Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering about something, and thought that maybe someone here might know the answer to this. I have a friend who has a dog that she says is a full blooded JRT. This dog does look like a JRT but it has curly hair. I'm not talking wirey, her coat is curly, like a poodle. This dog also is pretty calm. From what I understand, JRT are pretty active dogs. This dog is not like that at all. So, these things make me think that this dog is not full-blooded. I looked at a JRT website and it said it has 3 different coat types and curly was not one of them.

I'm just wondering because when I first saw this dog I asked if it was part poodle (I actually love poodle mixes) and she was slightly offended and started talking about how it is a full JRT. She later started talking about breeding the dog. Anyway, just so that I know I'm not crazy, does anyone else know of a pure-bred JRT that has curly hair, or is this a possible mutation of a pure-bred? Or, is my friend crazy, and has gotten duped by the people who she got the dog from? Thanks for any help and opinions!

Personally I have only seen three types of coats on a JRT...

Smooth, Broken and Rough..I have however seen one that had very wavy rough coat. Not curly but very wavy...this particular one was an import from England. It wouldn't surprize me to see a huge variety in coat types due to the excessive amounts of breeding with them.
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Melanie

Loved by Jake (in spirit), Flea, Hammy, Kitty and Pig Pig

hi there are 3 coat types for the jrt smooth, broken which is smooth with come longer harsh hair esp. around the face and neck and rough which is very similar to the wire hair fox terrier when cared for properly but curly is not a coat type it may be from a mix or bad genes really depends on the breeder and how careful and knowlegdeable they are you should always research before you buy thanks

Actually, there is a terrier that has a coat like you described. I think it is due to bad breeding. I actually know of a dog that is a pure bred jack russell, but looks like a poodle. He has a very curly, soft coat. His owner had him neutered because he is not a breeding quality dog. Their coats should be wiry, whoever owns this dog should have him neutured as this is not the coat that we want on jack russells. Breeders should try to raise the standard of jacks.