KENAI
Parson Russell Terrier

The breeds · terrier

AKC Terrier · UKC Terrier · FCI standard 339

Parson Russell Terrier.

AKC: developed in the south of England in the 1800s as a white terrier to work the European red fox above and below ground; the Reverend John Russell's terriers trailed hounds and bolted foxes from dens so the hunt could ride on; a small, flexible chest to pursue quarry underground and enough leg to follow the hounds. UKC: an agile small-to-medium hunting terrier, built to go to ground after fox; notoriously fearless, needs little encouragement to go to ground; judged as a working terrier. FCI 339 utilization: working terrier with ability to go to ground. RKC: bred to go to ground and often the earth dog for badger or fox; handy size to go to ground yet sufficiently racy to keep up with hounds; still retains its working abilities as a fox terrier. Working measure: AKC makes spanning the chest 'a significant factor and a critical part of the judging process' (thumbs meet at the spine, fingers under the chest); FCI says capable of being spanned behind the shoulders by average size hands; UKC says spanned behind the front legs by an average man's hands. Wikipedia: unusual today for show-bred dogs of this breed to do fox-hunting work..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13.8YRMedian lifespan13.5 to 14, measured on real dogs.
14 / 13INHeightdogs 14, bitches 13. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
13–17LBWeight, all linesbreed 13 to 17 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day. AKC page: energy level 5 of 5 and mental stimulation needs 4 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). UKC: a high-energy breed, happiest where there is lots of regular activity.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 14 in (10 to 15) · bitches 13 in (10 to 15)

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Same sources as the male row; UKC does not split the range by sex.

Weight

13 to 17 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Single figure from the AKC standard; UKC and FCI print height only. No sex split is printed.

Coat

AKC: smooth or broken, a double coat; clear outline with only a hint of eyebrows and beard; no sculptured furnishings; tail docked so the tip is about level with the skull. UKC: three coat types, rough, broken and smooth; rough and broken coats may be stripped. FCI 339: rough, broken or smooth. Color: AKC white, white with black or tan markings, tri-color (brindle disqualifies); UKC predominantly white (less than 50 percent white disqualifies); FCI white or predominantly white with tan, lemon or black. AKC page: coat grooming 2, shedding 2.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

AKC allows smooth and broken only; UKC and FCI also allow rough. AKC page bands not mapped.

Shedding

Shedding 2 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · AKC: smooth or broken, a double coat of good sheen, naturally harsh, close and dense, no kink. UKC: rough, broken or smooth, all dense, hard and weather resistant, covering belly and thighs. FCI 339: rough, broken or smooth, harsh, flat, close and dense with good undercoat, weather-resistant.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club

Derived from the standards' coat (short to medium dense, hard double coat = 4). No measured data.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13.8 years (13.5 to 14)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. UK population; the median covers dogs that had died plus censored dogs per the paper's method.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day. AKC page: energy level 5 of 5 and mental stimulation needs 4 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). UKC: a high-energy breed, happiest where there is lots of regular activity.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

Energy

5 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: grooming once a week; short coat; sheds. AKC page: coat grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding 2 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). UKC: rough and broken coats may be stripped to keep the coat's quality.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

AKC: developed in the south of England in the 1800s as a white terrier to work the European red fox above and below ground; the Reverend John Russell's terriers trailed hounds and bolted foxes from dens so the hunt could ride on; a small, flexible chest to pursue quarry underground and enough leg to follow the hounds. UKC: an agile small-to-medium hunting terrier, built to go to ground after fox; notoriously fearless, needs little encouragement to go to ground; judged as a working terrier. FCI 339 utilization: working terrier with ability to go to ground. RKC: bred to go to ground and often the earth dog for badger or fox; handy size to go to ground yet sufficiently racy to keep up with hounds; still retains its working abilities as a fox terrier. Working measure: AKC makes spanning the chest 'a significant factor and a critical part of the judging process' (thumbs meet at the spine, fingers under the chest); FCI says capable of being spanned behind the shoulders by average size hands; UKC says spanned behind the front legs by an average man's hands. Wikipedia: unusual today for show-bred dogs of this breed to do fox-hunting work.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

AKC, UKC, FCI and RKC wording. Wikipedia's remark about show-bred dogs is editorial and not cited at its source here.

