*Click on the title, above, or the thumbnail photo, left, to open this album to view the photos.*
Yes, some rat terriers do have soft, silky coats. The longer coat becomes evident when the puppy is about 2 weeks old. These fuzzy puppies are absolutely adorable. We are now using the name, TEDDY BEAR RAT TERRIERS to describe these soft-coated rat terriers.
The long hair is caused by an autosomal recessive gene mutation in the FGF5 (fibroblast growth factor 5) gene.
GenSol Diagnostics in Clayton, Georgia does offer a genetic coat length DNA test kit (cheek swab) to find out if a dog carries the long coat gene or not.
CATEGORIES FOR COATS ~REGULAR SHORT COATED RAT TERRIER THAT DOES NOT CARRY THE LONG COAT GENE~ The short coat gene is dominant, labeled genetically as "LL." The "LL" dog can only pass on the "LL" (short coat gene) to its offspring.
~SHORT-COATED RAT TERRIER THAT CARRIES THE LONG HAIRED GENE~ A rat terrier with a short coat that carries the long hair gene is labeled genetically as "Ll." The "Ll" dog will pass on the "L" (short coat gene) or the "l" (long haired gene) to its offspring.
~LONG HAIRED RAT TERRIERS~ A rat terrier born with a long coat is labeled genetically as "ll." The "ll" dog can only pass on the "ll" (long haired gene) to its offspring.
Examples: 1. Lucinda is an Ll, Woody is an ll, pups statistically will be Ll and ll, or 25% short coat and 75% long coat. 2. Annie is an Ll, Bart is an Ll, pups statistically will be Ll and Ll, meaning 50% short coat and 50% long coat.
Where the long haired gene comes from is anybody's guess, because many breeds make up the foundation stock of the rat terrier heritage. Most long-time breeders will tell you that they've had a long haired rat terrier puppy show up here and there. However, you will never see long haired rat terriers in the AKC or UKC show ring because the long coat is a breed disqualification.
Here are some long haired rat terriers that we have produced: 01. BORN MAY 4, 2001 - RALPH - Spring High's Ralph - black tri male - (Sunflower X Boonton) RIP 02. BORN APRIL 27, 2004 - ALICE - Spring High's Joliet - black tri female - (Sunflower X Boonton) RIP
***TWELVE YEAR GAP!! NO FUZZIES!!***
03. BORN JAN. 10, 2016 - CANDY - Spring High's Candy Land - black tri female - (Annie X Bart) OUR HOUSE PET 04. BORN JULY 5, 2016 - BUTCH - Spring High's Butch Cassidy - black tri male - (Comet X Bart) SOLD ************************************* 05. BORN FEB. 15, 2017 - SMOKY - Spring High's Great Smoky Mtns - pearl tri male - (Comet X Bart) SOLD 06. BORN SEPT. 10, 2017 - JUNIOR - Spring High's Jolly Rancher - chocolate sable male - (Annie X Bart) BREEDING MALE ************************************* 07. BORN JUNE 17, 2018 - WOODY - Spring High's Into The Woods - chocolate & white male - (Comet X Dash) BREEDING MALE 08. BORN JUNE 17, 2018 - BEAR - Spring High's Lil Brown Bear - chocolate tri male - (Comet X Dash) SOLD 09. BORN JUNE 17, 2018 - FOREST - Spring High's Into The Forest - chocolate tri female (Comet X Dash) SOLD ************************************* 10. BORN MAY 17, 2019 - ARCHIE - Spring High's Blue Royalty - blue sable male (Comet X Bart) BREEDING MALE 11. BORN MAY 26, 2019 - SAPPHIRE - Spring High's Sapphire Blue - blue tri female (Lucinda X Bart) SOLD 12. BORN MAY 26, 2019 - EMERALD - Spring High's Emerald - tan sable male (Lucinda X Bart) SOLD 13. BORN JUNE 21, 2019 - BELLE - Spring High's Billabong Belle - black tri female (Annie X Bart) OUR HOUSE PET 14. BORN DEC. 3, 2019 - CORA - Spring High's Cora Rose - black tri female (Lucinda X Woody) SOLD 15. BORN DEC. 3, 2019 - EMMA - Spring High's Emma Mae - black tri female (Lucinda X Woody) SOLD 16. BORN DEC. 3, 2019 - JIMMY - Spring High's Jimmy Mack - black & white male (Lucinda X Woody) SOLD 17. BORN DEC. 3, 2019 - LOGAN - Spring High's Logan Lane - blue tri male (Lucinda X Woody) SOLD ************************************* NO LONG HAIRED PUPPIES WERE BORN IN 2020. ************************************* 18. BORN AUG. 1, 2021 - FINCH - Spring High's Finch - black and white male (Lucinda X Woody) SOLD 19. BORN AUG. 1, 2021 - BLUE JAY - Spring High's Blue Jay - blue and white male (Lucinda X Woody) SOLD 20. BORN AUG 1, 2021 - DOTTIE - Spring High's Dot Dot Dash - black and white female (Lucinda X Woody) BREEDING FEMALE ************************************** 21. BORN MARCH 12, 2022 - BAILEY - Spring High's Bailey - black & white male (Cambria X Woody) OUR HOUSE PET 22. BORN MARCH 12, 2022 - ERIN - Spring High's Erin - chocolate & white female (Cambria X Woody) SOLD *************************************** NO LONG HAIRED PUPPIES WERE BORN IN 2023. *************************************** NO LONG HAIRED PUPPIES WERE BORN IN 2024. *************************************** 23. BORN JAN 8, 2025 - GINGER - Spring High's Ginger Gold - chocolate & white female - (Cambria X Woody) 24. BORN JAN 8, 2025 - MACK - Spring High's McIntosh - chocolate & white male - (Cambria X Woody) 25. BORN JAN 8, 2025 - CORTLAND - Spring High's Cortland - chocolate & white male - (Cambria X Woody) 26. BORN JAN 8, 2025 - JONATHAN - Spring High's Jonathan - chocolate white tan male - (Cambria X Woody) 27. BORN JAN 15, 2025 - DILL - Spring High's Dill - black white tan female - (Lucinda X Woody) 28. BORN JAN 15, 2025 - RUGBY - Spring High's Rugby - black & white male - (Lucinda X Woody) 29. BORN JAN 15, 2025 - SPIKE - Spring High's Spike - blue white tan male - (Lucinda X Woody)
Date(s): Updated March 30, 2025. Album by Bruce Strand. Photos by Bruce & Ralph. 1 - 107 of 107 Total. 13385 Visits.
1 1. RALPH (2001) and 2. ALICE (2004)
One pup in our first Sunflower X Boo litter born 5/4/01 had a fuzzy coat. Everyone who came to look at the puppies wanted him, but we had already decided to keep him and named him Ralph. Here is Ralph in Bruce's pocket.
2 Ralph matured into a long-haired rat terrier with tipped ears. He and Bruce were constant companions until Ralph's battle with cancer took his life in 2006.
3 Ralph cooled off right in the water bowl itself.
But Ralph wasn't the only long-haired rat terrier that the Sunflower X Boonton cross produced. In 2004, we had ALICE. We also had NICKY (now living in Loxahatchee, FL) and NOLA (now living in the Orlando, FL area).
4 Ralph (L) born in 2001 and Alice (R) born in 2004, both from short-coated parents.
5 They have a thick neck ruffle and fuzzy ears. Hair on back of hind legs is also long, and docked tails have a curley "lock" hanging down.
6 On their backs, you can see the long hairs on their bellies...they have the texture of kitties! Extremely fine & soft.
7 Alice has the painted-on smile like clown paint, with erect ears, whereas Ralph has tipped ears with wispy tendrils.
8 Sunflower (L), Alice (C) and Ralph (R).
9 Alice is upside down, on her back as the close-up was taken, what a mug shot!
10 Alice March 20, 2011
11 Alice On The Run! March 20, 2011
12 Alice March 20, 2011 Showing off her soft coat.
13 Boonton and Sunflower Studio Portrait, 2002
Ralph and Alice's sire and dam.
Both had short coats. Both carried the recessive long hair gene.
14 3. Candy (2016)
Candy Jan. 31, 2016 3 weeks old 1 lb 5 ounces
15 Candy We haven't had a soft-coated puppy born here since 2004. This little special girl is staying here. "Oh my!! you have another long hair ..." "OMG! She is gorgeous! Can't wait to ..." View Comments...
23 Butch "Looks like Candy's bro, love these b..." "What a gorgeous boy you are!" View Comments...
24 Butch Aug. 23, 2016 7 weeks old 4 lbs 6 ounces "What a lucky mama to have such a cut..." View Comments...
25 Butch
26 Butch
His sire: Bart His dam: Comet Both have short coats. Both trace back to Boonton. Both carry the recessive long hair gene. "Hes my sweetie and evey bit as sweet..." View Comments...
