Yes the English and Welsh countryside is beautiful, yes in winter it rains 95% of the time, yes every village has a fine pub with fish & chips & peas with great ales and lagers, yes the people are kind, friendly and generous and yes it is the birthplace of the Jack Russell Terrier.

Have I forgotten anything.

Of course, however my trip to England in November and December 2000 was solely concerned with travelling the countryside in search of fine Jack Russells and excellent ales. Actually and sadly so I was on antibiotics so the English did not see any serious depletion in their inventory of fine ales.

However I did have a chance to see many excellent Jack Russells and fantastic Jack Russell people. It was an excellent opportunity for me as an apprentice to further my knowledge on the breeding of this small terrier that has loads of personality and a gigantic heart.

I visited ALNE TERRIERS, HEYTROP, CLYSTLAND'S, BARSETTA, SAYNER'S, RIPLINGTON, DAVID JONES, PATRICIO and FELLSHIELD kennels. I also had the opportunity to attend the The Parson Club's National show. There I had a chance to meet and talk with George Simpson of HOWLBECK, and see dogs from other well known kennels like BELMORR, GLENHOLM and TRUMPMOOR.

What struck me the most was the attitude and generosity of the people. Their ability to see the fine points in other breeder's lines and the shortcomings and faults in their own. A true objectivity with the breeds heritage and well being in mind. An openness which was refreshing and honest.

I would like to personally thank Mark and Tina Allen, John and Barbara Richards, Roger and Linda Bigland, Brigitte Sayner, Syd and Di Collis, David Jones, Will Jackson, Norman Handy, and Ruth Hussey Wiliford for their hospitality and mentoring.

Many people have asked me upon my return which dogs or kennels I preferred. This is a question which I find difficult to answer because what we like, or our type is very subjective. Even within the breed standard there is room for interpretation. I will defend my interpretation and did so in England, but it is not for me or any other breeder to say who is right or wrong. Breeding dogs is only an attempt at achieving excellence. No one can or has of yet achieved perfection.

As one breeder told me, "If we could take the rear end from one dog, then put on the head and expression of another and the front end of another, than it would be easy, but if it was easy would we do it.?" I would have to say the situation in England is similar to North America. People breed what they like and Kennels end up getting a reputation for producing this quality. Some kennels want a sharp showy dog, possibly with a shorter top line, straighter front end and strong head and bone. Other kennels will like a longer more flexible and elegant looking dog with great movement and drive.

Another breeder shared with me what he thought was the ideal mix of kennels. A little bit of this line for bone, then a little bit of that blood for movement and finally this kennel for the final touches of expression and showiness and voilà. A little too easy, maybe so, but there might be some truth in this approach. Often times we get too caught up with our lines or work too closely with one or two other lines.

As I was told by one breeder, "There is some good in all lines as bad as they might be. The trick is the ability to get the good without the bad."

The danger or flip side is that we lose our direction and start following what becomes popular. Trying to win in the show ring with what is trendy can be very dangerous if we lose sight of our original goals and our responsibility towards the breed. As another respected breeder told me, "George you have your own idea of what the breed should be, never relinquish this, keep this ideal dog in the back of your mind at all times. Look for dogs that can correct your faults without changing your type."

This being said I would have to say that in general the dogs in England tended to have excellent head and bone , nice toplines, strong muscular hind quarters as well as excellent coat and type. I personally found them to be on the big side as well as the tall side if we take into consideration the recognized breed standard of today. This is a general comment, there were many smaller dogs but they were in the minority. There were quite a few 14 inch bitches but they didn't weigh 14 pounds, they weighed more.

Many breeders in England have recognized that they have become too big or coarse and many are trying to bring down the size and it is a concern for them. As it is in North America, the main concern for others, is winning. As we all know in the show world often bigger looks better and breeds generally tend to gain in size after they are shown..

Other breeders who have lines that go back to the Parson's lines say that his dogs were taller and that it would be difficult for the smaller dogs to keep up with the hounds. They also say that even though the jack russells look big, they are still spannable and flexible. They may have a point. There are many opposing views on this point. Three difficult questions we have to ask ourselves are. Are we true to the accepted recognized standard, are we true to the original terriers that the Reverend John Russell bred and are we true to ourselves?

There are two other points which struck me at the National Championship Show. First of all there were not many dogs with excellent or superior movement. There were many with acceptable movement while there were others that had unacceptable movement. There were examples of hackney action, crabbing, weaving, and rubber hocks. Some were caused by handlers but most were caused by the dogs structure. This point was agreed upon by all that attended.

The second point I noticed at the National was that there were many terriers and handlers that did not seem do be enjoying themselves in the show ring. The proud jovial terrier which I am accustomed to seeing was often lacking, energy, enthusiasm and drive. The tail often needed to be held up by the handlers. The twinkle in the eye, the terrier attitude and expression were not there. I do not know if it was because of the handlers lack of enthusiasm or because of a lack of socialization or if it was just because the jack russells there were tired of showing. I know this can happen to good show dogs. I am not trying to say that it is any better in North America but I was a little disappointed because I had a pre conceived notion that all the terriers shown at the National Championship in England would be strutting there stuff. I did not see as many show dogs as I expected I would. The type of dog that walks in the ring and says look at me, I'm the only one here.

Copyright 2008 Sonic  Parson Russell Terriers