The German Jagd terrier is a close relative of the fox terrier and a versatile hunter, professionally working with burrowing animals, birds, and other types of game.

The German Jagdterrier is the best friend for fans of burrowing and those who like to show off their fluffy-feathered trophies. Carried away, tireless, persistent, this reactive pursuer is always aimed at a result, which is often achieved at the cost of his life and health. It is real to control the behavior of a Jagdterrier if you can convince him of your own authority – the breed does not grow fond of affection and tenderness and values ​​exclusively leadership qualities. On the other hand, Saudi is a convinced, monogamous people. If the dog considers you worthy of trust, then this is forever.

The breed was formed at the beginning of the 20th century when dog breeders fed up with show terriers began to dream of working pets that could bring real benefits. By that time, European exhibitions were flooded with representatives of the group with an exemplary exterior, but completely unsuitable for work on the beast due to muffled instincts. After the First World War, German specialists began to breed a new, purely hunting a variety of terrier, ideally working in a burrow.

The pioneer in this business was the dog breeder and part-time lover of fox terriers Walter Spangenberg, who was later joined by Rudolf Fries and Karl-Erich Grunewald. The breeder began his experiments by taking four Fox Terrier puppies from the director of the Munich Zoo Lutz Heck. Spangenberg was not embarrassed that the babies had a vicious black and tan color, since the breeder was going to develop hunting instincts in animals, and not a glamorous appearance. As a result, the matured puppies were mated with black foxes, known for their phenomenal viciousness and tirelessness in pursuing the victim.

In 1926, the first Jagdterrier club was opened in Germany, and 12 months later, Spangenberg’s wards began to be exhibited at the exhibition. At first, the breed was bred by inbreeding (closely related crossing), which did not have the best effect on the health of the offspring. And only in the 1920s, dog breeders began to attract more distant relatives to pumping berries – Welsh Terriers and Old English Terriers. After World War II, the breeding of the breed was no longer so active, which was facilitated by the division of Germany into occupation zones. In addition, the breeders of the GDR relied on Sangenberg’s breeding research, that is, they continued to breed among themselves Yagoda relatives. As a result, the number of dogs quickly recovered, but the number of defective individuals began to grow exponentially.

International recognition came to Jagd terriers in 1954, with the receipt of the FCI standard. After this event, dogs began to be exported to North and South America, but the hunters of the New World were not impressed by the small and nimble berries. German terriers were brought to the USSR in the 70s, although unofficial sources claim that the first acquaintance of domestic breeders with the breed took place 40 years earlier. Among the manufacturers imported into the Soviet Union, Cherry von Rischebach, Dina von Hochlitsee, and Encke von Wolzi-Gersee are especially worth noting. It was these individuals that laid the foundation for the first generations of Russian jagdterriers.

As a real hard worker who is not used to lying on the couch and posing in front of the camera, the Jagdterrier cannot boast of either a stylish satin “fur coat” or a special affectionate appearance. However, he does not need this, since the overwhelming majority of breed owners are practical people who require professional skills from a pet and an exciting hunting show, but are absolutely indifferent to the exterior of the ward. Accordingly, the correct German Jagdterrier is first a hardy and strong earner, and only then – a friend, companion, and everything else.

The standard growth of the jagua ranges from 33-40 cm, and these figures apply equally to both females and males. But the weight categories in dogs of different genders are different. Yoga girls weigh from 7.5 to 8.5 kg, while male dogs can build more bulk muscle mass, keeping the weight in the range from 9 to 10 kg.

Head
The head of the German Jagdterrier looks moderately elongated with clearly defined cheekbones and a developed chin. The skull is flattened, spacious enough in the area between the ears. The muzzle is shorter than the head, without a strong point, with a light foot.

Jaws, lips, teeth
The representatives of the breed have massive, closed jaws in a complete scissor bite, hidden by brightly pigmented dense lips. The teeth are large, set evenly, in the amount of 42 pcs.

Nose
Dogs have a harmoniously developed, small-sized nose, predominantly black in color. A brown tint is acceptable for individuals with the same coat tone.

Eyes
The German Jagdterrier is a dog with a determined, direct look. The eyes of the animal are small, oval, located at a distance from each other, which minimizes the risk of damage from the paws of forest predators.

Ears
The ear tissue of a purebred yagda is planted high, has an average size and a regular triangular shape.

Neck
According to the FCI standard, animals must have strong necks of normal length, gradually merging into the shoulders.

Body
The German Jagdterrier is a compact breed. Prerequisite: the girth of the dog’s sternum should be 10-12 cm more than its height at the withers. The length of the body also exceeds the height at the withers, but only slightly. The upper body is straight, with a muscular loin and an impressive horizontal croup. The chest of the animal should be deep, with arched ribs laid back. The line of a slightly tucked-up belly, which has a graceful bend, looks very elegant.

