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Slickrock Decker Terriers The Decker Terrier is considered to be a line of Rat Terrier first developed by Milton Decker in the 1970's from a cross between a Fox Terrier and a mixed breed. His outstanding dog Henry was bred to other personally selected Rat Terriers from across the United States. At least one Basenji was also added, always with good temprement and hunt as the primary considerations. The result was a handsome muscular dog retaining the endearing "family dog" qualities of Rat Terriers.  Our Deckers are people friendly and very dedicated to their family.  They are agile, active dogs who love to run and hunt but hunt close to their handler.  When playtime is over they are content to curl up by your side and seem to always want to be near their people.  We breed for calm, even temprements in our dogs and to retain their zeal for coursing rabbit and finding ground squirrel, our main quarry out here in Slickrock country.  They are adaptable to all types of game when we make it up to the woods, and have a persuit yip to let you know the chase is on.  When striking a deer, they will run it, but return quickly to the hunter.  They are great companions for outdoors oriented non hunters as well.  When the hunt or hike is over, they make great laid back house dogs and excel at the art of being a couch potato. Slickrock is a Clark's line Decker with a 25% Key's outcross (old southern type rat terrier) bred by Eli Brown.  At 35 lb. he has the bone, muscle, and size that I most admire in Deckers.  He has that regal presence that most characterizes the original dogs bred by Milton Decker. I selected Rene to diversify the genetics of Slickrock's pups.  She is 84.375% original Decker but comes by that in a different, more diverse way, resulting in a lower inbreeding coefficient.  Their pups have about as varied a pedigree as you could find in a 70% Decker line dog. Our third generation is 80% original, but with an inbreeding cooefficient of less than 4%, they are even more genetically diverse. Genetic diversity is important in reducing the level of genetic disease caused by recessive homozygous gene pairings found in many modern breeds.  I specifically avoided the so called "100% Decker" when breeding my line, concentrating instead on look and temprement to produce a less inbred dog with all the classic attributes of the originals.  Our breeding plan now can move on to linebreeding and perpetuating the outstanding qualities of the dog that motivated me to become a breeder, Bluegrass Slickrock Decker.  We do not breed to increase percent.  It is only used for reference. We breed for qualities we like in hunt, temprement, and looks. Slickrock is actually the lowest original percent decker I have, after being reduced to 56.25% by the Seegmiller pedigree scandal (per NRTA official records) Kudos to the National Rat Terrier Association for stepping up and making these pedigrees accurate.   We will post available puppies on this site but won't have many. All our dogs are family pets that live together in the house and fenced yard and get their run in every day. They are an integral part of my family and I plan to remain small for this reason. We live in Page, Arizona, near the Utah border. In January we will be relocating to Western North Carolina.  Shipping by air or personal delivery is available.  All our Deckers are registered with the DECKER HUNTING TERRIER REGISTRY established by Milton and Ellis Decker and George Palmer.  DHTR believes in the continued development of the Decker for it's original working utility dog purpose, and we are proud to give them our support in this endeavor.  Registration as Rat Terriers, Decker bloodline is also available thru the Universal Kennel Club and the National Rat Terrier Association. email jegossett@yahoo.com for info.  Jack Gossett 1 - 15 of 16 Total.