Primary game

UKC: fox (built to go to ground after fox; UKC history: the Reverend Russell developed a strain of Fox Terriers). AKC: European red fox, bolted from dens. RKC: earth dog for fox or badger. Wikipedia: the 1894 Devon and Somerset Badger Club, founded by Arthur Blake Heinemann, who wrote the first breed standard for this type, aimed to promote badger digging rather than fox hunting.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Registry statements for fox; badger from RKC and Wikipedia.

Also used on

RKC (terrier group text): terriers were bred to pursue fox, badger, rat and otter above and below ground. RKC (breed): badger as well as fox. AKC standard: works fox both above and below ground. No source read states rabbit or rat use for this breed specifically.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The RKC group sentence covers the terrier group, not this breed alone; stated as such.

Range

Built to keep up with the hounds in the open: AKC says sufficient length of leg to follow the hounds; RKC says sufficiently racy to keep up with hounds. No source prints a range band.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Editorial reading of the AKC and RKC wording; no source prints a close, medium or big range.

Search pattern

AKC: the Reverend Russell's terriers trailed hounds and bolted foxes from dens; a game hunter at work, tenacious, courageous and single minded. UKC: requires little encouragement to go to ground; aggression toward anything other than legitimate quarry detracts from the working terrier. RKC: sufficiently racy to keep up with hounds. Single-dog den work; hounds do the running. No source read for this breed states whether the terrier bays or is silent at the quarry (AKC Earthdog's general text: small terriers were bred to bark at the quarry in the den and to bolt or draw it).

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Breed-specific voice is not stated by AKC, UKC, FCI or RKC. The Earthdog sentence is about small terriers and Dachshunds as a group.

Field trial standard

AKC Earthdog eligible-breeds page lists Parson Russell Terrier. AKC Earthdog (non-competitive den tests for small terriers and Dachshunds): Introduction to Quarry (10 ft tunnel, one right angle, caged rats behind bars; handler may encourage), Junior Earthdog (30 ft den, three right angles, 30 s to reach the rats, 60 s working them, title after two passes under two judges), then Senior Earthdog (30 ft den, three right angles, false unscented exit and unscented bedding, 90 s work, recall from the den) and Master Earthdog (hunt to the den with a bracemate over 100 to 300 yd, mark the entrance, work the quarry through a 6 in narrowing). The AKC page says the tests were built for dogs bred to track game above and below ground, bark at the quarry in the den, and bolt or draw it for the hunter. FCI 339 classifies the breed Group 3, Section 1 (large and medium sized terriers), working trial optional.

Breed clubAKC

AKC Earthdog about and eligible-breeds pages and the FCI classification; the Earthdog rulebook itself was not read.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

7.2% · 139 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 7.2% dysplastic (mild 5.8, moderate 1.4, severe 0.0), 92.1% normal

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, with normal results over-represented. Rank 158. Parson Russell Terrier row only; the OFA has no row for the Russell Terrier. No OFA elbow row for the breed.

Most common disorders

RKC pre-breeding screening for the breed: DNA tests for late onset ataxia (LOA) and primary lens luxation (PLL) under Good Practice; spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) DNA and the BVA/KC/ISDS eye scheme under Best Practice; the RKC says evidence indicates these conditions are a significant concern in the breed. Wikipedia: one of the more commonly affected breeds for primary lens luxation (ADAMTS17); juvenile cataracts, corneal dystrophy, progressive retinal atrophy; deafness and patella luxation; an inherited ataxia with myokymia and seizures (KCNJ10) across the Russell terriers.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC health page and Wikipedia (editorial, secondary). No VetCompass or breed-club survey read.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 2; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Parson, Parson Jack Russell Terrier, PRT

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your parson russell terrier, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app