The Bench-legged Feist, as its name clearly indicates, is a member of the Feist family. These dogs, the feists, are quite small, initially bred in the south of the United States of America, in rural areas. Their main specialty and attribute is hunting small game like squirrels, birds or rabbits. Generally, they can live up to 15 years and, in rare cases, even longer.
Because breeders have rarely had the intention of developing them as show dogs, the Feist breeds are not exceptionally coherent. The only class that has been widely recognized as being consistent enough to be identified as a standardized breed is the Treeing Feist (officially recognized by the UKC about 15 years ago). Here are some other Feist breeds: the Barger Stock Feist, the Denmark Feist, the Kemmer Feist, the Thornburg Feist, and the Buckley Mountain Feist etc.
The Bench-legged Feist reaches, at maturity, 10 to 22 inches in height, and the medium weight is about 20 pounds. Having these measures into consideration, we can say that this breed is small to medium sized. These are muscular, fit and active dogs, very suited as watch dogs. They have a very high sense of awareness and are very devoted to their masters. Originally used as ratters, they also show a great level of endurance and, not surprisingly, they are still used nowadays as hunting dogs.
As you may have guessed, in comparison with their body, the legs are considerably short. They have a short coat, a curled and erect tail and their jaws have a medium size. Most of the times, their fur comes in three colors (they also have spots). The color range is broad: black and tan, a variety of red shades, black, blue-white, red-white etc.
Depending on the source, though, their name might differ. The Bench-legged Feist is sometimes referred to as the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, a name honoring Americas 26th president. The United Kennel Club recognizes them as Rat Terriers, with which they share a common background. In 1996, the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier Club of America standardized the breed under this name for the first time. Funnily enough, the American president is not known to have ever owned one of these dogs. He has, however, owned several Rat Terriers.
Usually, the Bench-legged Feist is a very healthy breed. These dogs are also easy to train, and their mix of intelligence and loyalty is a definite plus. Even if naturally full of energy, these dogs are highly adaptable. Being small and versatile, they are also suitable as urban pets. Living indoors is not an issue with this breed.
As you may have understood from the previous paragraphs, they have a strong protective instinct when it comes to their human companions. Even if this could make them a little feisty and territorial, this should not become an issue if supervised and well trained. And the fact that it is getting along with other small/medium dogs and with children qualifies the Bench-legged Feist, once again, as a very suitable pet, both in urban and rural areas.
