The Controversial Breed

Jack Russell Terrier? Parson Russell Terrier? Russell Terrier? English Jack Russell Terrier? So many names. So confusing.

It all started back in mother England...where the breed was developed in the 1800's by a fox hunting Parson named John "Jack" Russell. After his death the name Jack Russell Terrier was used to describe pretty much any mostly white small fox hunting terrier. Some were short, some were tall and many were sort of in-between. Some were reputed to have run with the hounds, some were carried horseback in a special terrier bag. It seems that all claim to have descended directly from the Parson's own dogs.

The terriermen in England used whatever they needed to do the job they wanted to do. Some used shorter smaller dogs and some preferred the taller leggier dogs. It all depended on the environment where they were hunted. The terriermen did not practice pure breeding, most did not keep pedigrees. If they wanted something from another hunting breed, they would cross their dogs. Beagles were crossed on the Jack Russell to create a better nose, etc. The tall and short varieties were crossed when needed. The main focus was on what could and would hunt.

Eventually, two basic types of dogs emerged. Kennel club recognition was sought for each type. in 1990, the English Kennel Club recognized the taller leggier dog. The Parson Russell Terrier Club founded in 1983, wrote a standard to include the height range of 12 to 15 inches for the now Parson Russell Terrier.

In 1972, Australia formed a club for the 10 to 12 inch size and developed a breed standard for the smaller dogs. Thus, the Australian Jack Russell Terrier Club was born. They received Kennel recognition, with the Australian National Kennel Council, for the Jack Russell Terrier in 1990.

Australia then worked with Ireland to get the Jack Russell recognized in FCI countries using the Australian written standard. This goal was achieved in 2000.

In the US, in 1995 a club was formed exclusively for the shorter 10 to 12 inch dogs, the club was named the English Jack Russell Terrier Club. In 2005 the name of the club was changed to the American Russell Terrier Club.

The United Kennel Club in the US was the first to recognize the breed under the Australian standard effective January 1, 2001. All the dogs registered with the English Jack Russell Terrier Club went in as Foundation Stock for the breed. Because of name conflicts the US, the UKC simply called the dogs Russell Terriers, later to change the name effective January 2009, back to Jack Russell Terriers. The UKC did this in order to comply with the rest of the world.

In October of 2004, the now American Russell Terrier club applied for recognition in AKC using the Australian written standard. The breed was accepted into their Foundation Stock Service program as Jack Russell Terrier in December of 2004. The AKC later because of conflicts with the non kennel club Jack Russell Terrier Club of America who recognizes the taller dogs as Jack

Russell Terriers, changed the name to Russell Terrier. (Clear as mud, huh?).

In October of 2007, the American Russell Terrier Club was named Parent Club designate for the breed in AKC.

The Parson Russell Terrier and the AKC Russell Terrier are now 2 separate breeds who have both reached purebred status. The two are no longer bred together and have not been by kennel club fanciers for many years.

____AKC Russell Terrier_______AKC Parson Russell Terrier

I believe as the Russell Terrier/Jack Russell gains AKC recognition, some of the confusion will cease, we'll see!