It began with four black-and-tan terriers from the zoo. According to the FCI standard, zoo director Lutz Heck gave them to Walter Zangenberg. After the First World War, those dogs started a breeding programme intended to focus exclusively on hunting performance.
| FCI | Group 3 (Terriers), Section 1 Large and medium-sized Terriers, Standard No. 103, with working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Size (height at the withers) | Males and females 33 to 40 cm |
| Weight | not specified in the FCI standard (appropriate to proportions, neither too light nor too heavy) |
| Life expectancy | no reliable study figure found (N/A) |
| Coat | plain, dense, hard rough hair or coarse smooth hair |
| Colours in the standard | black, dark brown or greyish black with sharply defined reddish-yellow markings on eyebrows, muzzle, chest, legs and around the anus; pale or dark mask; small white chest and toe markings tolerated |
Leaving the Fox Terrier club
Some active hunters turned their backs on the large Fox Terrier club. Rudolf Frieß, Walter Zangenberg and Carl-Erich Grünewald wanted a black-and-tan hunting dog for underground work; Dr. Herbert Lackner joined later. Using the Old English rough-haired terrier and the Welsh Terrier , they consolidated the appearance. They wanted a versatile, tough dog that gave voice on trails, enjoyed water, had strong hunting instinct and trained well. The German Hunting Terrier Club formed in 1926.
A working dog with a trial
The standard calls the German Hunting Terrier (Deutscher Jagdterrier) a versatile gundog, particularly for underground hunting and flushing, and the FCI requires a working trial. Courageous and tough, keen to work and enduring, vital and spirited, yet reliable, sociable and responsive, neither shy nor aggressive: that is the goal. In hunting language, tough means not retreating when quarry fights back.
Why it belongs with hunters
It wants to work: underground, flushing, following blood trails and in water. Without those tasks, it finds its own, often at the expense of cats, chickens or the neighbour’s rabbits. Before buying, honestly ask whether you can provide that work regularly.
Tail, coat and care after hunting
The standard specifies a tail shortened by around one third; where docking is prohibited, it stays long and is carried horizontally or slightly sabre-shaped. The coat is easy to maintain, with occasional stripping for rough-haired dogs. Checking for cuts, bites and ticks after each hunting day matters more. In Germany, docking is generally prohibited under Section 6 of the German Animal Welfare Act. Exceptions for dogs used in hunting are possible only in individual cases.
What genetics reveals
In a large family of German Hunting Terriers, researchers found ten dogs with weakness and muscle pain after exercise. The cause is an ACADVL gene variant disrupting fatty-acid breakdown in muscles (Lepori et al. 2018). A follow-up study of nine dogs found neither improvement with diet nor progression after one year (Mühlhause et al. 2019). Genetic screening also found 3 of 22 Hunting Terriers carried the hyperuricosuria variant, which promotes urinary stones (Donner et al. 2016). No reliable lifespan figure exists: McMillan and colleagues’ large British analysis lists the breed but does not analyse it.
No dog for an evening stroll
A match for hunters with hunting grounds or regular underground and flushing work, experienced with independent dogs. Non-hunters or people keeping small pets will not be happy with this little bundle of energy, nor will the dog be happy with them.
The breed quiz helps sort out which dog type really suits you; our book goes deeper: “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German) . For the first weeks with a puppy, there is the free Puppy Starter Pack. Put your black-and-tan hunting companion on the wall as a dog portrait from your own photo or a magazine cover on canvas .
Further reading
- Jack Russell Terrier: a working dog that happens to be small
- Weimaraner: the beautiful hunting dog that never clocks off
- Puppy biting: teaching bite inhibition without spoiling the fun
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 103 Deutscher Jagdterrier (fci.be, German version dated 26.05.2015, valid standard published 19.03.2015) and FCI breed page No. 103; McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024 (breed listed, not analysed); Lepori V et al., A Nonsense Variant in the ACADVL Gene in German Hunting Terriers with Exercise Induced Metabolic Myopathy, G3 2018; Mühlhause F et al., Verlaufsuntersuchung bei Deutschen Jagdterriern mit belastungsinduzierter metabolischer Myopathie, Tierärztliche Praxis K 2019; Donner J et al., Genetic Panel Screening of Nearly 100 Mutations Reveals New Insights into the Breed Distribution of Risk Variants for Canine Hereditary Disorders, PLoS One 2016.
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