American Russell Terrier Foundation Club                                                PO Box 25067  Scottsdale, AZ 85255  (602) 549-6949

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American Russell Terrier Foundation Club History

2007

The origin of the American Russell Terrier Foundation Club (ARTFC) dates from 1994

when Avril and Michael Black, Jacque Abbott, JoAnn McLeod Bebe Stoll and Laurel

Foster discussed the need for a registry for the shorter legged, longer backed Jack Russell

Terrier. The aforementioned individuals officially formed the English Jack Russell Terrier Club (EJRTC) in 1995

The mission of the club was to write a breed standard for the breed, to establish

registration criteria to maintain a credible registry, and to promote the shorter legged ,

rectangular type of Jack Russell Terrier known in the US today as the Russell Terrier.

The EJRTC patented its own criteria and requirements to register an individual terrier it included photographs of the dog, a veterinary check, pedigree and stud certificate. This was done to insure that only terriers that met the phenotype criteria and were healthy would be carried forward as breeding stock in the EJRTC registry. Some of these American bred and English imports had no known pedigree behind them, but the adults were entered into the registry as breeding stock with subsequent generations carrying documented

certifiable pedigrees of their now registered ancestors.

In 2000 the English Jack Russell Terrier Club petitioned the United Kennel Club (UKC)

to recognize the breed as separate and distinct from the longer legged, square Jack Russell

Terrier ‘aka’ Parson type. The UKC agreed to take the EJRTC registry in its entirety as the foundation stock for the Russell Terrier. Consequently, the Club submitted the registry to the UKC. The EJRTC followed the submission and acceptance of its registry with an application to UKC to become a licensed UKC Breed Club.

The requirements of the UKC included submitting bylaws and constitution that would

guarantee elections of officers and a club runs by Roberts Rules of Order in an organized

and democratic fashion. It was decided and voted on to change our name to the Russell

Terrier Foundation Club to reflect that the Club was the Foundation Club of the Breed in

the UKC.

Those members of the EJRTC who did not wish to operate as an organized club under the

guidance of the UKC registry with democratic bylaws and governing split off and went

their own way.

Avril and Michael Black continued the guidance of the original club under the name Russell Terrier Foundation Club. The RTFC has since its acceptance as a Licensed UKC breed Club annually hosted many Russell Terrier specialties and all-breed shows. The membership of the RTFC includes many AKC and UKC confirmation judges, working judges and long-time breeders throughout the US. The membership of the RTFC has constantly shown the majority of Russell Terriers that have been in the UKC's top ten since the inclusion of the breed in UKC registry.

With foundation lines dating back to 1961, the Russell Terrier Foundation Club was the oldest and largest Russell Terrier registry in the US. The Club turned over the Stud Books in 2005 to the FSS-AKC.

The Club is now listed by AKC as the American Russell Terrier Foundation Club and is a recognized acceptable Registry for "Single Dog Registration of the Russell Terrier" by FSS-AKC.