1. Slickrock x Carrie Pups  (August 2, 2010) All pups have homes. Abigail (Abby): Bear Tuff Rat Terriers, Prescott, Iowa Chaco:  JT, California Cupid:  MM, Page, Az. Sweetie: Reggie in New Jersey King: Tracey in Colorado Bruizer: Chad in West Virginia Duke:  Bob in Virginia 26 Visits 53 Images Shared Album 2. A dog with a history  (March 8, 2010) 1576 Visits 18 Images Shared Album 3. Desert Dogs 2010  (January 31, 2010) photos by Megan Moore and Acer Gossett 2929 Visits 50 Images Shared Album 4. our third decker generation  (August 22, 2009) Slickrock's Kimi Girl x Diamond Valley Patches.  CARRIE X SLICKROCK PUPS ARE DUE AUGUST 1. Born 3/27/09. Carrie is 30 lbs. now and Bobcat (NBT) 25.  Having obtained maximum genetic diversity in the high percent decker in our first two crosses, and an inbreeding coefficient of less than 4%, we plan to breed these girls back to their grandsire Slickrock in 2010.  We expect consistent deckers of Slickrock's size, confirmation, and hunting ability. 1992 Visits 57 Images Shared Album 5. our puppy photos  (October 11, 2009) 6 Albums Shared Folder 6. Decker genetics and Natural Bobtails  (March 31, 2009) The gene or genes responsible for producing natural bob tail (NBT) Rat Terriers has been present from the days when Milton Decker developed his line. It was not seen in the dogs actually bred by Mr. Decker. It has become quite common in recent years because of some undocumented outcrosses, which have resulted in downward revisions to the decker percentage commonly used to indicate an estimation of the genes passed down by the original Milton Decker line. Is a natural bob tail dog something to avoid?  No. It has no affect on the health of the adult dogs.  The only issue is if you intend to breed them. NBT x NBT crosses may result in pups with "tails" so short as to actually lack a portion of the spine! This is very rare, but I reccommend that NBT's should only be bred to full tail dogs. You will generally then have a mix of at least 50% of the pups having full tails, and the rest having tails of acceptable length, since most people dock them anyway. Bottom line:  If you even think you might want to breed your dog someday, full tail pups will produce consistent dockable tails and help reduce the prevalence of NBT in this line. A pup with a full tail does not carry the gene. If you are sure you are going to spay or neuter, pick the one you like.  It truely does not matter.  Not all breeders identify which dogs and pups they have which are NBT.  So if you are looking for breeding stock, do not assume that a puppy is not an NBT just because it doesn't have the letters NBT by it's name.  At Slickrock Deckers all NBT pups will carry the initials NBT on their pedigrees. 493 Visits 1 Images Shared Album 7. 2009 Planned Breedings  (January 30, 2009) Kimi Girl (NBT) has been bred to Diamond Valley Patches(full tail).  Pups due around the 1st of April.  Outstanding Decker bloodlines and genetic diversity in this 79.956% cross.  Kimi combines Merlin/Avalon, Claude/Lucy, two Deckers from the Clark's line, and Eli Brown's Keys outcross.  Patches is a proven stud from the Fire Mountain line with a strong influence from Fire Mountain Tonka. Update: 3/27/09:  Kimi had 6 girls and one boy.  Most are Tuxedo pattern, but one girl is a gorgeous piebald with lots of black, and one girl has an all white body with only one black spot. This will also be a beautiful dog if it continues to retain Slickrock's and Patches' lack of ticking.  Well OK, she will be beautiful if she develops ticking too, I just like Slickrock's clean white look. 509 Visits 1 Images Gallery Album 8. Desert Dogs 2008  (December 19, 2007) I'm in persuit of some action shots this year. Easier said than done even with a 12x zoom lens.  It narrows the field of view so much I can hardly find them as they streak by. NEW 2009 PHOTOS HAVE BEEN ADDED. enjoy 3886 Visits 47 Images Shared Album 9. Kimi Girl   (NBT)  (November 28, 2007) I kept this pup from the first litter, a very good combination of Decker genes. Kimi has a sweet and lovable personality.  She is friendly with people and other dogs, and a real go getter and very fast on the rabbit hunt.  She inherited the "persuit yip" from her dad, Slickrock. Inbreeding Coefficient: 6.351% Current weight: 28 lbs. height at withers: 16" 1067 Visits 11 Images Shared Album 10. First Litter  (September 27, 2007) I'm very pleased with the reports on Slickrock and Rene's first litter.  I'm getting positive comments on both temprements and confirmation.  Rene had six pups, there are four here. Check out DUKE at http://imageevent.com/shadowdancedeckers .One pup died in an unfortunate auto accident at his new owners. 36 Visits 12 Images Gallery Album 11. Slickrock (NBT)  and Rene(NBT)   (February 18, 2007) 1756 Visits 9 Images Gallery Album 12. desert dogs  (December 27, 2006) The dogs love to go rabbit hunting.  They hunt, I just walk.  The one with the tail is Moki, my rescue dog from Hawaii.  His range was too far at first and he got lost, but he is getting better by running with the Deckers.  I vary my route so they have to keep tabs on where I am. 2279 Visits 24 Images Gallery Album 13. Rene' 5 mo., Slickrock 12 months  (October 12, 2006) Rene' is 18 lbs. now and Slickrock 31 lbs 962 Visits 9 Images Shared Album 14. Slickrock and Rene'  (July 27, 2006) Slickrock at 9 mo. and Rene' at 3 mo. 4 Visits 10 Images Shared Album 15. Page High Soccer  (January 29, 2008) Acer is number 13, but he's been pretty lucky. 1089 Visits 10 Images Shared Album

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