47 Fun Facts About Boston Terrier

Judge, the founding sire of the Boston Terrier, was brought to America from which country?

England: Judge was bred there in the 1860s from a Bulldog and a terrier, a cross then favoured for the fighting pit, before a Bostonian brought him home across the Atlantic.

Despite its name, the Boston Terrier is shown in which American Kennel Club group rather than with the terriers?

Non-sporting group: by the time the kennel club accepted the breed, selective breeding had turned the bulky fighter of its founders' day into a smaller, sweeter companion.

Before the name Boston Terrier was settled, early fans knew the dogs by which nickname?

Round Heads, for the curved skull that softened the dogs' expression; the nickname was judged no fit name for a breed, and the city where they were bred supplied a better one.

The bull-and-terrier crosses behind the Boston Terrier were bred for pit fighting and for contests at killing which animals?

Rats: in a ratting contest spectators bet on how fast a dog could kill a pit full of them, a far cry from the house pet the Boston became once breeders had selected for a sweeter nature.

Judge, the Boston Terrier's founding sire, had a coat of which colour?

Brindle: breed histories describe Judge as a dark brindle. No rule fixed a Boston's colour in his day; only in the 20th century were the breed's colours and white markings written into the standard as essential.

Which famous American author kept a Boston Terrier named Phiz while studying at Radcliffe College?

Helen Keller was given the dog, formally Sir Thomas, by her classmates; her memoir of those years praises a terrier with 'a crooked tail and the drollest phiz in dogdom'.

Which president did war dog Sergeant Stubby meet first, while still overseas with his regiment?

Woodrow Wilson met Stubby on Christmas Day 1918, weeks after the Armistice, and the dog is said to have offered him a paw; Harding and Coolidge met him later, back home.

Which school's students voted in 1922 to make the Boston Terrier their mascot?

Boston University students chose the terrier that November; the campus paper argued it was the one animal 'distinctive of Boston and of Boston alone'.

A university whose colour is scarlet is said to have named its Boston Terrier mascot after a hero of which novel?

Gone with the Wind's Rhett Butler loved Scarlett O'Hara, so the scarlet-clad school named its costumed terrier Rhett.

The AKC breed standard sorts Boston Terriers into three classes according to what?

Weight sets the classes: under 15 pounds, 15 to under 20, and 20 to 25. Size is otherwise left open, because the standard gives no height at all.

Which ear carriage does the breed standard require of a Boston Terrier?

Erect ears are required; the folded 'rose' ear that is correct on a Bulldog would be wrong here, and the standard wants the ears small and set at the corners of the skull.

Which accepted Boston Terrier coat colour looks black until bright light shows its red cast?

Seal is one of only three colours the standard accepts, each with white markings; a solid seal dog, like any solid-coloured Boston, is disqualified.

Which white facial marking does the AKC standard require on every Boston Terrier?

A blaze, a white stripe up the centre of the face, is required along with a white muzzle band and forechest; a solid-coloured Boston without them is disqualified.

Because its markings resemble formal wear, the Boston Terrier is nicknamed what?

The American Gentleman earned the title for manners as much as markings: the AKC credits the breed's impeccable behaviour, and its standard calls the dog 'dapper and charming'.

Which of these gets a Boston Terrier disqualified under the AKC breed standard?

A docked tail disqualifies because the Boston's short tail must be natural, yet the same standard allows cropped ears and removed dewclaws.

In 2012 a Texas Boston Terrier named Bruschi set a Guinness World Record for a dog's largest what?

Eyes: each of Bruschi's measured 1.1 inches (28 mm) across, and owner Victoria Reed sent Guinness his photo after her vet joked that she should.

Which feature, perfectly acceptable in a Siberian Husky, disqualifies a Boston Terrier from the AKC show ring?

Blue eyes, or any trace of blue, disqualify a Boston: the standard asks for dark eyes and calls the breed's alert, kind expression one of its most important traits.

Besides its small size, what makes the Boston Terrier well suited to apartment life?

They bark only when necessary: the AKC rates the breed near the quiet end of its barking scale, though a bored, under-exercised Boston can still turn noisy.

Boston Terrier breeders are urged to screen puppies for which inherited problem, often linked to white coats?

Deafness in dogs is tied to the genes for white markings, so breeders use the BAER test, which records the brain's response to clicks and is the only accepted way to diagnose it.

The Boston Terrier's pushed-in face makes it what kind of breed?

Brachycephalic dogs have shortened skull bones: the squashed muzzle narrows the airway and makes panting a poor way to cool down, so Bostons overheat easily.

Which procedure delivered more than 80% of Boston Terrier litters in a UK Kennel Club survey?

Caesarean section is the norm because flat-faced breeds run the highest risk of difficult labour; only three of the 151 breeds surveyed passed 80%, all of them flat-faced.

Which show-ring term describes an upward-arched back on a Boston Terrier?

Roaching, or a roach back, bulges upward where the standard asks for a level topline; judges treat it as a serious fault, like its opposite, the sway back.

Which Boston Terrier lookalike ended the Labrador's 31-year run as the AKC's top breed?

The French Bulldog took over in the 2022 rankings after climbing from 14th place in a decade; the Boston Terrier, recognised five years before it, stood 23rd in 2024.