27 Butch all grown up. His new name is Bolty. October 2019 3 years old
28 Butch all grown up. He is a black tri-color long haired rat terrier.
29 5. Smoky (2017)
MALE - Smoky March 22, 2017 5 weeks old 3 lbs 4 ounces = 3.25 lbs "OMG, he's adore Sue!
Kelly will be ..." View Comments...
32 Smoky March 29, 2017 6 weeks old 3 lbs 14 ounces We tried a darker background. His color is difficult to capture. "Absolutely gorgeous puppy! Love the ..." View Comments...
33 Smoky
34 Smoky
35 Smoky April 05, 2017 7 weeks old 4 lbs 6 ounces "OMG, he's cuter with each passing w..." View Comments...
36 Smoky
37 Smoky
His sire: Bart His dam: Comet Both have short coats. Both trace back to Boonton. Both carry the recessive long hair gene.
46 Junior Oct. 22, 2017 6 weeks old 2 lbs 11 ounces "Sue, he is absolutely adorable!" View Comments...
47 Junior
48 Junior
His sire: Bart His dam: Annie Both have short coats. Both trace back to Boonton. Both carry the recessive long hair gene.
49 7. Woody (2018) July 8, 2018 3 weeks old 15.2 ounces
50 Woody July 15, 2018 4 weeks old 1 lb 3 ounces
51 Woody
52 Woody July 22, 2018 5 weeks old 1 lb 8 ounces
53 Woody
54 Woody all grown up. October 2019 1 year old
55 Woody all grown up. October 2019 1 year old
56 8. Bear (2018)
57 9. Forest (2018)
58 Woody - Forest - Bear (2018)
Littermate Fuzzies - Woody is staying here.
Bruce had a good grip on Woody, and I had a good grip on Bear. Posing together was not on their agenda.
59 10. Archie (2019) June 14, 2019 4 weeks old 2 lbs 15 ounces
60 Archie "Oh my goodness, what a beautiful pup..." View Comments...
61 Archie
62 Archie June 28, 2019 6 weeks old 3 lbs 9 ounces
63 Archie
64 Archie
65 11. Sapphire (2019) June 23, 2019 4 weeks old 2 lbs 4 ounces
66 Sapphire
67 Sapphire
68 Sapphire June 30, 2019 5 weeks old 2 lbs 8 ounces
69 Sapphire
70 Sapphire
71 12. Emerald (2019) June 23, 2019 4 weeks old 2 lbs 7 ounces
72 Emerald
73 Emerald
74 Emerald June 30, 2019 5 weeks old 3 lbs 0 ounces
75 Emerald
76 Emerald
77 11. Sapphire and 12. Emerald July 7, 2019 6 weeks old
78 13. Belle (2019) July 19, 2019 4 weeks old 1 lb 7 ounces
79 Belle
80 Belle July 26, 2019 5 weeks old 1 lb 12 ounces
81 Belle
82 Belle Aug. 2, 2019 6 weeks old 2 lbs 0 ounces "So Fluffy:)" View Comments...
83 Belle
84 Belle Aug. 10, 2019 7 weeks + 1 day old 2 lbs 4 ounces
85 Belle
86 Fluffy Sisters L: Spring High's Candyland aka Lucy R: Spring High's Billabong Belle
87 Belle Aug. 17, 2019 8 weeks + 1 day old 2 lbs 8 ounces
88 Belle
Thank you, Barb (Hilltop Acres Rat Terriers, KY), for my embroidered Spring High Rat Terriers tee-shirt used as the background for this week's portraits. "Love the puppy and the t-shirt:)
Aw..." View Comments...
89 Belle Aug. 23, 2019 9 weeks old 2 lbs 11 ounces
90 Belle
91 14. Cora Rose Christmas 2019 3 weeks old
92 15. Emma Mae Christmas 2019 3 weeks old
93 16. Jimmy Mack Christmas 2019 3 weeks old
94 17. Logan Lane Christmas 2019 3 weeks old
95 18. Finch Aug. 29, 2021 4 weeks old 2 lbs 2 ounces
I used to have a long haired terrier to look just like the big one in your picture numbered 86 I wish I could find another one like that - Timothy m Patrick valley drilling, Sat, 25 Nov 2023 10:02PM
Looking forward to getting a pup! - Laurie Harvey, Wed, 14 Jul 2021 9:39AM
I have a male rat terrier that has long hair I think we may have one in our litter can you tell me more about them like how common they are? - Wes, Mon, 11 May 2020 8:56AM
So much fun seeing other long haired rat terriers. My Ralphie and Cookie had 2 females in their litter that had long hair. I kept one her name is Bluebell. - Nancy, Sun, 11 Mar 2018 10:17AM
