Dog Blog

Jacks vs. Parsons: The Raging Debate

As part of my efforts to expand BreederRetriever.com’s breeder directory, I began contacting Jack Russell Terrier and Parson Russell Terrier breeders today. To my great surprise, within half an hour of sending out emails to breeders of these dogs, I had received several irate emails from breeders of Jacks who didn’t want to be associated with breeders of Parsons and vice versa. I had long been aware of the friction between these two groups, but I never realized just how seriously some breeders take this debate. In an effort to better my understanding, I began searching for articles on the subject and came across a very informative article at Pet Publishing. Enjoy…

The Great Jack Russell Debate

The Jack Russell terrier is not so much a breed as it is a type of dog - one that was developed to go to ground in pursuit of game such as fox and badgers. Going to ground is a many splendored affair that involves following quarry into a tunnel or a hold without hesitation, then pursing said quarry until it bolts out the other end of the tunnel or is trapped underground. In the former event a pack of hounds with which the Jack Russell is in collusion usually take up the chase. In the latter event the Jack Russell terrier is expected to bark energetically to indicate the location of its quarry and to stay at the task until the hunter comes along to unearth the dog and whatever it has cornered. This procedure sometimes requires the assistance of earth-moving machinery.

Motley Ancestors

Although the Jack Russell terrier was named after the hunting parson who developed the original strain, the parson’s stock “had little or no influence on the evolution of the modern Jack Russell,” says D. Brian Plummer in The Complete Jack Russell Terrier. After Parson Russell’s death in 1883 “his kennels were dispersed,” reports Plummer. Some of the Russell’s dogs reputedly went to Squire Nicholas Snow of Oare, and these became the foundation stock of Arthur Heinemann, who is often credited with being the last breeder of the “true” Jack Russell terriers. Be that as it may, other breeders certainly put their spin - and whatever stock they found appropriate or convenient - on the Jack Russell. Thus, says Plummer, “any white-bodied working terrier of dubious ancestry simply came to be known as a Jack Russell;” and by the middle of this century hunt terrier shows “were indeed extraordinary sights, with the most amazingly variable types of dog being proudly shown as genuine Jack Russells; some of the displayed hints of collie, or, not infrequently, dachshund, in their lineage.” One thing these dogs did have in common was the fact that they were not recognized by the organizations that register dogs and license dogs shows. This situation prevailed because most of their owners liked it that way, an ironic development as the Parson himself was one of the founding members of the Kennel Club in Great Britain.

Who Speaks for the Jack Russell?

The Jack Russell’s size, impishness and undeniable cuteness, however - not to mention its frequent appearances in movies, advertisements and television shows, have conspired to ensure it a high profile about the general public. Search any newspaper or magazine database and you are sure to find at regular intervals someone somewhere writing an article that anoints the Jack Russell as the latest “in” dog. This popularity breeds contempt on the part of some persons who fear that favor is the path to perdition for dog breeds. Worse yet, say the defenders of the Jack Russell faith, recognition by the various associations would be tantamount to the post-coital embrace of certain female spiders. Nevertheless, the Jack Russell terrier, under the sobriquet the Parson Jack Russell terrier, has been recognized by the Kennel Club in Britain. Moreover, a variety of the Jack Russell has been recognized by the United Kennel Club in this country. Thus far, the American Kennel Club recognition has not been secured, though the Jack Russell Terrier Breeders Association in the United States is dedicated to that objective. Persons who seek recognition for the Jack Russell believe, as Jean and Frank Jackson wrote in Parson Jack Russell Terriers, that “official recognition provides a framework of authority, access to reliable services, a means to national and international influence, and opportunity to become involved as equals with other recognized breeds, which can only be of benefit.” Other Jack Russell fanciers disagree. The Jack Russell Terrier Club of America (JRTCA), founded in 1976, believes that the breed’s future “can be greatly endangered by attempts to standardize this terrier into yet another show breed, encouraging breed for form rather than function, with little to no concern to the true nature of the dog.” The JRTCA registers terriers that meet its breed standard, have been examined by a veterinarian and certified free of genetic defects and are not the result of any inbreeding (parent-offspring or brother-sister matings). The club also sponsors Jack Russell competitions designed to simulate the kinds of tasks that working Jack Russells perform and operates a breed-rescue service. Through all this activity the JRCTA’s overriding mission is to preserve the working qualities of the breed. This mission is questioned by some people who own working Jack Russells. The assumption that Kennel Club recognition will ruin the working qualities of the Jack Russell “is a little ludicrous,” scoffs Plummer, “if one examines it closely with a modicum of thought and common sense (sadly rare commodities in dog breeders, I’m afraid). For the Kennel Club has little or no influence” over what it’s members do with their dogs. “It remains the duty of breeders and exhibitors to ensure that the dog is kept as a working breed.” The notion of preserving the working qualities of the Jack Russell - or of any dog - in an increasingly suburbanized society is problematic. The Jack Russell was originally bred to assist the foxhound in its work, but how many people in this country ride to hounds any more? The Jack Russell has also been used to hunt badgers and rats, the latter in the decidedly incorrect sport of competitive rat killing; but how many people in this country engage in organized, count-and-weigh-the-kill rat slaughter? (For the record, Plummer’s Jack Russells took three tons of rats in 1977.) The JRTCA’s various Jack Russell competitions - terrier races, go-to-ground trials, etc. - are attended by a small percentage of Jack Russell owners. One suspects that the club’s greatest services to the breed might lie in warning off unsuitable owners and in placing rescued Jack Russells in more suitable homes than those in which it was their misfortune to have been sent originally. One further suspects that the Jacksons may have a point when they write, “What appear to be growing threats to the existence of field sports… introduce the possibility that at some time in the future it may no longer be possible for many of these breeds to follow their traditional occupation. Recognition might, therefore, by offering alternative activities be regarded as an insurance against the possibility that these breeds might disappear along with their traditional activities.”

John Russell’s Standard

The kind of terrier Parson John Russell admired is similar to the kind specified in the standard of the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America (JRTCA) today. The ideal terrier, said Russell 126 years ago, is “a small, energetic terrier of from 14/16 lb. in weight, standing about 14 inches at the wither [shoulder].” The JRTCA’s standard is a little more flexible, calling as it does for a height of 10 to 15 inches. In addition, whereas the parson said the Jack Russell’s coat should be “good, rough, weather-resisting [and] a trifle wiry,” the JRTCA standard accommodates three kids of coats: smooth, rough and broken. Like his foundation bitch, Trump - whom Russell described as “white with just a patch of dark over each eye and ear, with a similar, but not much larger than a penny, piece at the root of the tail” - the modern-day Jack Russell is predominately white, at least 51 percent white. Most significantly, the JRTCA’s observation that the Jack Russell should “present a lively, active and alert appearance [and] should impress with its fearless and happy disposition,” is entirely in keeping with Russell’s notion of what the ideal terrier should be.