Limbs
A prerequisite for the legs of the German Jagdterrier is that they are parallel to each other when viewed from the front and back. In addition, the limbs should have strong bones and dry muscles. The shoulder blades are elongated, oblique, with developed muscles. The elbows are close to the body without an obvious eversion to either side. The forearms are vertical and straight.

The hind legs of the dog look more solid due to the elongated, moderately wide hips. The elongated sinewy shins, short vertical hocks, and strong hocks are responsible for the springy thrust in the movement. The rounded-oval legs of the yagda are “reinforced” with hard, intensely pigmented pads, and the forelegs are noticeably larger than the hind ones. Instance and gait, the feet should not roll inward (clubfoot) or outward.

Tail
Jagd terriers living in countries where the cropping procedure is prohibited have long tails, straight or saber-shaped. Such a tail is carried horizontally or slightly raised in the upper part. Working dogs in Russia dock their tail by ⅓. In this case, he assumes a slightly raised, but not vertical, position. In addition, the tip of the last vertebra should not deviate towards the back, since in the conditions of burrowing hunting the tail plays the role of a “handle”, for which the owner can pull the angry dog ​​out of the underground tunnel.

Wool
German game terriers come in two varieties: wire-haired and smooth-haired. In both cases, the outer coat has a coarse, dense structure that helps the dog not to get wet in rainy weather and protects the body from mechanical damage during hunting.

Color
Today’s German Jagdterrier is a brown, black, or grayish-black dog with tan marks on the sternum, limbs, muzzle, under the tail, and on the eyebrows. Acceptable features: the presence of dark and lightened masks on the face, the presence of tiny white spots on the toes and chest.

Disadvantages and disqualifying faults
External features that do not fit into the parameters specified by the standard are positioned as exterior defects. There can be many such shortcomings, ranging from an overly pointed muzzle and ending with loose toes. If an animal exhibits behavioral and developmental defects that overlap its pedigree qualities, it is almost always a disqualification at an exhibition. The most common disqualifying defects in-game terriers are:

• disagreement, iris of a blue tint or with specks;
• malocclusion, including misaligned jaws and misplaced incisors;
• incomplete dental formula (lack of M3 does not count);
• twist or eversion of the eyelid;
• non-standard pigmentation of the lobes, lips, paw pads;
• too tall or short;
• weak character, fear of shots, and wild animals.

It is important to understand that the German Jagdterrier does not exist outside of hunting, so buying a dog for yourself, children, or “on the sofa” and expecting aristocratic manners from it is not the most logical thing to do. However, even the one who regularly travels to the forest and works on the beast of the land is still obstinate. So say goodbye to the dream of fashioning an obedient “deliveryman” of slippers out of a pet – this breed loves to cooperate, but not to serve and fawn.

It is believed that professional training and early education can muffle the aggression and stubbornness of German jagdterriers, but there are also nuances here. Yes, a dog can be weaned from the habit of attacking strangers, but even an experienced cynologist will not be able to make him fall in love with a cat or other pet furry. The berries also attack small wild animals. For example, in rural areas, hedgehogs become one of the main victims of the breed. Neither needles nor the injuries they inflict stop the black and tan “gladiators” – reprisals against a prickly enemy are carried out immediately and to the bitter end.

It’s the same story with unfamiliar dogs. German game terriers have a strategic reserve of courage and the same amount of recklessness, so they can provoke a conflict with fellow tribesmen for no reason. The breed also has no time to understand the hierarchical system of the canine world, so even yagdi puppies easily go to the extreme, like encroaching on someone else’s bone or furious attacks on an adult wolfhound. Moreover, the larger the opponent, the more chances he has to annoy the terrier – the impressive size of the opponent evokes a mixture of black envy and hatred among the “Germans”.

In a relationship with a person, the yard prefers not to spray, but to concentrate on one person. Usually, this is the one with whom the animal goes to bait and hunt. The dog recognizes the rest of the family members insofar as it is in no hurry to fulfill their requirements. The companion qualities of the breed are also tied to working instincts. The yagdterrier will obediently behave on a walk only in a situation if the one under whose leadership the animal is used to hunting game is nearby. With all the rest of the household, “feedback” will be episodic, so you can release the ward off the leash in the park only in one case – if this park belongs specifically to you and there is not a single representative of the wild fauna in it.

The German Jagdterrier is a breed that needs to be brought up “yesterday”. It is recommended to use traditional methods, but with an eye to the tendency of the yagda to dominate, which is expressed in biting family members, suppressing other animals, and swooping down on random passers-by. So in the process of upbringing, do not forget to inspire the dog with respect for yourself and your household, showing her that the boss’s chair has long and firmly been occupied.