Sergeant Stubby's regiment, the 102nd Infantry, belonged to which nicknamed division of the US Army in World War I?

The Yankee Division, the 26th, was built from the National Guard of Connecticut, Massachusetts and their neighbours, which is how a stray picked up in training reached the Western Front.

Where was the future Sergeant Stubby found wandering as a stray in July 1917?

The Yale University campus hosted the regiment's training camp around the Yale Bowl; J. Robert Conroy befriended the stray there and later hid him aboard the troop ship.

By most accounts, how did stowaway Stubby win over the officer who found the dog on the way to war?

He saluted him: soldiers had taught the dog to raise his right paw to his eye in camp, and the charmed officer let him stay as the regiment's mascot.

Which organisation promised Sergeant Stubby 'three bones a day and a place to sleep' for life?

The YMCA made the promise with a lifetime membership for a dog so famous that the Hotel Majestic on Central Park waived its no-dogs rule for him.

Which piece of protective gear was Sergeant Stubby issued in the trenches, just like the soldiers around him?

A gas mask was fitted to Stubby, who was gassed himself, and he is said to have roused sleeping soldiers when a gas attack began.

Which feat is said to have earned Stubby his promotion to sergeant?

Capturing a German spy: Stubby is said to have seized a man mapping the American lines by the seat of his trousers and held on until soldiers arrived.

Which general presented Stubby with a gold medal from the Humane Education Society in 1921?

John J. Pershing, who had commanded the American forces in the war, pinned the medal on Stubby at a ceremony for his old regiment; it was a humane society's tribute, not an Army decoration.

After World War I, Stubby became mascot of which college's teams while his owner studied law there?

Georgetown's football team adopted Stubby while Conroy studied law there; at half-time he would nudge a football around the field to the crowd's delight.

After Sergeant Stubby died in 1926, his preserved body was presented to which institution?

The Smithsonian in Washington took the mounted dog, coat and medals included; one 1926 obituary had already declared that 'his Arlington is to be the Smithsonian Institution'.

Which newspaper ran Sergeant Stubby's 1926 obituary under the headline 'Stubby of A.E.F. Enters Valhalla'?

The New York Times conceded he was 'only a dog and unpedigreed at that', but called him the most famous mascot in the American Expeditionary Forces.

Which South Carolina college, nicknamed the Terriers, introduced a live Boston Terrier mascot named Blitz in 2003?

Wofford chose the name Blitz because a Boston on the prowl recalls a charging defensive line; Blitz II and Blitz III later followed the original onto the football sideline.

Lennu, a Boston Terrier who went viral in 2017, belonged to the president of which country?

Finland's president Sauli Niinistö often had Lennu at his side in public, and once the grinning photos spread a pastry was named after the dog.

Why did Lennu's presidential owner say in 2020 that the Boston Terrier was being kept out of public view?

Flat-faced breeding harms were the reason: the president said the couple had known nothing of blunt-nosed dogs' health problems when they got Lennu, and did not want to show the breed off.

Which famous carrier pigeon of World War I has been exhibited alongside Sergeant Stubby?

Cher Ami, who got a message through despite severe wounds, was also preserved, and the two war heroes went on show in the same museum case.

Which feature of many flat-faced breeds does the standard rule out on a Boston Terrier's head?

Wrinkles are out: the standard wants the skull and muzzle smooth, yet it asks for a square skull and a wide nose and allows a slightly undershot bite.

The AKC sums up the Boston Terrier's temperament in three words: friendly, bright and what?

Amusing is the AKC's word for a dog that loves to play and show off; the breed club's warning is the flip side, that Bostons languish without human company.

Besides straight, which shapes can a Boston Terrier's naturally short tail take?

Corkscrew or curl tails are called screw tails in the show ring, and however a Boston's tail is shaped, carrying it above the horizontal counts as a fault.

Besides his American honours, which other country presented the war dog Sergeant Stubby with a medal?

France honoured a dog who had served 18 months on its soil with the Americans; women of one liberated town even sewed the chamois coat that carried his medals.

In show-ring jargon, what is a 'Dudley nose' on a Boston Terrier?

A flesh-coloured nose is a 'Dudley'; the standard demands a black one, so a Boston with a pink nose is disqualified however good the rest of the dog.

Beyond the required white markings, which optional one does the AKC standard list as 'desired' on a Boston Terrier?

A white collar is on the 'desired' list with white forelegs and lower hind legs, and the standard adds that a good dog must not be penalised for lacking them.

Which US late-night host showed memes of a president's Boston Terrier, Lennu, in 2017?

Jimmy Fallon featured Lennu on The Tonight Show after photos of the dog beaming in his owner's arms spread worldwide that February.

Sergeant Stubby's wartime story reached cinemas in 2018 as what kind of film?

An animated feature told the story in 2018 with a silent hero: unlike most cartoon animals, Stubby never speaks, a choice made to keep the war story close to history.

Which German decoration did Sergeant Stubby wear near his tail on parade?

An Iron Cross trailed behind Stubby for years, a prize one obituary joked he 'never explained'; it has since been lost, though his other decorations survive.

Boston Terrier breeders are urged to screen for 'luxation', a slipping out of place, of which part of the leg?

The patella, or kneecap, can pop out of its groove, a problem the AKC likens to a 'trick knee' in people; left untreated it can lead to arthritis.