I had to take Alice to the vet on Saturday to get her first of two distemper shots and when they printed off my receipt her breed type said smooth fox terrier. I told the lady to update her computer to Rat Terrier and she told me the first day I brought Alice in they consulted their "breed book" and determined her to be a smooth fox. Now since she is a rescue I can't prove it but I know, without a doubt, she is a Rattie. They said they can update their computer.. ..she goes back in 2 weeks for her second distemper and they said to bring what I can to support she is a Rattie in case they see more so they will know. I know she is a rattie from what I read on here and her qualities are identical to so many on here and I think by her look as well but how do I know??

I may have worded that wrong, they did update their computer with no problem, they want to educate themselves on Ratties since they couldn't identify one. They were asking me to bring in anything so if they see another Rattie they can identify it correctly. I thought it was great they wanted to learn more so they would be better prepared for the next one.   It is hard to type what you mean sometimes.

Oh.   Well then!    Anywho, she is beautiful, and you can't be 100 percent sure what she is, but I think we would all vote for rattie!

  Oh!  that makes more sense! 

If anyone has some good info I can take with me about their qualities, look, structure or anything it would be much appreciated!

These are both from the UKC website
Smooth Fox Terrier:
The Smooth Fox Terrier is a muscular but agile, active, small-to-medium hunting terrier, with sufficient length of leg to run with the foxhounds in a hunt, and built to go to ground after fox. The body is square and covered with a short, dense, smooth coat. The head is moderately narrow, with a flat skull, a barely perceptible stop, and a powerful muzzle that is equal in length to the skull. Ears are set high and are V-shaped, dropping forward, and carried close to the skull. The tail is straight, set high, and normally docked, but not close to the body. The coat is predominantly white in color. The Smooth Fox Terrier is modeled on the symmetry and power of the Fox Hound. When standing, the distance between the front and rear feet is long in comparison to the relative shortness of the dog's back.

Rat Terrier:
The Rat Terrier is a muscular, active, small-to-medium hunting terrier. The preferred ratio of length of body (prosternum to point of buttocks) to height (withers to ground) to is 10:9. The head is broad, slightly domed, wedge-shaped, and proportionate to the size of the body. Ears are V-shaped, set at the outside edges of the skull, and may be erect or button. The Rat Terrier must have a natural tail carried in an upward curve, a natural bob tail, or a docked tail. The Rat Terrier comes in solid white, other solid colors with markings, and white with a variety of colored patches. The Rat Terrier should be evaluated as a working terrier, and exaggerations or faults should be penalized in proportion to how much they interfere with the dog’s ability to work. Honorable scars resulting from field work are not to be penalized

Also, check out the muzzels:
Smooth Fox Terrier


Rat Terrier

Here is a link to the breed standard as proposed by the Rat Terrier Club of America. http://www.ratterrierclub.com/standard/

Or you could tell them about this site and direct them to the "You Might Be A Rat Terrier" forum. 

http://www.artaukc.org/brdinf.htm here's a link to the American Rat Terrier breed standard.

BTW - My short-legged ratties have broken off into Teddy Roosevelt Terriers but I still call them ratties.

ACK - Sorry, but no way is she a smooth fox terrier (duh!!! to your vet's office )

Here's some pertinent breed qualifications for a Smooth Fox Terrier:

Head
Eyes and rims should be dark in color, moderately small and rather deep set, full of fire, life and intelligence and as nearly possible circular in shape. Anything approaching a yellow eye is most objectionable. Ears should be V-shaped and small, of moderate thickness, and dropping forward close to the cheek, not hanging by the side of the head like a Foxhound. The topline of the folded ear should be well above the level of the skull. Disqualifications--Ears prick, tulip or rose. (Nothing like Alice's ears - btw!!)



Coat
Should be smooth, flat, but hard, dense and abundant. The belly and underside of the thighs should not be bare. (Now I don't know for certain, but most of our ratties have relatively thin fur and are almost naked on the underside)


Bottom line: Just show them a picture for goodness sakes!!!

Here are the differences in the TFT and RT:

Toy Fox Terrier Differences Between The Toy Fox Terrier And The Rat Terrier

by Donna Sullivan, President Rat Terrier Club (UKC) The Rat Terrier is a small to medium sized well muscled hunting dog.  In the Rat Terrier, there are two sizes (miniature up to 13" and standard over 13" but not exceeding 18".   They're both coated and hairless.  We do not have a toy or giant size in the Rat Terrier. In many breeds - as in the Rat Terrier - you will find similarities - but it is the differences that distinguishes one breed from another.  (Some examples are:  Samoyeds/American Eskimos; Norfolk/Norwich Terriers; Lhasa Apso/Tibetan Terrier. Let's review some of the obvious differences between a Toy Fox Terrier and a Rat Terrier: TFT Size:  Classified by weight - by age of 6 months may not weigh over 7 pounds. Rat Terrier:  Miniature up to 13" - Standard over 13" and not over 18". TFT body:  Appears to be square with height approximate to length. The backline is strong, straight and firm. Rat Terrier body:  Slightly longer than height with 10:9 ratio preferred.  The backline is strong and slightly sloping. TFT Colors: Predominantly white with acceptable colors of white, & black with tan trim; white & black; white & tan with specific markings of black & tan. Rat Terrier Colors:  Hairless - any skin color is acceptable, freckles enlarge with age and skin darkens with exposure to the sun.   Coated -  White; tri colored (white with patches of black & tan); bi colors (any combination of black, tan, chocolate, red, orange, lemon, or blue with white); the white may be any size and located anywhere on the dog. TFT Ears:  must be erect when alert; are pointed and well up on the sides; set close together; not touching nor set too wide. Rat Terrier Ears:  the V-shaped ears are set on the outside of the skull and may be erect, tipped or button. TFT Eyes:  eye set is prominently forward but not bulging; color is always dark - with as dark as possible preferred. Rat Terrier Eyes: eyes are obliquely set; round and small - somewhat prominent;  rim color matches nose pigmentation; color ranges from dark brown to amber and matches coat color. TFT Appearance:  a small dog that has conformation, characteristics and personality of a Terrier. Rat Terrier Appearance:  a small to medium sized muscular hunting dog that is evaluated as a working Terrier. While these may appear to be subtle differences to the untrained eye, size, color, body, movement as well as character make each breed unique.

Kind of hard to distinguish, but if you look closely it can be done:

TFT:

RT:

The RT has a more sloping back than the TFT, is often/usually more muscular and the muzzle appears slightly longer on the RT than the TFT.

UGH, I had a meeting, I hate when those get in the way of my Rat Terrier forum time!

This is all great info and I hope I can educate them where they can spot a rattie a mile away!

I also thought with the body shape, she has that thin whippet look to her which is indicitive of a rat terrier also. Boy they were way off with the smooth fox, I wonder if they meant toy fox? But even that isn't close.