PARSON RUSSELL TERRIER

The Reverend John Russell lived in Devon in the 1800s and was a keen and passionate sportsman with a particular interest in fox hunting. He was a regular exhibitor and judge of terriers and hounds at West Country shows and was a foundation member of the Kennel Club. He judged Fox Terriers at the Crystal Palace for the Kennel Club during the mid 1870s. Although he used Kennel Club registered Fox Terriers in his breeding on occasion and indeed some modern Fox Terriers can trace their ancestry back to stock bred by him, he appears to have taken no active role in the newly formed Fox Terrier Club.

In May 1819 he bought from a milkman, a white terrier bitch ‘Trump’ who from then on came to be the model for his future breeding program. A portrait of Trump hangs in the Harness Room at Sandringham Castle and it is clear that there is a consistency in type with the modern Parson. The Parson drew up his own Standard in 1871 which is reproduced below:

A small energetic terrier of from 14/16 lbs. In weight, standing around 14 inches at the withers, legs straight as arrows; a thick shin, a good rough weather-resisting coat, thick, close; and a trifle wiry, well calculated to protect the body from cold and wet, but with no affinity to the wiry jacket of a Scotch Terrier. It is certain that a good horse or dog cannot be a bad colour, but I prefer a white dog. The bitch ‘Trump’ was a white dog with just a patch of dark over each eye and ear, with a similar dot not larger than a penny-piece at the root of the tail. Feet should be perfect, the loins and conformation of the whole frame indicative of hardihood and endurance. The size and height of the animal may be compared to a full grown vixen. Every inch a sportsman, the dog must not be quarrelsome. As regards height, some people prefer them to be rather more on the leg if they are to run with hounds all day.

Following the Rev. Russell’s death in 1883, and given the great reputation his strain enjoyed many a small white terrier of very mixed parentage had his name attached to it. But through it all strains of the old, true type of working Fox Terrier so beloved of the Parson survived particularly in the West Country. It is from these strains the resurgence of Parsons has taken place.

Workmanlike, active and agile; built for speed and endurance. Overall picture of balance and flexibility. Honourable scars permissible.

Essentially a working terrier with ability and conformation to go to ground and run with hounds.

Bold and Friendly.

The first three clauses are best taken together as they in so many ways define the breed. The breed is built for speed and endurance and as such should appear active and agile, racy in outline rather than cobby.

Bold, confident, friendly are all words which might be used to describe the breed. Nervousness or cowardice are to be avoided as is aggression.

Flat, moderately broad, narrowing to the eyes. Shallow stop. Length from nose to stop slightly shorter than from stop to occiput. Nose black.

Almond shaped, fairly deep-set, dark, keen expression.

Small V-shaped, dropping forward, carried close to head, tip of ear to reach corner of eye, fold not to appear above top of skull. Leather of moderate thickness.

Jaws strong. Muscular. Teeth with perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaw.

Clean, muscular, of good length, gradually widening to shoulders.

Shoulders long and sloping, well laid back, cleanly cut at withers. Legs strong, must be straight with joints turning neither in nor out. Elbows close to body, working free of the sides.

BODY

Ribs not over-sprung. Chest of moderate depth not to come below point of elbow, capable of being spanned behind the shoulders by average size hands. Back strong and straight. Loin slightly arched. Well balanced. Overall elngth slightly longer than height from withers to ground.

Strong, muscular, with good angulation and bend of stifle. Hocks set low and rear pasterns’ parallel giving plenty of drive.

Compact with firm pads, turning neither in nor out.

Strong, straight, moderately high set carried well up on the move. Customarily docked with length complimenting the body while providing a good handhold. 

GAIT/MOVEMENT

Free-striding, well co-ordinated, straight action front and behind.

Naturally harsh, close and dense, whether rough or smooth. Belly and undersides coated. Skin must be thick and loose.

Entirely white or predominately white with tan, lemon or black markings, or any combination of these colours, preferably confined to head and/or root of tail.

Ideal height at withers: Dogs 35cms (14 inches)

Bitches 33cms (13 inches)

NOTE: 2.5cms (1 inch) above or below is acceptable

The old working terrier paradigm of an inch per pound should apply and indeed in Parson circles the 14:14 ratio is considered ideal.

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Extended Breed Standard

Of

Australian National Kennel Council Standard 1990

Country of Development - Australia

Jack Russell terriers have been around for over a hundred years but the breed has only been officially recognised recently when Australia recognised the breed in 1991.

The breed takes its name from one of England’s hunting parsons, the Reverend John (or Jack, as he was known locally) Russell from Devon, who established the breed in the early nineteenth century.

The Reverend, being a keen fox hunter, needed an agile dog with plenty of spirit that could keep up with hounds and have the courage to face up to its quarry underground. When not pursuing foxes, Jack Russells were used as exterminators of vermin, such as badgers and rats.

The Jack Russell Terrier Club of Australia (Inc) was founded in 1972. A small group of breeders instigated the setting up of the first stud book and register of Jack Russells in Australia and set about establishing type there. Although there were terriers of Jack Russell type in Australia, the first known import of a Jack Russell was in 1965. Further imports during the early 1970’s were known to be from the ‘right side of the track’, for they came from the Duke of Beaufort, Duchess of Bedford, the Eastleigh and the Cowdray Hunts. Some did not have pedigrees but it was known they were the genuine article.

Members of the Jack Russell Club already had an expanding pool of dogs of similar type which were carefully documented and registered. The end result that today Australia can boast of playing a leading role in the development of the Jack Russell as a genetically pure breed.

The Jack Russell Terrier Club of Australia was entirely responsible for the development of the breed up until 1991, when the Jack Russell was officially recognised by the ANKC as a pure breed.

