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Tuesday 1 September 2015

Jack Russell Terrier

According to legend while a student at Exeter College, Oxford, John "Jack" Russell (1795-1883) (also known as the “Sporting Parson”) spotted a milkman accompanied by a distinctive-looking a British White Terrier. He persuaded its owner to sell the dog to him, which he named Trump.

Russell later became the vicar of Swimbridge near Barnstable, Devon, where he devoted himself to breeding a type of Fox Terrier with short legs and a short white, black and tan coat, ideally suited for hunting and able to follow foxes into burrows. These dogs are today known as Jack Russell Terriers.

Trump had a thick wiry coat with tan spots on her eyes, ears, and nose. The spunky pup became the matriarch for the breed Russell went on to create.

The exact breeds that John Russell used in his breeding program are not known, but it is suspected that the Bull Terrier and the Pocket Beagle featured strongly.

British explorers Ranulph and Ginny Fiennes traveled to the far ends of the Earth, often with their Jack Russell Terrier, Bothy, in tow. In 1982, Bothy became the first dog to go to both the North and South Poles.

Eddie, the dog in Frasier was played by Moose, a Jack Russell Terrier who also played Skip in My Dog Skip. Moose received more fan mail than any of the show's human actors.

On Sunday, 29 April 2007, a nine-year-old Jack Russell Terrier from New Zealand named George sacrificed himself to save five children from an attack by two Pit Bulls. The injuries inflicted on George were so severe that his owner, Allan Gay, had to euthanize him. The two Pit Bulls were surrendered by their owner to dog control officers, and they were also euthanized.  George was posthumously awarded a PDSA Gold Medal and his heroism was commemorated with a bronze statue.

George (died 29 April 2007) Wikipedia

The Jack Russell Terrier can leap five times its own height.

Sources Top 10 of Everything, Europress Encyclopedia, Mentalfloss.com

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