Intellectually, yagi may not be geniuses, but they are quite smart comrades, so they do not have any difficulties with memorizing commands. At the same time, perfect adherence to the “charter” is not their strong point. As an example: it is realistic to train a German Yagdterrier OKD in six months, but it is pointless to demand the endurance and diligence of a German shepherd from him. Moreover, you should treat your pet’s mistakes with condescension: in the end, you chose the ideal hunter, not a circus artist and watchman. However, conniving is also not worth it. The basic OKD commands will later come in handy on the hunt, since with their help it will be possible to control the behavior of the dog.

The critical age for the representatives of the breed is 6 months. It was during this period that the German jagd terrier began to test the owner’s patience for strength with renewed vigor. The training of raging teenagers should not be canceled, but if there is a lack of personal experience, it is better to involve a professional in the matter. An obligatory part of the program in the upbringing and training of a Jagdterrier is training in a collar, leash, and muzzle. The breed does not like the last accessory, but without it it is dangerous to let the four-legged prankster out into the street, if you do not want to save homeless cats later and conflict with passers-by, shocked by the attacks of the yard.

Approach the process of putting on the muzzle carefully, without haste. Experts recommend that you first give the dog a sniff of the device, and also put a pet’s favorite treat inside the net. It should also take time to get used to the muzzle. In the first days, 2-3 minutes of wearing the limiter are enough, then the duration of use can be increased to half an hour or more.

The breed is versatile and works excellently underground, on land, in water, but all this is subject to quality training and baiting. It is believed that individuals from the Soviet lines were angrier towards the beast than their today’s descendants, but in general, the Saudis retained the purity of hunting instincts and phenomenal viscosity. The German Jagdterrier is an excellent rapporteur of small game, especially waterfowl. Representatives of the family are ready to dive for a downed bird into a body of water of any depth, without suffering from low temperatures at all. For example, there are cases when animals fished out a trophy even during an ice drift.

If desired, the dog can be involved in a gun hunt to search for wounded animals, as well as to hunt a wild boar. True, in the second case, a support group consisting of representatives of hound breeds will be required. But burrows were and remain the real element of the German Jagdterrier. Moreover, it is not recommended to bring the pet to a direct fight in the burrow. The task of the agenda is to keep the predator until the hunter comes. If the dog has gone too far and is trying to deal with a fox or badger on its own, it must be removed from the underground labyrinth by the tail.

The first dressing should be carried out no earlier than the animal is 8-10 months old. For this purpose, a “running” fox is used, which keeps a decent distance and does not rebuff the pursuer. Remember that a puppy at this age has an unstable psyche, and aggressive games can discourage him from hunting for life. You can build a hole for training yourself, or you can use ready-made structures for baiting stations. The main thing is not to put pressure on the dog and not push it into the maze. The Jagd terrier must take an interest in the hole and dive into it.

The first to practice the skills of searching for and pursuing the beast. The second stage is the training of anger and grasp, and the last skill is recommended to be “put” on a raccoon. Unlike the fox and badger, this minke whale is not capable of causing serious injury to a pet. Some hunters use yagda on stray cats, but this method is discouraged as it teaches the dog to view domestic animals as potential prey. By the way, among professionals, game terriers are especially appreciated, which do not tear the animal to shreds, but competently dodge its claws.

The German Jagdterrier is an inquisitive choleric and a hard worker who needs constant fresh impressions, therefore it is recommended to keep the breed outside the home. On the other hand, the climate of the middle zone for yagi is rather cold, therefore, the arrangement of a spacious aviary and a heated booth with a floor is considered a necessary measure. It is strictly forbidden to put a dog on a chain – such movement restraints break the psyche of the animal, making it uncontrollable and aggressive. If the pet is too angry with the guests who stepped into the territory of the yard, it can be temporarily isolated in the aviary.

Keeping a hunting terrier in an apartment is less preferable, but possible. In this case, the pet will have to compensate for the lack of impressions with frequent and long walks – from 3 hours a day or more. If the dog lives in a country cottage with a personal plot and a garden, you can take him out on the street less often. Let your four-legged friend run around the yard, arrange a couple of tunnels in places where there are no beds and flower beds – this will help the yagda quench his thirst for activity and make him less insistently demanding excursions outside the house.

The German Jagdterrier is not a decorative furry, it does not need visits to the groomer. To make a smooth-haired hunter look neat, it is enough to comb it with a brush or rubber mitten, massaging the skin and thus removing dead hairs. During the period of seasonal molting, the frequency of combing will have to be increased, but even if this is not done, the Jagdterrier will not fill up the apartment with woolen “stacks”.

