Unlike many breeds, the traits that make dogs predators—a desire to hunt and kill prey—are still strongly present in most terriers. Terriers love to dig, bark, chase, and yes, kill small fuzzy animals. Unfortunately, these traits can be a bad match for modern dog-owning life. Everyone has heard the horror stories of terriers digging out from under fences or getting hit by cars while chasing squirrels.
Finding ways to let terriers be terriers isn’t a new problem. In the 1970s, people worried about the decline of the “working terrier” formed clubs to preserve their breeds, and as part of this, came up with ways to encourage terrier owners and breeders to take pride in their dog’s instincts and skills.1 The three clubs in the United States I know of today are:
JRTCA
The Jack Russell Club of America is the working-focused breed club for the JRT in the United States.
AWTA
The American Working Terrier Association works to preserve terrier work in the United States.
MOE
Missouri Earthdogs is a unique smaller organization that promotes working terriers in the Midwest.
- Patricia Adams Lent founded the AWTA in 1971, followed by Ailsa Crawford founding the JRTCA in 1976. The UK’s JRTC-GB, was founded slightly earlier in 1974. ↩︎
Activities at terrier trials
Terrier trials focus on instinct, and include a variety of activities to allow terriers to compete and show off their wilder terrier behaviors. For example, at a JRTCA trial, you might find the following activities (and many more!):
Go-to-ground
The dog is timed as they run through a small (~9″) tunnel. To qualify, they need to “work” the quarry (a caged rat) for a certain amount of time.
Lure coursing
Dogs are timed as they chase a plastic bag/fuzzy lure.
Super-earth
The dog navigates a more complicated tunnel, often with dead ends, multiple entrances/exits, and obstacles.
Racing is one of the most spectator-friendly attractions at terrier trials! The dogs all chase a single lure, with multiple heats and championship rounds. To help the judge, they race in colored “bonnets.”
Who can participate?
Many, although not all, trials allow almost any kind of terrier or dachshund to participate, including terrier-mixes! AWTA den trials allow any dog that can fit into a 9″ tunnel, and many JRTCA trials include classes for “other” terrier breeds besides jack russell terriers. In some “unsanctioned” (unofficial) activities, larger dogs can participate too.
At JRTCA trials, the class breakdown often works like this:
JRT classes
Exclusively for JRTs. In sanctioned events these are recorded with the JRTCA, but even in unsanctioned events JRTs typically only compete against each other.
“Other terrier” or “earthdog” classes
Typically open to any non-JRT terrier or dachshund, including mixes. Some trials will even allow other small dogs, if they can participate safely.
Other dog classes
In events like brush hunt and nosework, clubs may choose to allow any size of dog to participate in their own class.
How can I find a trial?
It’s easy! Both the JRTCA and AWTA list trial dates on their websites. For MOE, they host one trial a year, on Memorial Day Weekend.
To enter, look for the trial premium. Many JRTCA trials also use trialvault, an online entry system that makes it easy to register and enter your dogs in trials. No matter how you enter, you will need to provide information about yourself and your dogs, choose events and appropriate classes to enter, and pay an entry fee.
Questions?
Feel free to reach out to me! I am happy to help new competitors get started in these events.
Thank you for your response. ✨
Tils & Lottie 
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