Is there a breed standard for the James Pocket Terrier?
No. There is no breed standard for the James Pocket Terrier, but there is a Performance Standard. Kenneth James, who developed this type of terrier, feels that a descriptive breed standard is pointless if the dog can’t do the task set for him. When one deals with a breed standard, one breeds for looks. When one has a performance standard, one breeds for ability and that is how terriermen have determined breeding for hundreds of years. True working terriermen always bred their best hunter to their best hunter. Furthermore, if a given dog meets the Performance Standard, then it obviously has the conformation to do the job. Breed Standards fall short of their purpose because they don’t incorporate a standard of working along with them, so you might have a “perfectly conformed” dog, [one which meets every aspect of the descriptive standard] and yet can’t or won’t go down a hole to do what it is supposed to do. With true terriermen, a dog only looks as good as what it can do. There’s no roo
