The restless Jack Russell Terrier. The character of the pet and not only

Anyone who wants to get a mobile, active, brave and at the same time gentle and caring dog is recommended to pay attention to a breed such as the Jack Russell Terrier. The character of the pet, although it cannot be called angelic, but with proper training it will become a faithful companion and friend. The dog is of a fairly strong build, small in size, has good health and a stable psyche. The animal can live both in a city apartment and in a booth or aviary in the fresh air. But the terrier feels best in the village, where you can run around the yard to your heart's content.

The Jack Russell Terrier belongs to a hunting breed, therefore, it will not work to make a lapdog out of it. He will not be quiet and obedient, the pet needs special training and physical activity, without them he will become an uncontrollable and very stubborn animal. The Jack Russell Terrier is ideal for people who lead an active lifestyle. The dog's character is firm, in extreme situations the animal shows courage, fearlessness, ingenuity and agility. This behavior has been shaped for centuries.

Initially, terriers were used to hunt foxes, badgers, and minks. This little agile dog climbed into the hole to the beast and pulled it out into the light. It was necessary to show unprecedented bravery and devotion to the owner in order to risk his life and engage in an unequal battle with a predator. Curiosity, inexhaustible energy, and a love of travel are all inherent in such a breed as the Jack Russell Terrier.

The character of the Jack Russell Terrier

The Jack Russell Terrier is a real perpetual motion machine. He is simply physically unable to sit in one place for a long time and get bored waiting for the game. This dog will attract the attention of the owner in all possible ways. She knows the rules of behavior in the house perfectly well and can deliberately break them in order to cause at least some reaction from the owner, who is too carried away by his favorite TV series or a new book.

It is important to remember about the high intelligence of the pet. Physical activity must necessarily be accompanied by mental activity, otherwise any activity will quickly get bored. Alternate teams and toys, come up with new types of activity.

In general, representatives of the breed are characterized by a cheerful and friendly disposition. Jack Russell Terriers are great for families where children are old enough not to treat a pet like a teddy bear. Aggression without a reason can only be shown by dogs in whose upbringing serious mistakes have been made since early childhood.

Representatives of this breed do not get along well with other animals in the house because of the hunter's genes. It is especially undesirable to be in the neighborhood with rodents, because Jack Russels are famous rat catchers, but they can also cause trouble to cats. In relations with dogs of their own or another breed (regardless of the size of the opponent), due to their brave and wayward nature, they will always try to dominate, constantly entering into skirmishes.

The character (breeders' reviews confirm certain inclinations of dogs) is very difficult, so such a restless pet should be acquired by people who have the time and desire to raise an animal.

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The owner must be able to channel the terrier's energy into a peaceful channel then it will be a very devoted friend, a cheerful and inquisitive companion. His intelligent eyes seem to ask, "What do you want me to do?" The dog never relaxes. Being in constant tension, she is ready for the next discoveries and adventures, in case of danger she will always protect her beloved master, sometimes at the cost of her own life. He chooses only one person from the family, whom he considers the leader of the Jack Russell Terrier.

He shows his character even in childhood, so you need to start training in time. If you let everything take its course and do not devote time to training and raising a dog, then eventually an uncontrollable and wayward animal will grow up, constantly looking for adventures on its head. Jack Russell reacts very sensitively to manifestations of tenderness and care. Puppies, and adults, really like to play with children, but only if they are not tormented and their dignity is not humiliated. The pet is happy to respond to all kinds of entertainment and takes an active part in them.

Jack Russell Terrier is never timid, indecisive or shy. His character is unique, because it combines a huge variety of seemingly completely contradictory and incompatible qualities. The worst thing that can be done to this breed of dog is to forget about them and ignore them. Jack can't bear to be abandoned and treated like an unnecessary element. It is necessary to get a terrier only for people who are ready to devote a lot of time to the pet, to give him affection, care and tenderness.

History of the Jack Russell Terrier breed

There are breeds that have been living side by side with humans for so long that it is possible to reliably find out about their roots only with the help of geneticists. This is, for example, the situation with the ancestors of the Jack Russells - fox terriers. Their first descriptions are found in the Roman chronicles of the time of Caesar's campaigns on Albion.

