Its Spanish name reflects its main occupation: hunting rats and mice hidden between barrels in the wineries of Andalusia in Spain.

[4] The breed is an agile dog with a lean and athletic build; the head is triangular with a semi-flat skull.

The eyes are very dark and the Ratonero has a long muzzle, and high set ears that bend over at the tip.

[5] English wine merchants settling in the Sherry making region of Spain, Marco de Jerez, brought with them the ancestors of today's Fox Terrier breeds as long as several hundred years ago, where they were crossed with local dogs and used for vermin control of rats and mice in the wineries.

No diseases specific to this breed, or claims of extraordinary health, have been documented for the Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz, though an undescended testicle is not uncommon in male pups.

Their traits, intelligence, trainability, sociability, and behavior are all similar, but they differ only in size, color and conformation.