Guardian of poor people, friend of farmers and favourite of gentlemen: its FCI standard quotes this old description. In the First World War, the red terrier carried messages through the noise of the trenches, demonstrating intelligence and fearlessness, as the standard records.
| FCI | Group 3 (Terriers), Section 1 Large and medium-sized Terriers, Standard No. 139, without working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Size (height at the withers) | approximately 45,5 cm (18 inches) |
| Weight | Males 12,25 kg, females 11,4 kg |
| Life expectancy | median 13,5 years in a British analysis of 584.734 dogs (McMillan et al. 2024) |
| Coat | dense and wiry, broken (harsh and hard), flat, without curls; short on face with a slight beard |
| Colours in the standard | solid red, red wheaten or yellowish red; small white chest patch permitted |
One of four Irish breeds
The standard says Ireland produced four terrier breeds, with the Irish Terrier possibly the oldest, though hard to prove. Before 1880, black-and-tan and brindle still occurred; by the early 20th century, it was consistently red. Its compatriots are the Kerry Blue Terrier, the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and the Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier.
Loyal, good-natured and lion-hearted
Remarkably loyal, good-natured and affectionate towards people, but determined with other dogs: that is the standard. If attacked, it fights with a lion’s courage. The same text rejects its quarrelsome reputation and calls it easy to train. It still will not back down from a pushy male, so practise dog encounters early.
Built for speed
The standard calls speed, endurance and power essential. It was a farm, guard and hunting companion for work after the shot. An adult Irish Terrier can join running or cycling, loves tracking and retrieving games, and needs real daily exercise rather than a circuit of the block. The standard says tails are usually docked to two thirds; where docking is prohibited, only natural tails are permitted. In Germany, docking is generally prohibited under Section 6 of the German Animal Welfare Act.
Red stays red with stripping
The hair grows so densely that even parting it barely reveals skin. To preserve its hardness and rich red, dead hair is regularly stripped; clipping makes it softer and paler.
What paws and skin reveal
The standard already requires pads without cracks or brittle growths, disqualifying dogs that have them. Behind this is hereditary footpad hyperkeratosis (HFH): heavily thickened pads can crack painfully. Researchers identified the responsible recessive FAM83G variant in Kromfohrländers and Irish Terriers, detectable by genetic testing (Drögemüller et al. 2014). Skin matters too: the Swiss cancer registry recorded 2.447 tumour diagnoses per 100.000 dog-years in Irish Terriers, compared with 581 in crossbreeds. Melanomas reached 200 per 100.000 dog-years, against 24 across all breeds (Dhein et al. 2024). Have dark lumps checked promptly. Irish Terriers can still live long lives: the 535 dogs in McMillan and colleagues’ analysis reached a median 13,5 years, against 12,0 for crossbreeds.
A good home
Sporty people seeking a medium-sized, robust dog with humour, and families with school-age children who enjoy being outdoors.
More difficult
Keeping several similarly confident males together, avoiding dog encounters altogether or expecting every instruction to be followed without question.
Our breed quiz checks whether a red daredevil suits you; our book gives more detailed help: “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German). The free Puppy Starter Pack guides you through the first weeks. That red glows on a magazine cover on canvas, with more styles in our dog portraits from your own photo.
Further reading
- Jack Russell Terrier: a working dog that happens to be small
- The socialisation period: why “as much as possible” is the wrong advice
- An older dog, new rules: giving your senior their best years
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 139 Irish Terrier (fci.be, German version dated 30.08.2002, English original dated 02.04.2001, valid standard published 13.03.2001) and FCI breed page No. 139; McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024; Drögemüller M et al., A mutation in the FAM83G gene in dogs with hereditary footpad hyperkeratosis (HFH), PLoS Genetics 2014; Dhein ES et al., Incidence rates of the most common canine tumors based on data from the Swiss Canine Cancer Registry (2008 to 2020), PLoS One 2024.
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