Sunday, January 10, 2010

Jack Russell Terrier


I labeled this a Jack Russell Terrier, but after reading about them, I'm not sure what type of Russell Terrier this is.

art by Sharon Forbes / Applejack Art Partners

Postmarked in 2009 from Finland, with a Suomi Finland fish stamp

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A few famous Russell Terriers:
Long believed to be Jack Russell Terriers, father Moose and son Enzo, played the role of Eddie, on the long-running TV sitcom Frasier. They are often mistakingly called Jack Russell Terriers because most of the public is unaware of the other variations of Russells. Eddie belonged to lead character Frasier's father Martin, and constantly "stole the show" with his deadpan antics. Eddie received more fan mail than any other Frasier character. Both Moose and Enzo were of Parson Russell Terrier genealogy.

Similarly, the role playing terrier on Wishbone, a television show which aired from 1995 to 2001 in the United States, who shared his name with the show, has had his breed wrongly identified over the years. Wishbone was also a Parson Russell Terrier from imported English and Scottish lines. The problem with having several different types of Russells is that it is difficult to determine the specific type until examining the individual dog's pedigree. Many Parson Russell Terriers and Russell Terriers have been referred to as Jack Russells over the years due to the fact that most of the general public and entertainment industry have been unaware of the existence of these other classifications.

1 comment:

Tom from Jack Russell Lover said...

Fascinating -- I consider myself fairly well versed in Jack Russell trivia but I didn't realize that both Eddie and Wishbone were actually played by Parsons. It's true that the general public is not really aware of the distinctions, but then again one could argue that the distinctions are quite petty anyway and have more to do with dog club politics than anything else.