Quick Facts
Origin: England
Height: 15.5″
Weight: F: 15-17 lbs, M: 18 lbs
Color: White, White & black, White & tan, White black & tan, White tan & black
Lifespan: 12-15 years
Temperament: Playful, smart, affectionate, active, bold and fearless
Overview
Hip hip hooray for the “gentleman of the terrier world”! This breed was originally found bounding across hill and dale with many of their brethren foxhunting in Jolly Olde England. Now you can find the good lad having a pint (of water) with his family at the local (kitchen) pub.
These pups are well suited to active families that will fulfill pup’s need to explore and play. They will never tire of games so they are wonderful with children. Smoothies are easy to train and love learning tricks.
Celebrity Owners
Tom Ford
Fun Facts
- These pups have traveled with performing groups and circus troupes.
Health
On average Smoothies are very healthy dogs. Some health concerns to be aware of include:
- Distichiasis: This condition is where an extra eyelash grows through a duct or gland in the eye.
- Cataracts: A dog develops a cataract when the lens in its eye clouds. The clouding is caused by changes in the water balance or proteins in the lens.
- Primary lens luxation: Here, the tiny fibers that hold the lens suspended in the eye begin to degrade. Eventually, the lens can fall out of place.
- Shoulder dislocation: This is exactly what is sounds. The ligament holding the shoulder in place isn’t strong and tight enough to keep it in.
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: This disease occurs at the head of the femur (the ball and socket joint in your dog’s hips. Here, the femur degenerates which can cause the hip to collapse and can cause arthritis.
Whenever you are considering taking on a new pup, always request health screening from potential breeders.
While you always hope your pet will live a long and healthy life, it is always a good idea to invest in pet health insurance.
Keeping your dog’s mouth clean and problem free goes a long way to your pup’s overall health. Dental hygiene can be the cause or can be the byproduct of other serious health issues.
Visual inspections can be performed to keep track of the signs of potentially waning oral health. These signs can be anything from bad breath to abnormal chewing to loss of appetite.
Keeping ahead of these warning signs can pay dividends. A preventative approach can delay and stop many of the common dental problems from arising.
Oral health can be tackled in five basic steps:
- Brushing your dog’s teeth to prevent an undesirable buildup of plaque
- Feed your dog a diet where the high quality dog food has dental benefits
- Regularly give your dog dental toys and treats
- Use mouthwash, to help where brushing misses
- At the sign of any abnormalities, consult a vet. You can even do it virtually, from the convenience of your home.
Dogs are just like humans in that they can experience anxiety. The degree to which they are susceptible to anxiety and how they deal with anxiety is breed specific. Left unchecked, initial signs of anxiety could give way to an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety disorders can lead to a myriad of behavior issues.
Knowing the signs and symptoms will best equip you to keep ahead of it and to nip it in the bud at the earliest signs. There are options available to help with anxiety.
Grooming
Brushing your Smoothie weekly with a thick brush or a hound glove will help remove any dead hair and redistribute naturally occurring skin oils. These pups go through two season shedding periods where daily brushing will help control the amount of stray hair around your house.
Once monthly bathing or whenever your pup gets dirty will suffice. Keep their eyes and ears clean and clear of debris. Clip your pup’s nails regularly and brush their teeth several times per week.
Exercise
Smooth fox terriers have a strong instinct to chase prey, so always keep your pup leashed or inside a secure fence when outside of the house. This breed has loads of energy.
Plan on spending at least an hour exercising each day. Brisk walks, easy jogs or throwing the tennis ball 6 or 7,000 times should do the trick.
Nutrition
Your Smoothie will eat around 2 ½ cups of food per day. The exact requirements for your dog will vary with age and activity level. Be mindful that little dogs that receive lots of treats and or table scraps end up overweight. A little dog that is overweight is significantly more likely to develop other health issues.
We’ve taken a look at some premium dog foods, high in nutrition here.
Training
As with all dogs, early socialization with humans and other pups is crucial. This breed takes well to training and will happily learn new tricks. Keep training full of positive reinforcement and your Smoothie will happily work along side you. With the strong instinct to hunt, training is essential to keep your pup inline.
Proper training is essential to ensuring the safety of your dog and those around you. Having your dog come when they should, and in general having them listen is something you want to address early in your pup’s life, as it will pay dividends down the line. There are many tried and true training programs to accomplish this training – faster and better than you might think!
Unless you’re living on a farm, or have the space, a yipping dog, or one that barks all day when you are gone could be an issue with the neighbors and/or landlord. Historically, dogs would bark to communicate with the rest of the pack when hunting and bark as a warning shot to predators eyeing up their flock. Barking is deep rooted in dogs and manifests itself in many ways and for a variety of reasons.
Just like any habit or instinct, there are effective ways you can train this issue away.
Supplements
A solid Glucosamine Supplement for hips and joints will go a long way to helping your furry friend.
Other helpful supplements include full-spectrum hemp oil or CBD oil. Fish oil skin and coat supplement.
Ensuring a comprehensive preventative vitamin and mineral plan is essential to keeping your dog healthy. Truth is, there are vitamins and minerals that your dog needs, but doesn’t produce naturally. While many of these vitamins and minerals can be found in your dog’s current diet and dog food, the question becomes, are there enough vitamins to ensure they aren’t deficient.
Poor nutrition can lead to some of the most common health issues, such as weak joints, compromised immunity, increased allergies, and low energy.
Vitamins play a vital role in your pet’s health and overall life expectancy. Here are some multivitamin and joint relief options.
As regulations around marijuana have eased, the emergence of CBD oils for humans and dogs have sprung up.
Just to begin to dispel the negative stigma, CBD extract comes from Hemp, marijuana’s cousin. Unlike its cousin, there are no psychoactive qualities in CBD oil. An emerging number of clinical and institutional studies have shown the wide variety of healing qualities in CBD, including pain management, and the containment of seizures and epileptic episodes.
Explore this remedy further to see all the health benefits that have transformed the lives of so many dogs to date.
The Good
Low maintenance grooming
Great companions
The "Ruff"
Strong prey instincts
High need for exercise