HISTORY JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS

In 1981 the time was ripe to add a smaller breed to the Labrador Retrievers. After a thorough search and a lot of weighing the pros and cons, we chose for the Jack Russell Terrier, a breed that at that time was still rather unknown in the Netherlands.
Some of these dogs came from England to keep the horses quiet and found their way through riding-schools and stables.

Because of the fact that there was no information to be found about the descent of the Jack Russells, we eventually tracked down the address of someone who imported this strain from England. This person turned out to be the owner of the ‘Wiersse castle’ in Vorden, which happened to be in the same neighbourhood where we live. The game-keeper of this castle bred and hunted with Jack Russells and we decided to buy a pup. Our first Jack Russell (Saartje) came to live with us. Saartje reached the respectable age of 17 years. She was a Jack Russell with a very ‘modern’ look: straight paws, a good set of teeth, hanging ears and a compact slight. Most of the Jack Russells at that time and even nowadays had short, crooked forepaws, long backs and standing up ears.

Saartje became the matriarch of all our Jack Russells (Female Lines).
Because at that time there existed no Jack Russell Association and these dogs did not have a genealogical tree, it was rather difficult to find a good partner to serve Saartje.
It often occurred that female Jack Russells were combined with male dogs that were too closely related.

To avoid these circumstances in the future and to be able to breed more responsibly, a number of breeders decided to establish a Jack Russell Association, a foundation in which we participated. Nowadays the Jack Russell Terrier Association is a fast-growing foundation, devoted to keep the breed as healthy as possible.
For that matter there are certain requirements for breeding Jack Russells, such as the Patella Luxation test and a test of the eyes (which has to be repeated every year).

We only breed with dogs which comply with these requirements.

The internetsite of the Jack Russell Association is www.nvjrt.nl.