The JRT breed has become more popular lately. This isn´t only positive thing, as everyone certainly understands. When people buy puppies, it temptates more and more only to "make puppies", which isn´t necessarily patient, long lasting breeding work that should be the purpose of breeding.

The JRT breed has been into many changes in a short time. The dogs have been registered during 8 years and because JRT has been for a long time unregistered breed, there is also living beside the registered dogs those without papers. After approving the breed by FKC already registered dogs were imported straight from Australia and middle Europe. After registration (when JRT begin to showed also in show rings) the import gene pool was / is, however, rather small including almost only three kennels. From Terrilife magazine, where was an article dealing about the history of the breed, one got an impress, that the old Finnish stud would be somehow more inbred. It wasn´t in any case more inbred than Australian stud. In the article were mentioned Roberto and Uno Turhapuro as “actively used in breeding”. Uno had 3-4 litters, not really many. Roberto has been used in breeding a bit more, he had 9 litters (as 11,5 years old the last litter, the litters made during 7 years). This still isn´t much compared with the import (also mentioned in the article for his success in shows) Myrmidon Jack Danzey, who has had by this time 14 litters (65 puppies). He is also half brother to another Australian import, which has had 13 litters (52 puppies). From the better situation in Finnish stud tells besides that the fact that in the Finnish stud there still exists breeding combinations, which are completely outcrosses or which are line breedings only slightly lining each others. The worst that could happen now is, that the breed club would stop to take new dogs into breed. Though it is conflict, that those dogs can produce progeny f.e. with too high legs, that are automatic in registration, it is important to ensure that we still have opportunity to make the gene pool wider.

It is justified to criticize the occasions where dogs are taken into breed, too. Very typical jack russells have been left outside the breed, sometimes for strange reasons; those dogs could have given many good qualities to the breed. There have been cases, where f.e. the judge has been in a hurry or some small detail has disturbed the judge, when the judge working hasn´t been as good as it should be. If the dog had been more colourful (that is good for the health, the whole white colour brings problems), he hasn´t been taken into breed, and, on the opposite, too high, very white dog has been registered. These occasions shouldn´t be too random, and so it would be reasonable, that it would be possible to try it again. The judge working should be on that kind of level, that it would be unit, though the same dog would try again to be registered.

In a book about breeding is told, that if you don´t think to breed forward the litter, don´t breed that litter. So, when planning the litter, you should already think how to go on breeding with that certain litter. "Only" home breeders don´t exist. Every litter is significant in the breed. To breed the bitch by the dog in neighbourhood is not responsible breeding. The puppies are still well sold, but , as it is seen before, some day there comes the limit, that there are more puppies than buyers. Then it is possible that puppies will go to irresponsible homes. Responsible breeding is deliberate action, not making money. When this happens, also the unreasonable high prices come down. On the other hand, JRT gets normal way more than one puppy, so the top prices (lot more than 1000 e) feel quite unreasonable.

We humans often have a tendency to exaggerate. In many breeds the situation is the same: we can see in the breeds a certain show type, that has become exaggerating certain parts of the breed standard. In show type one can also see in many breeds same kind of qualities: exaggerated bones, too vertical neck because of the wrong angle of the shoulder blade (that looks good looking in the ring) and movements, where the dog moves up, not forward (so it´s not economic and efficient). The move of the rear leg can look strong, but the leg is rising up and doesn´t give the real kick from the ground. Rising movement when the dog moves head up is of course very "show-like" and looks fine in every breed, but it isn´t the benefit especially to the working breeds, that should all have the special characteristics thinking about their original work, though in a sound structure there are of course also similar qualities in every breed. Is this so, because the judges get easily more priviledges to judge different breeds and, when not being specialists in every breed, they judge different kind of breeds same way. As it was said in Koiramme-magazine (official publish of FCK) in an article, that was written about the development of the breeds, in the shows in all breeds the most popular way to move is flying, airy trot, that gives a great impression in a show ring, but isn’t the typical way to move to many working breeds. It seems, that many breeders breed dogs only for shows and to success in them, though one should look at all the qualities in a working breed thinking also the character and the working abilities. Though you often hear, that beeders want to do so, it isn´t seen in the breeding choices. It is said also many fine things in Breeding Goals Program (in Finland made in every breed), but it feels that breeders don´t carry out these things in practise.

The breed club has the priviledge to say what kind of dogs are wanted by giving information to judges. When new judges are taught about the JRT breed, enough information isn´t giving about these occasions. It would be interesting to know, are there shown different kind of dogs; the breed club seems to support more show line dogs. Sometimes it even feels, that we, that represent the british/working line, are "forgotten" in a breed club and people there relate our dogs contemptuously speaking about them as "stable model".

