Rat Terrier Colors, Coat Options, And Markings

It’s hard to distinguish what a dog might look like when grown up just by looking at puppies. Many body appearances will not be that visible apart from looking like a plushy fluff ball. Let’s find out the Rat Terrier colors, coat options and their markings.

The nose, ears, and body will start taking their actual shape while the puppy is growing up in many dog breeds. But when choosing your best friend, its appearance must match the picture on your mind for complete satisfaction.

So what does a Rat Terrier dog look like? He’s a small yet sturdy and well-balanced-bodied dog. The body is rectangular, and the head takes a smooth, blunt wedge shape.

Let’s get started!

What Does A Rat Terrier Look Like? 

Rat Terriers are a dog breed that originated in America. He’s designed mainly to help in farming and hunting activities. He got his name because this small dog is a champion in catching rats.

But after farmers started using anti-pest chemicals to control the rodent population, Rat Terriers lost their job; but later reinvented themselves as domesticated pets famous worldwide. 

Rat Terriers have a simple, petite body. If you study him from the sides, you’ll notice that his body has a rectangular shape and big pointy ears that get erected upright when he’s alert.

Ratties possess a small stern face with strict facial features and a sharply curved tail. A purebred American Rat Terrier has thin, long legs. Even though these limbs look delicate, they pack an enormous strength that helps Rat Terriers run faster behind their targets. 

Overall, a Rat Terrier is a small dog breed that possesses much strength inside his tiny body.

Furthermore, the purebred Rattie has a smooth and short yet dense fur coat that doesn’t demand much of your attention. 

There are two sizes of Rat Terriers: the standard size and the miniature breed. 

While the standard breed grows up to one foot to one and a half feet in height, the miniature will only be about 10 inches to one foot. They’d weigh up to 10 to 26 lbs and 4 to 6 lbs, respectively.

But now, other than these two original sizes, the Toy Rat Terrier is even smaller than the miniature Rattie and the Decker Rat Terrier, which is bigger than the standard size. 

What Are The Rat Terrier’s Colors And Markings? 

The next important thing to check out before buying a Rat Terrier is the colors in the fur coat and markings.

Unlike other dog breeds that come in a few colors, Rat Terriers come with a dozen colors and marking patterns that you can choose from. Let us tell you briefly about Rat Terrier colors. 

Black, white, brown, tan, orange, pearl, chocolate, lemon, and apricot are the most common Rat Terrier colors.

These colors come in many combinations in bicolor fur coats or tricolor coats. But the unique feature is there’s always even a bit of white marking on the Rat Terrier’s body. 

When the markings on a Rat Terrier color coat are considered, you can find many, including; the Tuxedo Coat Pattern, which has solid color all over the body with white on the chest and limbs.

There are many patches of a darker shade of the same color in the Solid Color Marking. In Pearl Merle, you can see merle patterns all over the pearl Rat Terrier color coat.

Other than those, there are eight other official markings found on a colored coat of a Rat Terrier. 

• Badger Marking – has a tan body with a dark face.
• Blanketed Back – in this, there are piebald markings all over Rattie’s back and ribs.
• Irish Marking – is similar to the Tuxedo Coat Pattern seen in Rat Terrier colors.
• Piebald – In this marking pattern, there are different shaped white markings with any other color and tan. 
• Solid – the dog’s whole body will be of one Rat Terrier color with very minimal involvement of whites.
• Spotted Piebald Color Pattern – covers the body in any color with or without markings with tan color. 
• White Mask – the overall body, is white with tiny patches of other colors.
• Tan Points – tan trims run all over the white body. 

What Are The Rat Terrier’s Coat Options? 

Frankly, if you’re looking for a purebred Rat Terrier, you cannot expect to have numerous coat options that you can choose from because Ratties only have one coat type in the purebred section. 

A Rat Terrier’s fur coat is short and smooth yet dense. Many people are scared to own a puppy with a thick fur coat, but surprisingly, Ratties only have single-layered fur running throughout their bodies. Thereby the maintenance is much easier compared to other thick fur coats. 

It is not a problem considering there are so many Rat Terrier colors that you can choose from. 

Here all we talked about was options related to purebred Ratties. What about the hybrid options? 

If you’re considering a Rat Terrier mix, there are many coat types and numerous new Rat Terrier colors.

In a purebred Rat Terrier, his coat is very short and looks like fur is literally glued down to the body. But in Rat Terrier mixes, you could find all types of coat options from short to medium to long. 

The Beagat Terrier (Beagle + Rat Terrier) and the Labrador Terrier have short but loose fur coats. They usually have black, brown, and white Rat Terrier colors and need minimal grooming care. 

You can find medium fur coats among Collie Terriers (Border Collie + Rattie) and Ratshih Terriers (Shih Tzu + Rattie). Light brown, white, chocolate, black, and yellow colors are the most beautiful in them. 

The PooRat Terrier (Poodle + Rat Terrier) and the Ratshire (Yorkshire + Rat Terrier) have beautiful longer coats. Chocolate, black, white, pearl yellow, white, and brown are typical. 

Not only these, but many other Rat Terrier mixes give birth to many cute puppies. You must consider one if you need to buy a long-haired dog or a medium-haired dog with a lot of energy.

Thank you for reading and Stay tuned with Jack Russell Owner for more.