Russell Terrier breed guide

The first tool for training a Russell Terrier is a good sense of humor, AKC says. They are extremely intelligent and love to work on problems and play games.

They bore easily, so training sessions must stay entertaining. They master tricks easily and love entertaining.

Russell Terriers live 12 to 14 years. Most are happy, healthy dogs and breeders screen for patellar luxation, deafness and eye disease, testing all breeding dogs to preserve the breed's genetic health.

The Russell's rough-and-ready look is easily maintained across three coat types: smooth, broken and rough. The dense, short smooth coat stays in great shape with an all-over rubdown with a soft brush or hound glove once a week and the rough and broken coats need going over with a brush or comb.

This is not a breed for a couch-potato family: high energy and a robust personality suit an outdoorsy family that takes lots of hikes, bike rides and long daily walks.

The Russell and Parson Russell terriers share a heritage as fox-working dogs from the kennels of the Sporting Parson, Rev. John Russell, in the mid-1800s.

Since the parson's day the lines have diverged and are now recognized as two separate breeds and Russell Terriers were bred to be swift enough to run with the hounds and tough but compact enough to go to ground and bolt prey.