The Jack Russell Terrier

The Jack Russell Terrier was named after John (Jack) Russell who was a hunting enthusiast. With his dog "Trump" he started to breed the now very common white-brown dog to have a good and trustworthy hunting dog.
The fearless and brave companion was mainly used for fox hunting, which explains his short and compact size.
John Russell's goal was to breed a small enough terrier who is able to slip into fox buildings to scare the fox out, but also to follow them and help his human to hunt the fox.

Out of his breeding line, two different type's of the Jack Russell terrier's were created.
The long legged Parson Russell terrier and the small quadrate Jack Russell Terrier.


The Jack Russell Terrier's characteristic is to be lovely, brave, spirited, devoted and fearless. They love their cuddles and attention and are eager to learn. They get along well with children and if correctly taught, they also accept cats and other small pets. However, you should never leave your Jack Russell Terrier unsupervised with other small pets, as he could still try to chase or eat them.

Betty, a happy senior lady :)

The happy and active Jack Russell Terrier, is a good and faithful family dog who is also not afraid to protect his pack. This can lead to barking, but with a good and solid training, it is no problem at all to find a well behaved companion by your side.
Even though the Jack Russell Terrier is an independent small little dog, he does not like to be left alone on its own for a very long time. He likes to explore and is always up for a good laugh as he can act quiet funny around his people. This will also be very helpful if you want to teach him funny- looking tricks as the small Terrier is very handy doing funny moves.

The smart, sporty Terrier who was originally breaded as a working dog, will fit perfectly into a family.

It might seems that this little dog doesn't need much exercise, but thats actually not the case.
With his working-dog background he is eager to run and wont be happy with no exercise or any kind of activity or training.
As every other dog (no matter what size they are) a mental- and body-stimulation will help to keep him balanced and good mannered.

He will be definitely up for a good long walk or even some brain-work, as the Jack Russell Terrier is often very intelligent.
They will also be very good at obedience training or to simply do funny show-off tricks.
If you are interested in Agility, Military training, scent/nose work or simply a circus-dog, you will find the perfect fit in the Jack Russell Terrier. :)

smart Henry

It is important that you also keep in mind, that the original hunting- and digging behaviour can still occur in ours today's Jack Russell Terrier.
If you don't want your garden to be digged up or don't appreciate certain hunting behaviors, it is recommended to start training your little friend as early as possible to show and teach him, what behaviour is wanted or not wanted in his new home.

With a consisted and disciplined (but positive reinforcement) training, you will reach a good and successful outcome. If the small Terrier receives a good structure in his life, he will become an obedient and well behaved dog.
Violence or any other negative form of training (choking collars, screaming, harsh handling) is absolutely not necessary as those little dogs are intelligent and eager to learn.
The Jack Russell Terrier is very attached to his leader but also welcomes and loves every other human or visitor if once correctly socialized.
The more experiences and socializing he gets as a puppy, the better he will get on with certain situations or people.

Having a rescue Jack Russell Terrier is also no problem as they require lots of love, patience and understanding to become a good and loyal companion.
This I can back-up with my own experience, as I have a Jack Russell Terrier cross on my own.

I hope you enjoy the time with your small and active Terrier, because they are simply fun dogs! :)

A client met up with her Jack Russell's and myself and Barney (JR cross) for training

training with a client outdoors

dog training also involves cuddles if you join Tricks with Clicks :)

If you liked this article, have any suggestion, critic or recommendation, please let me know via email (trickswithclicks@gmail.com) or leave a comment below.

Stay tuned for the next months feature! :)



Cornelia xx