With wire-haired individuals, you will have to tinker a little longer. By the way, even though formally trimming and grooming of the breed is prohibited, most owners pinch their shaggy wards. There is no serious crime in such hygienic procedures, but only if the dog starts up for work. Owners planning to travel with their “Germans” to exhibitions will have to forget about trimming forever, or do it a few months before the event so that the wool has time to grow back and even out.

For the rest, caring for a German Jagdterrier is the same as for any dog. Check your pet’s eyes daily for inflammation and dust, and wipe them with strong tea or chilled chamomile tea. Do not forget to inspect your ears, especially if you hunted with a berry the day before – there may be debris and ticks inside the funnel. Be sure to have in your home medicine cabinet the ectoparasite remedies that terriers acquire on the hunt. Well, of course, watch the health of the paws. After walking and hunting, check for cuts and peeling on the pads, and periodically lubricate the skin with unrefined vegetable oil and greasy hand cream.

It is advisable to wash German game terriers as rarely as possible. First, hard tap water and pet shampoos degrade the quality of the coat. And secondly, the Jagd already swims enough on the hunt, jumping into the pond after the downed bird. An exception can be made when an unpleasant amber comes from the dog. Hunting terriers love to lie in carrion, and even in excrement, which is used as a camouflage remedy for their own odor. So if the pet is “fragrant” too intensely, he is supposed to arrange a bath day. In summer, it is allowed to take the Jagdterrier to a deserted beach, where it will gladly bathe and play enough.

Feeding
An actively hunting Jagdterrier eats everything that is offered to him with appetite. Obligatory foods in the dog’s diet are stringy meat and its trimmings, offal, cereals (buckwheat, rice, millet, oatmeal), fish fillets, low-fat cottage cheese, and kefir. The puppies’ menu includes natural milk and eggs, but adults can easily do without such “delights”. The optimal dish for a hunting dog is porridge or soup with meat and bone broth, to which, in addition to cereals, potatoes, offal, beets, carrots, and cabbage are added. So that the pet is not tempted to choose more tasty pieces, it is better to wipe the soup until smooth. In the spring, it is useful to add chopped young greens and nettles scalded with boiling water to the feed.

The need for fats in animal dogs is an order of magnitude higher than that of pets, so experts recommend mixing melted beef and fish oil into the food. Rye bread is given only in dried form and only as a delicacy. If you don’t like brushing the teeth of the German Jagdterrier, treat your dog with cartilage and sometimes flat spongy bones more often. It is both a source of collagen and at the same time a “brush” that removes food plaque. Vitamin complexes from a zoo pharmacy will also not be superfluous, but it is better to select them after a veterinary examination.

Owners who want to save their own time and effort are switching yagadov to dry food. This is okay, but for industrial food to be beneficial and completely replace a balanced natural diet, you need to choose varieties of the premium and holistic segment. Regarding the frequency of feeding, an adult Jagd Terrier should be fed twice a day; a puppy under the age of 2.5 months – five times; a baby from 2.5 to 4 months – four times; a teenager from 4 to 8 months – three times a day.

Like most working breeds, German Yagdy does not suffer from excessive soreness and does not inherit from their parents dozens of genetic ailments that interfere with an active life. An exception to the general rule is the displacement of the lens, inherent in all representatives of the terrier group, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The latter disease also occurs in other breeds and manifests itself in excessive elasticity and flabbiness of the skin.

To this day, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is not treated, so the only thing that can be done for an animal with such lesions of the dermis is to minimize the risk of injury and tissue rupture, which will then have to be sewn up by a veterinarian. German game terriers are not insured against infectious and viral diseases, so do not neglect vaccinations against distemper, rabies, and piroplasmosis. This is especially true for dogs that regularly hunt and risk catching the disease from wild animals and ticks.

How to choose a puppy?

• For frequent hunting trips, males of the German Jagdterrier are preferable. Females in working with animals are often interfered with by heat, during which concentration of attention and endurance decrease.
• Observe how the animal behaves with its littermates. Little Magda often arranges fights in which there are winners and losers. If during the conflict, the puppy found himself an outsider and retired at the beginning of the battle, this indicates his cowardice and inconsistency as a future hunter.
• Hunting experience and working diplomas of puppy parents are important attributes. Good viciousness and toughness are inherited by German jagdterriers.
• Check the accuracy of the information provided by the seller about the litter and sires. Contact the breed club of game terriers and find out if the mating was really planned and whether the puppies were born after it claims pedigrees.
• Do not choose the cockiest and aggressive baby. Having matured, such an animal will have an explosive character, which will complicate the process of education and training.
• A correct German Jagdterrier puppy will not be afraid of the presence of a stranger in the kennel but will resist when trying to turn him over on his back. Such a reaction is considered normal and adequate unless the baby chokes with squeals and growls.