The Parson Russell Terrier is a breed of small white terrier

Terrier

A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs. Terrier breeds vary greatly in size from just a couple of pounds to over 70 pounds and are usually categorized by size or function...

 that originates from the Fox Terrier

Fox Terrier

Fox Terrier refers primarily to two different breeds of the terrier dog type: the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. Both of these breeds originated in the 19th century from a handful of dogs who are descended from earlier varieties of British terriers, and are related to other modern...

s of the 18th century. The breed is named after the person credited with the creation of this type of dog, the Reverend John "Jack" Russell. It is the recognised conformation show

Conformation show

Conformation shows, also referred to as breed shows, are a kind of dog show in which a judge familiar with a specific dog breed evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs conform to the established breed type for their breed, as described in a breed's individual breed standard.A...

 variety of the Jack Russell Terrier

Jack Russell Terrier

The Jack Russell terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting. It is principally white-bodied smooth, rough or broken-coated which is commonly confused with the Parson Russell terrier and the Russell terrier with the term "Jack Russell" commonly misapplied to other small white...

 and was first recognised in 1990 in the United Kingdom as the Parson Jack Russell Terrier. In America, it was first recognised as the Jack Russell Terrier in 1997. The name was changed to its current form in 1999 in the UK and by 2008 all international kennel clubs recognised it under the new name.

A mostly white breed with either a smooth or broken coat

Coat (dog)

The coat of the domestic dog refers to the hair that covers its body. A dog's coat may be a double coat, made up of a soft undercoat and a coarser topcoat, or a single coat, which lacks an undercoat...

, it conforms to a narrower range of sizes than the Jack Russell. It is a feisty, energetic terrier, suited to sports and able to get along with children and other animals. It has a range of breed related health issues, mainly relating to eye disorders.

History

This breed shares a common history with the Jack Russell Terrier until the early 1980s.

This type of small white terrier dates back to the work of the Reverend John Russell, born in 1795. In 1819 he purchased a small white and tan female terrier named Trump from a milkman in the hamlet of Elmsford. She formed the basis for his breeding program, and by the 1850s the dogs were recognised as a distinct type of Fox Terrier.

In 1894, the Devon and Somerset Badger Club was founded by Arthur Blake Heinemann who created the first breed standard for this type of terrier. The club was formed with the aim of promoting badger

Badger

Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...

 digging, rather than fox hunting. By the turn of the 20th century, the name of John Russell had become associated with this type of terrier. The Devon and Somerset Badger Club would go on to be renamed the Parson Jack Russell Terrier Club and continued until just before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 when the club folded.

The Jack Russell Terrier Club of Great Britain was established in 1974 as the parent club for the Jack Russell Terrier in the UK. The club has actively opposed recognition of the Jack Russell Terrier by Kennel Club (UK)

The Kennel Club

The Kennel Club is a kennel club based in London and Aylesbury, United Kingdom.The Kennel Club registration system divides dogs into seven breed groups. The Kennel Club Groups are: Hound, Working, Terrier, Gundog, Pastoral, Utility and Toy...

. In 1983, the Parson Jack Russell Terrier Club (PJRTC) was reformed with the aim of seeking Kennel Club recognition for the breed. The initial application was turned down, but after several further rejections, the Parson Jack Russell Terrier was recognised on 9 January 1990 as a variant of the Fox Terrier

Fox Terrier

Fox Terrier refers primarily to two different breeds of the terrier dog type: the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier. Both of these breeds originated in the 19th century from a handful of dogs who are descended from earlier varieties of British terriers, and are related to other modern...

, with the United Kennel Club

United Kennel Club

The United Kennel Club is the second oldest all-breed registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States and the second largest in the world. According to the website, the club records 250,000 registrations annually. The UKC is not part of the International Canine Organisation, Fédération...

 following suit in 1991. The American Kennel Club

American Kennel Club

The American Kennel Club is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. Beyond maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, an annual event which predates the official...

 recognised the breed as the Jack Russell Terrier effective 1 November 1997.

On 1 August 1999, the PJRTC successfully petitioned the Kennel Club (UK) to change the name of the breed to the Parson Russell Terrier, with the name of the breed club following suit. The international kennel association, the Fédération Cynologique Internationale

Fédération Cynologique Internationale

Fédération Cynologique Internationale is an international federation of kennel clubs based in Thuin, Belgium. The English language translation, World Canine Organisation, is not often used.Its goals are described in Article 2 of their regulations:...

, recognised the Parson Russell Terrier on 4 June 2001. The American Kennel Club updated the name of the recognised breed from Jack Russell Terrier on 1 April 2003. The United Kennel Club adopted the new name on 23 April 2008.

The Australian National Kennel Council

Australian National Kennel Council

The Australian National Kennel Council is the peak body in Australia responsible for promoting breeding, showing, trialling, obedience, and other canine-related activities and the ownership of temperamentally and physically sound purebred dogs by individuals across Australia. It was formed in...

 (ANKC) and New Zealand Kennel Club

New Zealand Kennel Club

The New Zealand Kennel Club is the primary kennel club responsible for dog pedigree registration services in New Zealand. They also provide training services, judging for dog shows and many other services relating to dog showing. The organisation was introduced in 1886, it is also a full member of...

 are the only two major kennel clubs to recognise both the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier separately. In 2009, there were 18 Parsons registered with the ANKC compared to 1073 Jack Russells.

