!! Planned litters for 2026 !!
Welcome!
Blackwood Rat Terriers is located in Central Florida. We were first introduced to this wonderful breed in 2003 and fell in love with their intelligence, loyalty, prey drive, and their overall silliness. I started showing in conformation in 2009 and have been breeding since 2013. We are a small hobby/preservation breeder that produces only one to three litters a year. All of our Rat Terriers are health tested at the minimum for PLL, PRA-PRCD, patella, and cardiac, prior to breeding to ensure we are doing our best to not pass along affected or unsound Rat Terriers. We breed to the American Kennel Club (AKC) and United Kennel Club (UKC) breed standards and primarily breed for "standard" sized Rat Terriers. However, on occasion we have produced some miniatures in the past. Our goal is to produce healthy, well-tempered standard Rat Terriers that conform to the breed standard, are biddable, have a great hunt drive and love to cuddle in our laps. Our dogs are registered with American Kennel Club (AKC) and United Kennel Club (UKC). We do not believe in breeding purely to produce puppies, but in breeding to better the breed one litter at a time. All of our dogs live inside our home and our puppies are raised in our home, raised as part of our family. We do NOT breed merles.
Rat Terriers in general...
- Personality: Friendly (when socialized properly), lovable, inquisitive; fearlessly game for just about anything
- Energy Level: Very Active; A busy, active dog of seemingly boundless energy; however does have an off switch
- Good with Children: Yes, when brought up with them as a puppy
- Good with other Dogs: Yes, when brought up with them as a puppy and/or properly socialized
- Shedding: Yes, however minimal when groomed regularly
- Grooming: Occasional
- Trainability: Eager To Please
- Height: 10-13 inches (miniature), 13-18 inches (standard)
- Life Expectancy: 12-18 years
- Barking Level: Barks When Necessary
PLL (Primary Lens Luxation)
Rat Terriers are an overall healthy breed. The main health concern is Primary Lens Luxation (PLL). PLL can be found in many terrier breeds and a genetic marker is now available for testing. There are three designations, clear, carrier and at risk. Clear will have no risk of the disease, however it can still have a lens luxate due to an eye injury. A clear can be bred with any dog regardless of their PLL status. Carriers have a very slight chance of acquiring it, but is not likely, and should never be bred to another carrier. At risk dogs will eventually have their lens luxate. The majority of affected dogs will usually luxate between 4 and 8 years old.
Standard practice in our breed is to breed either clear to clear or clear to carrier. If a breeder does not know their dogs PLL status you are taking an unnecessary risk with a puppy from them. The genetic test has only been available for around ten years. Eventually, by using this test as a guideline the breed should stop seeing affected dogs without decreasing the gene pool and hence keeping our breed healthy.
