Size, Proportion, Substance

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Dorothy Caspersz, one of the finest writers on the subject of the Scottish Terrier, was skeptical of the new type and described the great Necessity as "Falstaffian." Her American counterpart, Dr. Fayette Ewing, wrote this about the new Scottie of the 30's:

"It was evident that in his placements, Mr. Reeves learned toward the working type, the dog that the founders had in mind when they made the Standard, a dog just a little more active and rangy than the one that has come to be the ideal of the most successful breeders of our day. For this he is to be commended; it is what this writer has long advocated for the salvation of the breed: a dog active enough to get over ground; game enough to fight a varmint; small enough to be a handy house-pet and at the same time go to ground and do the business for which he was created. But this fight that I have made so long I realize is a losing fight. For good or ill, the Scottish Terrier is to become a show picture, something different from the rest of the Terrier tribe, a distinct personality but withal unworkable though admirable, lovable, and attractive. This writer will continue to advocate moderation."

The purists lost the fight in England. In 1950, the English Kennel Club again revised the standard to allow for a bigger dog. Weight was increased to a range of nineteen to twenty-three pounds and the height-at-shoulder measurement  was changed to " ten to eleven inches."

The Scottish Terrier Club of England objected vigorously and in writing but to no avail. This plea appeared in the 1949 Scottish Terrier Club of England Handbook:

"It is a mistake to tamper too much with fundamental things, and the Standard of a breed is fundamental. The Standards of our British breeds were drawn up by wise men, and aided and abetted by succeeding generations of breeders, the Scottish terrier became a power in the land, not only in the British Isles but in many parts of the world to which his popularity had carried him. He is world renowned, so why tamper with the basic rules laid down? If the weight were raised now, to suit those who wish to cross the T's and dot the I's, mark my words, in five years there will be bigger--but I much doubt better--Scottish terriers. Then it will be "up she goes again" and the grand little Diehard will no longer be a handy-sized terrier, but an awkward misfit, who will no longer be eligible to enter the category of low-legged Terriers, and may be dangerously near getting pushed into the long-legged section!! The Scot must retain his size in order to maintain type, and pray let us keep Scottish Terrier type as our main consideration."

The principal objective must be symmetry and balance without exaggeration.

STCA Breed Standard (1993)

Ch. Tiree, the first American Scottish Terrier Champion

tiree.jpg (9613 bytes)

The first American Scottish Terrier standard was written in 1900 and adopted the height and weight recommendations of the then-current Scottish and English Standards. Interestingly, Americans have been significantly more conservative than the British about increasing size.

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