Digging into terrier breeds

From the Jack Russell to the Australian to the Czesky, every one of the 27 recognised terrier types is either native British or has British ancestry

- David Tomlinson

DESPITE ‘terrier’ and ‘terrorist’ sounding so similar, they aren't connected. The word ‘terrier’ derives from the Latin terra, meaning ‘earth’, and it reflects the fact that historically terriers were bred to go to ground in search of what was loosely called vermin. Terriers have been around in one form or another for several hundred years, and today the terrier group includes some of the most popular, and also the rarest, of our native British breeds.

Arguably the most numerous of the lot is the Jack Russell, now officially divided into two breeds: the standard Jack Russell and the longer-legged Parson Russell. The latter was recognised by the Kennel Club in 1990 but it wasn’t until 2016 that the Jack Russell was finally acknowledged, to the dismay of many enthusiasts who were appalled at the prospect of the gamest of terriers ending up as a pampered pooch on a show bench. Their fears were largely unfounded, as today the great majority of Jack Russells remain unregistered. The Kennel Club's own figures indicate that a mere 300 or so are registered annually, a number that hardly reflects these little dogs’ enduring popularity.