About us

Northwoods Rat Terriers started with this little black and tan female here several years ago.

Squirt came to me as a scrawny, big eared pup, but she shortly found her way into my heart, faster than any dog I have ever been around, and my love of Rat Terriers began…she is the ultimate in a hunting/companion/house dog. Highly intelligent, house trained in a matter of days, she has proven to be a once in a lifetime dog for me and my family.

Her sons/daughters/grandpups and more distant famile will be used in my breeding program and our hunting woods for many years to come, God willing.

We are very selective in our brood stock; good attitude, intelligence and health all tie for the #1 spot in essential traits in my dogs. All my dogs are good at ratting, and most have some treeing ability, some more than others. We are currently combining the best of the show lines, with our current Fire Mountain farm bred bloodlines we have been working with for years and 5 generations, to freshen up our line.

While they are more than happy lounging on the couch on a rainy day, they absolutely love a day in the woods, going to the spring, or down to the river.

Here at NorthWoods, we breed for intelligent, eager to please, healthy and conformationally correct dogs with drive and hunt.

They are also excellent watchdogs and family companions, as they were intended to be.

The fact that they are beautiful in a multitude of colors is just a bonus :)

We are working towards the true Standard Rat Terrier that will work well in the home, on the farm, or in the hunting woods.

We understand that the Feist is the main ancestor of the Rat Terrier, and the Feist comes in all colors and coat patterns including merle and brindle.

We believe that health testing is an important part of responsible breeding and all of our breeding dogs have been tested for PLL and PRA-prcd, as well as having heart and patellas vet checked and all are good to go. No puppy born here will ever be affected by either of these blinding eye diseases.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to check out all the pictures and videos of our dogs. Just on a side note, we are using NO decker blood in our kennel.