on end.  Nor could you leave them outside at night, it would be unfair on them and they would make that known.  One of mine cries if it starts raining whilst we're out walking!   And none of them will go outside if it's raining, they think they're made of sugar LOL

Noisiest dog I've ever known, apart from the GSD and Dobermann was a very large Bullmastiff cross Rottie.  Lived outside, Barked at EVERY noise and became extremely aggressive through being alone constantly.  Of course then there are the numerous Border Collies who are left in gardens during the day whilst owners are at work and amuse themselves by... barking constantly   there are several small dogs living near me and none of them are ever heard - it's always the big ones making their presence known :(

FlyingFinn - you can't blame small dogs any more than large ones for barking, it's their owners at fault by not training them and leaving them alone for excessively long periods.

I find the deep bark of the medium size dog in the house adjoining the bottom of our garden to be almost as annoying as a shrill yap, specially as it is so reactive it starts off if mine just walk around outside or play in the house - luckily mine have quickly learned to ignore it and not bark back!

my older dog tia barks the second she goes out ! not through lack of attention or being left alone too long but because the old people next door thought it was a fab idea to throw food over the fence for her so now she barks at the fence for them to feed her :s ive asked them to stop when she was spayed incase she gained to much weight as i wanted to know what she was eating they obliged for over a year and have now started doing it again , then theres the rottweiler and other small terrier poss a min pinscher (from the same house) that constantly escape and run riot in the street winding her up through the gate

My friend has a MT, along with red setters. We all go walking together every week and her MT gets along fine with my dogs without a problem when they're all off-lead. However, when her MT meets my dog at Ringcraft he turns every time, and she'll pull him away as she knows when he's going to flip. She puts it down to being a terrier, as there was no issues all the way through puppy hood but as the MT has began to mature, she has told me about quite a few instances when the MT has turned on the setters we grew up with. So, through my experience of MTs they're a lovely breed but they are a terrier at the end of the day so as an owner I would feel you'd need to stay on your toes. However, this IS only my experience of the breed and you may get one who is totally chilled and laid back all the time :-)

Miss Meidak, they can be very bossy and intact males can be extremely intolerant of other intact males in their space. Not a first time dog. They are a quirky breed, very wilful but sensitive and highly manipulative too.

Just read in this weeks ourdogs that the British Manchester terrier club are holding an event in Witney,Oxfordshire on the weekend of 8-10th June.

States that they are hoping this will be the largest ever gathering of MTs ever!

If this is within reach of you then sounds like a good place to get all the info you need.

Contact-www.mt-happen-ing2012.co.uk

> was a very large Bullmastiff cross Rottie

thats very unusual, bullies as a rule are not barky having been bred to be sneaky ;) shows what mistreatment does :(