Standard Manchester Terrier Description: The Manchester Terrier is a small, compact, agile dog with a long tapering head. The ears are V shaped, and may be naturally folded, pricked up or cropped. The small dark eyes are almond shape. The Manchester's teeth should form a scissor bite. The back line is slightly arched showing the breeds whippet heritage. The short whiptail tapers to the point. The coat colors are black and tan.

Head: The head is long, narrow, tight skinned, and almost flat with a slight indentation up the forehead. It resembles a blunted wedge in frontal and profile views. There is a visual effect of a slight stop as viewed in profile.

Eyes/Expression: The Manchester Terrier has a keen and alert expression. The nearly black, almond shaped eyes are small, bright, and sparkling. They are set moderately close together, slanting upwards on the outside. The eyes neither protrude nor sink in the skull. Pigmentation must be black.

Ears: Correct ears for the Standard variety is the naturally erect ear, the cropped ear, or the button ear. No preference is given to any of the ear types. The naturally erect ear, and the button ear, should be wider at the base tapering to point tips, and carried well up on the skull. Wide, flaring, blunt tipped, or "bell" ears are a serious fault. Cropped ears should be long, pointed and carried erect.

Muzzle: The muzzle and skull are equal in length. The muzzle is well filled under the eyes with no visible cheek muscles. The under jaw is full and well defined and the nose is black.

Bite: Tight black lips lie close to the jaw. The jaws should be full and powerful with full and proper dentition. The teeth are white and strongly developed with a true scissors bite. Level bite is acceptable.

Neck: The slightly arched neck should be slim and graceful, and have moderate length. It gradually becomes larger as it approaches, and blends smoothly with the sloping shoulders. Throatiness is undesirable.

Top line: The top line shows a slight arch over the robust loins falling slightly to the tail set. A flat back or roached back is to be severely penalized.

Body: The chest is narrow between the legs and deep in the brisket. The forechest is moderately defined. The ribs are well sprung, but flattened in the lower end to permit clearance of the forelegs. The abdomen should be tucked up extending in an arched line from the deep brisket. The taper style tail is moderately short reaching no further than the hock joint. It is set on at the end of the croup. Being thicker where it joins the body, the tail tapers to a point. The tail is carried in a slight upward curve, but never over the back.

Forequarters: The shoulder blades and the upper arm should be relatively the same length. The distance from the elbow to the withers should be approximately the same as the distance from the elbow to the ground. The elbows should lie close to the brisket. The shoulders are well laid back.

The forelegs are straight, of proportionate length, and placed well under the brisket. The pasterns should be almost perpendicular.

The front feet are compact and well arched. The two middle toes should be slightly longer than the others. The pads should be thick and the toenails should be jet black.

Hindquarters
The thigh should be muscular with the length of the upper and lower thighs being approximately equal. The stifle is well turned. The well let down hocks should not turn in nor out as viewed from the rear. The hind legs are carried well back. The hind feet are shaped like those of a cat with thick pads and jet-black nails.

Coat
The coat should be smooth, short, dense, tight, and glossy; not soft.

Color The coat color should be jet black and rich mahogany tan, which should not run or blend into each other, but abruptly form clear, well-defined lines of color. There shall be a very small tan spot over each eye, and a very small tan spot on each cheek. On the head, the muzzle is tanned to the nose. The nose and nasal bone are jet black. The tan extends under the throat, ending in the shape of the letter V. The inside of the ears are partly tan. There shall be tan spots, called "rosettes," on each side of the chest above the front legs. These are more pronounced in puppies than in adults. There should be a black "thumbprint" patch on the front of each foreleg at the pastern. The remainder of the foreleg shall be tan to the carpus joint. There should be a distinct black "pencil mark" line running lengthwise on the top of each toe on all four feet. Tan on the hind leg should continue from the penciling on the toes up the inside of the legs to a little below the stifle joint. The outside of the hind legs should be black. There should be tan under the tail, and on the vent, but only of such size as to be covered by the tail.

White on any part of the coat is a serious fault, and shall disqualify whenever the white shall form a patch or stripe measuring as much as one half inch at its longest dimension.

Any color other than black and tan shall be disqualified.

Color and/or markings should never take precedence over soundness and type.

Gait
The gait should be free and effortless with good reach of the forequarters, showing no indication of hackney gait. Rear quarters should have strong, driving power to match the front reach. Hocks should fully extend. Each rear leg should move in line with the foreleg of the same side, neither thrown in nor out. When moving at a trot, the legs tend to converge towards the center of gravity line beneath the dog.

Height/Weight: 15-16 inches/ 12-22 lbs average being about 18lbs for dogs and 17lbs for bitches

Temperament: The Manchester Terrier is neither aggressive nor shy. He is keenly observant, devoted, but discerning. Not being a sparring breed, the Manchester is generally friendly with other dogs. Excessive shyness or aggressiveness should be considered a serious fault. The Manchester Terrier is a very high spirited, intelligent and cunning dog, which is eager to learn. Manchester's enjoy pleasing their owners and are usually quick to learn. They are an extremely lively, sporty, alert and vigilant. These dogs do very well in agility and obedience trials. The Manchester Terrier should be well socialized at a young age to prevent any potential aggression. They tend to be headstrong, snappy and very protective. This breed needs plenty of thorough, firm training.

Grooming: the short, glossy black and tan coat is an easy care for coat requiring almost no grooming. Standard Manchester's are an average-minimal shedding dog.

Living Conditions: The Manchester Terrier is a good apartment dog. They are very active indoors and are ok without a yard.

Exercise: This breed enjoys exercise. They are ok without much but they do enjoy running. These dogs can run very fast and keep the speed up for a long time. Don't let this breed of leash unless it is fully trained as they have a tendency to chase things.

Group: Terrier