A strong, active, lithe working Terrier of great character with flexible body of medium length. His smart movement matches his keen expression. Tail docking is optional and the coat may be smooth, rough or broken.

The dog should not be too deep or wide in the chest, otherwise the measurement of 40-43cms cannot be spanned, especially when the height is relative to the weight.i.e. 5-6kgs.

Remember, the Jack Russell is a small dog that is required to enter a fox hole and must be built with the ability to turn around.

A lively, alert and active Terrier with a keen, intelligent expression.

Bold and fearless, friendly but quietly confident.

‘Bold and fearless’ - this does not mean aggressive. They should be ‘friendly but quietly confident’ - a dog that looks to be enjoying himself. It should be neither aggressive, nervous nor shy.

The skull should be flat and of moderate width gradually decreasing in width to the eyes and tapering to a wide muzzle with very strong jaws. There should be a well defined stop but not over pronounced. The length from the stop to the nose should be slightly shorter than from the stop to the occiput with the cheek muscles well developed. The nose should be black.

The skull should not be domed or apple headed. The muzzle should be wide with no tendency towards snipeyness. The planes of the skull and foreface should be parallel.

Small dark and with keen expression. MUST not be prominent and eyelids should fit closely. The eyelid rims should be pigmented black. Almond shape.

Light eyes are a fault as are large, round eyes which spoil the expression.

Button or dropped of good texture and great mobility.

‘Of good texture’ means the leather is to be soft and fine to the touch, not coarse and heavy. No preference should be given to either button or dropped ears, both are equally correct, although the dropped ears should not be too large, hound like or low set. The ears must never stand erect. A dog working underground needs ear cover.

Deep wide and powerful jaws with tight-fitting pigmented lips and strong teeth closing to a scissor bite.

Being a hunting Terrier, a full set of teeth is highly desirable with a correct scissor bite.

Strong and clean allowing head to be carried with poise.

Shoulders well sloped back and not heavily loaded with muscle. Forelegs straight in bone from the shoulder to the toes whether viewed from the front or the side and with sufficient length of upper arm to ensure elbows are set under the body with sternum clearly in front of shoulder blades.

The shoulders MUST be well laid back. Legs must be straight. “forelegs straight in bone from the shoulder to the toes whether viewed from the front or side” does not mean that the shoulder and upper arm should be upright. It is important that well angulated shoulders and upper arms are maintained. The upper arm should also be of sufficient length to ensure that the elbows are well under the body and the sternum is clearly visible in front of the shoulder blades. The Jack Russell front is not a “Terrier Front”.

Chest deep rather than wide, with good clearance and the brisket located at the height midway between the ground and the withers. The body should be proportioned marginally longer than tall, measuring slightly longer from the withers to the root of the tail than from the withers to the ground. Back level. Ribs should be well sprung from the spine, flattening on the sides so that the girth behind the elbows can be spanned by two hands - about 40-43 cms. The loins should be short, strong and deeply muscled.

Many Jack Russells are too wide in chest. Watching a Jack Russell work in a confined space, the dog will turn on its side to enter a gap. A wide chested dog could become stuck.

Remember “Marginally longer than tall” and “short in loin”. The Jack Russell is NOT a square dog as is the Parson Russell, neither is it a long dog like a Skye Terrier or Dachshund.

Measure or gauge the distance from withers to root of tail and keep in mind that the leg length is half the overall height. In other words the legs are equal I length to the depth of the body. Therefore the front legs are NOT short, they are in proportion to the size of the dog.

The Jack Russell Terrier is a small, well balanced dog but it is not a short legged dog.

Strong and muscular, balanced in proportion to the shoulder, hind legs parallel when viewed from behind while in free standing position. Stifles well angulated and hocks low set.

Hindquarters should show good drive with NO skipping or hopping.

Round, hard, padded, not large, toes moderately arched, turned neither in nor out.

May droop at rest. When moving should be erect and if docked the tip should be on the same level as ears.

The tails is an important feature. Judges must remember that the tail may droop at rest and this should not be penalised. This feature is not usually associated with terrier temperament, however, quite a few do drop their tails whilst standing yet still exhibit terrier temperament.

True, free and springy.

Many do not have a true, free and springy gait, often because of short upper arms and upright shoulders. They must have good reach and drive with a springy, buoyant, cocky movement. Try to see them move on a loose lead.

May be smooth, broken or rough. Must be weatherproof, preferably unaltered.

There are three types of coat. Each may be interbred and all are exhibited together. Whatever the coat, the conformation underneath is the same and no preference should be given to any particular coat type.

Smooth - A good dense smooth coat

Rough - Just that! Rough, hard and dense,not woolly or silky.

Broken - Smoothish but with whiskers, eyebrows and sometimes a beard.

White must predominate with black, tan or brown markings.

Tri-colour is accepted, i.e. white with a combination of any of the accepted colours. Brown can vary from lemon to mahogany.

Ideal Height: 25cms (10ins) to 30cms (12ins)

The weight in kg being equivalent of 1kg to each 5cms in height, i.e. a 25cm high dog should weight approximately 5kg and a 30cm high dog should weigh 6kg.

If a Jack Russell exceeds 12ins, he is encroaching on the height standard of the Parson Russell Terrier. If under 10ins it is likely that he will not be balanced or may have a cabriole front.

The height to the weight ratio indicates a lightly built dog. Most males today would be at the upper end of the scale. If a dog is too lightly or too heavily built it may not be balanced.

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree. However the following weaknesses should be particularly penalised.

• Lack of true Terrier characteristics
• Lack of balance, i.e. over exaggeration of any points
• Sluggish or unsound movement
• Faulty mouth

Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.