Glenhill

No one has mentioned the Parson Russell Terrier yet! LOL. Not really a rare breed, but there arent many of them here in Australia.

I moved to Australia from the US recently and brought a dog. One of my dogs erlykia tests came back positive every time and he was not allowed to be imported, so yes it happens. If I was doing it again I would pay for the 4 tests now and see what results you get. The tests won't be valid, but you will know if the dog will run into issues or not. My dog did not fair well at all in quarantine and took months for him to be right again mentally, but he was an adult dog. Good luck!

The Parson Russell was developed in the 1800's in England as a dog to run with the hounds and horses and whenthe fox went to ground it went down the hole and bailed the fox out. It was very carefully and specifically bred by Parson John Russell for this purpose. Because of needed to follow the hounds, the Parson must be between 12-15 inches tall, and a leggy, not too stocky of a terrier. It must be mostly white so that the hounds did not mistake it for a fox! John Russell was very careful and selective of his terriers and the Parson must not be a gamey or aggressive dog at all. They must not want to kill the fox, because if they did the hunt was over. John Russell very strictly culled any Parson that was not a happy, friendly and easy to get along with dog. They were used quite extensively in the hunt with the hounds in south England where they were developed to be used. Both Parsons and Fox hounds had to be friendly dogs that got along with others or their would be no hunt!! Here is an article that explains their heritage and breed type well: http://www.prtaa.org/TheBreed.html The Jack Russell came about after John Russells death when his kennel maid took some of his stock and crossed it with a corgi and other terrier breeds. Hence the short legged, gamey Jack Russell. This was far off from what John had developed the breed for, and why they are now two separate breeds. The Jack has a totally separate breed standard than a Parson. Here in Australia people will use a few Jack Russells down a fox hole to push a fox out and kill it, but this is a modern adaptation to the ancestry of the Parson that was specifically to run with the hounds and chase the fox out of the home so the hunt could continue. I have had Parsons for years, and we used them in the hunt with hounds most times out, with no issues and they performed jusy as they were bred to do. I have never had a single Parson that had temperment issues in all the times we bred. They have been happy, lovely dogs that live on the farm with the horses and farm dogs, and in the house. Happy to sit on the lounge, and like to be with their people. I currently have the number 3 terrier in the Rising Star competition in NSW and our biggest issue is that he loves the judges and wants to lick them while he is on the table. Any Parson with an aggressive or "frothy" temperament should have been culled as John Russell did. I cannot speak to the temperament of other Parsons here, except for the ones I have encountered which have been related to my dog and are lovely well tempered. As an example, my husband being new to the breed tried to take my Parson out rabbit hunting but was sorely dissappointed when he would happily chase the rabbit, but wouldn't kill it and wouldn't put his mouth on the rabbit! I had to explain the history of the breed to NOT kill game before he gave up trying to teach the dog to grab and shake the rabbit to kill it! They are small in numbers here in AU, but we are out with ours and doing very well. They are a very common breed in the US and the UK.