Rat Terrier Origins

Terriers came to America long before there were "breeds" as we know them today, and across the South and in some parts of the West they were used as all-purpose hunting dogs, good for squirrel, possum, groundhog, raccoon, deer, fox and even bear. Grouped under the title "feist" (a term first coined by George Washington), the dogs were very loosely bred for looks but at times very closely bred for utility.

One of the most famous feists in American terrier history was originally owned by Colorado bear hunter John Goff.

In a September 1905 article in Outdoor Life magazine, Goff described his bear pack "in the order of efficiency" as "foxhounds, bloodhounds, crosses between these two, bull-terriers, fox-terriers, fox-terrier crosses with other terriers, and canines that can only be called just ‘dog’.”

In 1905 Goff was hired as a bear hunting guide by President Theodore Roosevelt. During the trip Roosevelt was enchanted by the boisterous bravery of a small black and tan terrier that joined the bear-hunting fray. The dog was named "Skip," and for the remainder of the trip he managed to find himself in Roosevelt's lap or on his saddle.

Goff gave the terrier to Roosevelt at the end of his stay, and Roosevelt brought the dog back to the White House where it found work chasing rats in the basement and served as progenitor of the breed we know today as the American Rat Terrier.

Skip died the year before Roosevelt left the White House and was buried on the back lawn. The dog was so loved, however, that when Roosevelt left he had the dog exhumed and the body reinterred at Sagamore Hill, the family's New York estate.