1d (edited) • Breed of the Week
Jack Russell Terrier
This came at the recommendation of
The Jack Russell Terrier is an English breed known by about 500 names it seems and varies depending on what country you are in (America, Great Britian or Australia mainly). Here are a few options: Jack Russell Terrier, Russell Terrier, Connemara Terrier, English Jack Russell Terrier, Miniature Jacks, Puddin Jacks (probably my favorite) and Shorties just to start. The true origin story of the JRT, as they are most commonly known, is not 100% agreed on but one thing everyone seems to agree on is a man named Rev. John Russell is responsible.
Rev. Russell (1795-1833) enjoyed hunting, particularly fox hunting, when he was not participating in church activities. He acquired his first little terrier, Trump, from the milkman that was passing by and offered to purchase her. The milkman agreed and Rev. Russell had what some believe to be the foundation female for the breed. It is stated that he really liked how she looked “white with a patch of dark tan over each eye and ear while a similar dot, not larger than a penny piece, marks the root of the tail. The coat, which is thick, close, and a trifle wiry, is well-calculated to protect the body from wet and cold but has no affinity with the long rough jacket of the Scotch Terrier. The legs are straight as arrows, the feet perfect, the loins and whole frame are indicative of hardiness and endurance.”
There is debate on what year Trump was purchased (1815 or 1819) or whether or not she is part of the “pure line” or that Rev. Russell even bred a “pure line” to begin with. It is also said he was more of a hound man than a terrier man.
So, if Trump is allegedly not the foundation of the “pure line” what exactly makes up the JRT we know today. This is where things get interesting. As previously mentioned the body confirmation of the early JRTs were preferable to Scotch Terriers (precursors of the Scottish Terrier) due to their longer legs. The JRTs were better able to keep up with the hounds in the field and with their white coats not able to be mistaken for a fox. One source also states that to increase the “courage and ferocity” bulldogs were sometimes thrown in the mix. There is one record of a smooth coated terrier that was a fox working breed named Pitch that is thought to the development of the now extinct Old English White Terrier (looks somewhat like a bull terrier but without the egg shaped head), smooth coated Black and Tan terriers, Old English Bull Terriers, Greyhounds and Beagles.
Over the half century or more huntsmen were still trying to figure out their ideal hunting terrier. There was no identical type and varied depending on geographical location seeing as needs were different in different areas. At this time Fox Terriers were not a breed yet but many dog enthusiasts that were not hunter began to take interest in the fox terriers and they focused on their look not hunting ability.
In 1875, a club was formed by the huntsmen as they were continuing to try and develop a Fox Terrier and our friend Rev. Russell was one of the founding members (he died in 1883). Once the club was founded a breed standard had to be established but due to the wide variety of types of terriers due to a variety of needs a single standard could not be agreed on. So instead, the club decided to put their heads together and develop a dog that they wanted to exist as the breed standard and slowly that is what the Fox Terrier became.
Obviously a Fox Terrier is not a JRT and the early Fox Terriers were beginning to be a show type. They were also starting to become too large for Rev. Russell’s preference as he preferred the smaller version.
To find out more about these earlier terriers and the wide variety one source recommended “In 1894, Rawdon Lee published a book devoted to terriers, and he presented the smooth and rough coat fox terriers as distinct breeds. They each got their own chapter. He mentioned Rev Russell’s dogs, which were included as rough-haired Fox Terriers, as “one amongst many strains and one of the best”. However, because of Russell’s attitude toward pedigrees, Lee noted that “we look in vain for many remnants of the strain in the Stud Books”. Lee included another chapter titled “Other Terriers”, with some shorter-legged types.”
Given the various possible early day accounts of how the JRT came about I chose to stick with mainly one source of information otherwise it would become a rather long and confusing post. I will provide the other links in case anyone is interested in the different story options of their origin story and decide for themselves what seems the most plausible. I hope you enjoyed.
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Jack Russell Terrier
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