Parson Russell Terrier Grooming

About the Parson Russell Terrier

The taller, squarer relative of the Jack Russell, separated by registries on height and proportion rather than on coat, and it inherits the family's real complication.

One breed name covers three coats. A Parson Russell can be smooth, broken or rough, and all three are correct and can appear in one litter.

A smooth is a five minute dog with a rubber mitt. A rough is a harsh jacket with a beard and eyebrows that is stripped. A broken is somewhere between, with a mostly short coat and patchy longer furnishings on the face and legs.

So an owner who books a groom by breed name has told them almost nothing, and a groomer who has a Parson booked in cannot plan the appointment.

Everything else is one dog: the same working terrier, the same energy, the same drive to go to ground.

Which of the three do you have

Work it out before you book anything, because the three appointments are not alike.

Smooth. Short, flat, hard and dense all over, with no beard, no eyebrows and no leg furnishings. A rubber curry mitt once a week and a bath every couple of months. Nothing is stripped, nothing is cut.

Rough. A harsh dense jacket around an inch and a half long, with a definite beard, eyebrows and leg furnishings. Hand stripped two or three times a year or rolled every few weeks, plus a comb through the soft furnishings every few days.

Broken. Mostly short and harsh, with longer hair on the face and legs but far less than a rough. Weekly brush, a comb through the face and legs, and a light strip once or twice a year to tidy it.

The test is the face. Run a hand over the muzzle: bare and short is smooth, a full beard and brows is rough, a bit of stubble and stray whiskers is broken.

All three shed. The smooth sheds most noticeably, and short hard terrier hair weaves into fabric.

None of the three should be clipped, for the usual reason on a harsh coat.

Stripping a broken or rough coat

The principle is the same as for any harsh coat.

The coat grows, dies and would be pulled out naturally by work in cover. A pet dog is not working in cover, so somebody has to do it.

A dead hair comes away easily between finger and thumb; a live one resists and should be left. That is the whole test.

Rolling means taking a few dead hairs out every week or two so the coat is always partly renewed and never looks stripped out. Stripping out means taking the whole jacket down at once, two or three times a year, and living with a short dog for a few weeks.

Either is fine. Rolling suits a dog you want to look consistent, stripping out suits an owner who wants it done in sessions.

Clipping is the shortcut and the cost is cumulative. Cut hairs regrow softer, paler and thinner, the undercoat comes to dominate, and a soft terrier jacket mats where a harsh one did not.

For an old dog, an ill dog or a dog that hates it, clipping is a fair decision made knowingly rather than a default.

Parson, Jack and Russell

The naming is a genuine mess and it is worth untangling once.

All three come from the same nineteenth century working terriers bred by the Reverend John Russell, and they were split by registries on height and build rather than on coat or ancestry.

The Parson Russell is the tallest and squarest, roughly twelve to fifteen inches, with longer legs and a body about as long as it is tall.

The Russell Terrier is shorter in the leg and rectangular, roughly ten to twelve inches.

The Jack Russell as most people use the word is a working type rather than a show breed, with a wide range of heights and shapes and no single standard.

None of that changes grooming. Coat type does, and it varies within all three.

So when a groomer asks what you have, the useful answer is "broken coat, about fifteen pounds" rather than the breed name.

The dog, and the table

Parsons were bred to run with hounds and then go to ground after fox, so they need the leg length to keep up and the courage to go in.

They are fast, bold, extremely high energy and entirely convinced of themselves, and none of that switches off in a salon.

A Parson on a table is usually busy rather than frightened, and it will take a chance to jump off. Say so at booking.

Prey drive is high and many are dog selective, so a salon with loose small dogs is worth asking about.

They are otherwise sound, hardy and very long lived for a dog that active, at thirteen to fifteen years.

Ears are small and folded, which cuts airflow, so check weekly.

Nails every three to four weeks and teeth brushed, since small terriers accumulate tartar quickly and live long enough for it to matter.

Primary lens luxation and deafness both turn up in the breed and both have tests, so they are worth asking a breeder about.

What to tell your groomer

Say which coat it is, smooth, broken or rough, before you say the breed name.

If it is broken or rough, say hand strip or roll, not clip.

Ask for the beard and eyebrows combed clear of the eyes but left on.

Say the dog is bold and busy rather than nervous, and will jump off a table.

Ask for ears checked, nails and pads. The folded ear covers the canal.

Mention any known deafness, so nobody approaches from behind.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Parson Russell Terrier