In the beginning in England, the original home country of the breed, there were two different classes in jackrussells, over and under 30 cm, that were also used in Finland in (unofficial) shows. Over 30 cm high dogs were like parson russells as outlooks when under 30 cm dogs were the british type, though the type wasn´t so unit. In the beginning of 1990 century outside the parson registeration remained these over 30 cm high so called "working jack russells", that were parson type dogs (they could have given wider gene pool to parson russells; nowadays also the registered parson russell dogs have gone through some changes in shows).

The hunter John Peel, who lived 1700 century (he had been born about twenty years before John Russell), had also s.c. "hunting terriers", that were named as jack russells, as were all the small, white dogs, that had spots. These dogs were not short legged, but, though they were not high, more square and like miniatures. But they were not all so high legged than parson russell. Parson John Russell had higher dogs (parson like), when the hunters in the north part of the country wanted smaller dogs to work in that kind of terrain. So the idea, that the small jack russell would have been only the result of the parson- breeding experiments, isn´t true, but there have been already in 1700 century in Cumbreck a stud of small, miniature like "jack"-terriers, where i.e.. also John Russell bought dogs from the Carlisle Kennels of William Carrick.

It is true, that Australian/show dogs are more unit in their type comparing to british type and other, first, old dogs, that came to Finland, but this is the result of inbreeding (all the dogs have behind them the Malung Fab Four). The even type might be the thing, that has pleased judges. On the other hand, though the type in british/working line has been uneven, there still are breeders who have succeeded in their breeding work and whose dogs are the top quality, i.e. Cumbreck.

JRT breed was registered in Australia first time 1991 and the amount of the stud dogs was relatively small. To get a bit wider gene pool, there has been used in the first dogs also other terriers, f.e. Norfolk and border terrier. Those breeds were/are, however, different looking than original british/working JRT. That´s why the appearance changed from the original, when breeders tried to make the structure better and get the type more even. The differences to the original JRT in show/Australian type is i.e.. too heavy bones, too wide chest, so too heavy structure, not correct formed eyes set in wrong place in the head with too light colour and pigment, and too peaceful character, that isn´t anymore jack russell´s typical temperament and wildness. The coat is wanted as rough and brown white with classic markings (colour in the head, and only some colour in the beginning of the tail), which was left as typical type of the coat and as wanted quality in show dogs. The coat shouldn´t be trimmed with scissors, but the rough coat gives opportunity to hide the faults in structure by making the shape of the dog better with scissors Some dogs have long, hanging hair (like Sealyham terrier) on their sides, that is trimmed with scissors so that the hair is left 6 cm long; total wrong comparing in the breed standard. An Italian judge has said, that it is clear in Italy, that if the dog isn´t rough coated, he doesn’t succeed in shows. Still no other coat quality should be valued more than others. One solution would be, naturally, that the different coat qualities would be judged in different classes in the show.

At the moment the health of JRT worries many breeders. Now there have been several cases, where there are different diseases in those lines, i.e. cataract and spine diseases. These problems could be foreseen, however. When the stud in Australian/show type is limited nearly only three stub kennels, the gene pool doesn´t give enough variance to keep the possible problems on the back ground (it means, that so the problems, if there problems exist, don´t hereditary so easily in the phenotype). Many breeders are in a hurry to breed their bitches as 1,5 years old, but one type of cataract appears after two years old. To preserve the pigment is important for the health. Breeding as light dogs as possible has led to that, that there has been deaf and half deaf dogs in jack russells, which one could have foresee before just by observing other breeds, like parson.

The original british/working type has been different. The dog has had (and has) more noble and dry head, sharp look, more narrow chest, which make it easier to go small, narrow gaves, and he is in everything, in the ideal type, generally one size smaller and more athletic than Australian type, which at the moment is wanted type in shows. Also a famous English breeder named all those things in the structure, which are different between australian and british type. The real JRT is not exaggerated and he is medium built, which make the working easier. The breeds change, but would it be more valuable to preserve the original type, at least for the honour to the mother country of jack russell breed, England. In the article in Kasvattaja-magazine (number 1/2007) J.A.U. Yrjölä says, that the breeds should be breeded by the standard of it´s home country and no other country should be allowed to change the breed of another country. It is sad, if the fear of the original home country about the breed changing for it´s type and against it´s original work only as a show dog, will come true. Then we will lose something historic and precious; the original, enduring, colourful, small working terrier, that we have all the reasons to cherish.
 

Back to mainpage