But the closer to modernity, the more documentary evidence, so today no one doubts that the Jack Russell Terrier owes its origin to a very specific enthusiast – John "Jack" Russell. Following the family tradition, he became a priest and headed a small parish in the south of Britain, but the true passion of this man was not serving the church, but hunting and breeding dogs for it.

Back in the last year of John's studies at Exeter College, Oxford University, a landmark meeting took place. During one of his walks, he saw a dog that embodied the ideal qualities of a real fox hunter: compact size, excitement, vigilance and fearlessness. The treasure belonged to a local milkman, who was hardly able to fully appreciate the mentioned advantages, so the first owner immediately gave in to Trump to an insistent student. With this Trump Card – this is how the English word Trump is translated – many years of breeding work began.

Of course, outwardly, the progenitor of the breed does not resemble the current "jacks" so much. The similarity is noticeable only in color: on a dominant white background, darker spots stood out in the area of the eyes, ears and at the base of the hooked tail. Judging by the surviving drawings, Trump was a poor-boned dog with a small skull. Most likely, there were now extinct English white Terriers in her family.

I must say that in the process of breeding a new breed, the pastor used representatives of various burrowing dogs. There is no exact data on experiments with the gene pool, since breeder did not keep any logs with records, or they simply did not survive. Researchers believe that fox terriers of the old format, borders, Lakelands, Irish terriers, and Scottish kerns left their mark on the formation of the breed. Russell set himself the task of improving the working qualities of the offspring, and he did not consider it necessary to cull puppies because of the shape of the skull or the setting of the tail. As a result, the unsightly and crudely cut short-legged pets of the Devonshire priest won the ardent love of all the surrounding hunters.

Although the vicar himself was engaged in boxing (which in the XIX century was a very tough sport, because protective gloves were not used), he was not inclined to cruelty and publicly condemned those fellow breeders who mixed the blood of fighting dogs with terriers. For John, parforce hunting was incompatible with killing or severely injuring prey, and he considered the main goal to be a competition between foxes and his animals in speed and endurance. Russell's Terriers didn't need ferocity and powerful bulldog jaws.

The pastor's achievements in breeding and popularizing terriers have not gone unnoticed. In 1873, he, along with Sewallis Shirley and a dozen like–minded people, took part in the creation of an organization today known as the oldest kennel club - the English Kennel Club. In subsequent years, John Russell was invited as a judge to exhibitions, but did not exhibit his own pets, calling them wild rose hips against the background of greenhouse roses. And this comparison was not in favor of the latter.

John Russell, who devoted a significant part of his life to dog breeding, died at the age of 87 and was buried in the village of Swimbridge – in the cemetery next to the medieval church of St. James, where he served. Since he actively sold puppies and adult dogs, Breeder had only 4 dogs at the time of his death.

The development of the breed was continued by a young colleague, Arthur Heinemann. He is the author of the first draft of the breed standard. In 1914, the Parson Jack Russell Terrier Club was founded (parson means "priest"), which existed until the 40s. In the middle of the century, Russell terriers, to improve their character and working qualities, began to be crossed with dachshunds and Welsh corgis. As a result, not only "classic" but also short-legged animals began to appear. The latter were considered undesirable for a long time and in the eyes of the jury invariably lost to their tall counterparts.

It is unknown how the fate of the "side branch" would have turned out if in the 1960s several dogs with short paws had not ended up on the Green Continent. Of course, the Australians were not going to hunt with them, but they appreciated the energy and intelligence of their new pets, therefore they took up the development of the breed with great enthusiasm.

The official recognition of the Kennel Club and the FCI came only in 1990. Then both types of dogs were included in the standard of the International Cynological Organization under the common name Parson-jack Russell Terrier. However, activists from the UK and Australia did not give up trying to achieve a distinction, and in 2001 two standards were adopted: for the Parson Russell Terrier (animals with long legs with a square body) and the Jack Russell terrier (short-legged with an elongated body).