Dog breed guide
Border Terrier
A small working terrier with a wiry coat that needs brushing a couple of times a week and sheds little to moderately. The Royal Kennel Club describes it as affectionate, good with children and eager to please, and suited to flat living but not to long spells alone. It needs at least an hour of exercise a day.
Border Terrier at a glance
- Adult weight, male
- 6 to 7 kg
- Adult weight, female
- 5 to 6 kg
- Size
- Small, under 10 kg
- Height
- 28 to 31 cm
- Lifespan
- 12 to 15 years
- Coat
- short dense undercoat with a very wiry, somewhat broken topcoat
Ratings
Petboost editorial ratings from 1 to 5, drawn from the breed standard text under Sources. A breed with no basis in the sources for a rating shows none.
- Shedding
- Grooming effort
- Energy
- Trainability
- Good with children
- Suits an apartment
5 means it sheds heavily
5 means it needs the most grooming
5 means it needs a lot of exercise
5 means it learns quickly and eagerly
5 means it suits a family best
5 means it copes best in a small home
Next steps
- Find a local groomer or daycarePet businesses near you that take bookings online.
- Check a Border Terrier puppy's weightWhere a puppy sits against the breed's adult range.
- Dog age in human yearsFrom a formula, not the seven-to-one rule.
Sources
- Petboost breed reference data, adult weight ranges (breed list snapshot).
- AKC, Official Standard for the Border Terrier, https://images.akc.org/pdf/breeds/standards/BorderTerrier.pdf, read 5 Oct 2026
- Purina Australia, Border Terrier breed page, https://www.purina.com.au/border-terrier.html, read 5 Oct 2026
- Royal Kennel Club (The Kennel Club UK), Border Terrier breed page, https://www.royalkennelclub.com/search/breeds-a-to-z/breeds/terrier/border-terrier/, read 5 Oct 2026
General information about the breed, not veterinary advice. Speak with your vet about your own pet.