Description

The Parson Russell Terrier is bred to conform to a conformation show

Conformation show

Conformation shows, also referred to as breed shows, are a kind of dog show in which a judge familiar with a specific dog breed evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs conform to the established breed type for their breed, as described in a breed's individual breed standard.A...

 standard. It is a predominantly white breed with black, tan or tricolour markings and an easy to groom coat which is either smooth or broken (similar to a smooth coat, but with some longer hair on the head, face, legs or body). The breed standard does not recognise a Parson Russell with a curly or rough coat. There is a clear outline with only a hint of eyebrows and beard should the dog be broken coated. They possess moderately thick small "V" shaped drop ears with the tip pointed towards the eyes. The nose of the dog should be black. The normal range of sizes is between 13–14 in (33–35.6 cm) tall at the withers, with a weight around 13–17 lb (5.9–7.7 kg).

The Parson Russell has a relatively square outline, with a body about as long as the dog is tall. Compared to the Jack Russell Terrier, the Parson Russell has a longer head and a larger chest along with overall a slightly larger body size. The Parson retains the flat skull but not the elongated shape of the Fox Terrier, and with lower set ears. In addition, the Jack Russell Terrier has a greater variation in size, ranging between 10–15 in (25.4–38.1 cm) in height at the withers

Withers

The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of a four-legged animal. In many species it is the tallest point of the body, and in horses and dogs it is the standard place to measure the animal's height .-Horses:The withers in horses are formed by the dorsal spinal processes of roughly the...

.

Two hands should be able to span the chest of the dog behind its elbows, with the thumbs at the withers. This is required in show judging, with the judge lifting the dog's front legs gently off the ground in this motion in order to measure the size of the chest. The judges fingers should meet under the chest and the thumbs on top of the spine. The American Kennel Club describes this as a "significant factor and a critical part of the judging process." It is not done to measure the size of the chest, but rather to feel for the correct shape.

Under the show standard, there are several physical points which would be treated as faults in the show ring. These are for the height of the dog at the withers to be outside of the standard range, or for the dog to possess either pricked up ears, a liver or brown coloured nose, an overshot or undershot jawline or to have brindle

Brindle

Brindle is a coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cats, cattle, guinea pigs, crested geckos and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger's coat...

 markings.

Temperament

The Parson is a feisty and energetic type of Terrier. They can excel in dog sports such as flyball

Flyball

Flyball is a dog sport in which teams of dogs race against each other from a start/finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad, then back to their handlers while carrying the ball.Flyball is run in teams of four...

 or agility

Dog agility

Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles...

 and require vigorous exercise in order to prevent them from becoming bored and potentially destructive in the home. They can be suited to live with children but as they have a typical Terrier temperament, they will not tolerate rough handling. The AKC describes them as being single minded, tenacious and courageous when at work, while at home they can be exuberant, playful and affectionate. However, it is unusual for dogs of this breed to be involved in work, such as fox hunting, typical of a small white terrier, as they are more adapted to the show bench.

They can be playful with other dogs, and get along with horses. The breed standard requires that shyness be treated as a fault, although it states that this should not be confused with submissiveness which is not treated as such. Overt aggression towards another dog is not accepted and is a criteria for disqualification in the show ring.

Health

Eye conditions which affect the Parson Russell Terrier include primary lens luxation, a heritable condition. This disease causes the zonular fibres to be abnormal and begin to disintegrate in affected dogs. The fibres support the lens

Lens (anatomy)

The crystalline lens is a transparent, biconvex structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps to refract light to be focused on the retina. The lens, by changing shape, functions to change the focal distance of the eye so that it can focus on objects at various distances, thus allowing a...

 of the eye, and their destruction can cause the lens to fall into the wrong location within the eye. If the lens falls into the anterior chamber of eyeball then a secondary glaucoma can occur, causing loss of vision. National kennel associations such as the Kennel Club (UK) publish DNA screening results on Parson Russell Terriers, broken down into three groups; clears, carriers, and affecteds.

Other eye conditions which appear in the breed include cataracts in juveniles, corneal dystrophy

Corneal dystrophy

Corneal dystrophy is a group of disorders, characterised by a noninflammatory, inherited, bilateral opacity of the transparent front part of the eye called the cornea.The distrophies could be subdivided based on specie affected:...

, progressive retinal atrophy

Progressive retinal atrophy

Progressive retinal atrophy is a group of genetic diseases seen in certain breeds of dogs and, more rarely, cats. Similar to retinitis pigmentosa in humans, it is characterized by the bilateral degeneration of the retina, causing progressive vision loss culminating in blindness...

 and posterior vitreous detachment

Posterior vitreous detachment

A posterior vitreous detachment is a condition of the eye in which the vitreous humour separates from the retina.Broadly speaking, the condition is common for older adults and over 75% of those over the age of 65 develop it. Although less common among people in their 40s or 50s, the condition is...

. Non-eye breed related conditions which may affect a Parson are deafness and patella luxation. The average lifespan of a Parson Russell Terrier is between 14 to 15 years.