The Norfolk Terrier has a wire-haired coat which, according to the various national kennel clubs' breed standards, can be "all shades of red, wheaten, black and tan, or grizzle.

Norfolks generally have more reach and drive and a stronger rear angulation, hence cover more ground than their Norwich cousins.

Norfolk have good side gait owed to their balanced angulation front and rear and their slightly longer length of back.

Some literature suggest that they were also occasionally used on the hunt to bolt animals of equal size from their den.

A 2024 UK study found a life expectancy of 13.5 years for the breed compared to an average of 12.7 for purebreeds and 12 for crossbreeds.

[4] Norfolks do have incidences of mitral valve disease, luxating patellas, and incorrect bites (where the teeth do not align with the breed standard, i.e. overshot or undershot).

There has never been a Norfolk Terrier recognized by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) as having "excellent" rated hips.

In the 1880s, British sportsmen developed a working terrier of East Anglia in eastern England.

They were first called the Cantab Terrier when they became fashionable for students to keep in their rooms at Cambridge University in England.

[7] In 1932, the Norwich was granted acceptance into the English Kennel Club and the first written standard was created.