Am I right in thinking there is no such thing?

My mum is going to look at a litter tomorrow that apparently will get no bigger than 7 inches tall and are being advertised as minature. I've tried telling her there's no such thing and its wrong that they are bred to be so small but she just keeps saying they're just the same as any other jack russell just smaller plus she's found out she knows the woman who's daughter has the puppies, she used to work with her 30 years ago so, in her eyes, that means they have to be genuine.

This has got me quite upset and annoyed, so if i'm wrong somebody please tell me and put my mind at rest or, if not, tell me something that I can tell her to stop her buying one of these!!! :(

Well...

There are two kinds of 'jack russell'.

One is the Parson Russell Terrier, which to my mind is WHAT Rv John Russell had in mind when he bred them (a terrier small enough to go to ground, a distinctive colour, but leggy enough to follow horses and not have to be carried afaik).

This is the KC reg name for them. They are longer legged (not these 2"  queen anne legs, low wheelbase jobs) and certainly dont come in miniature.

The other kind is the 'jack russell' and is generally no more than a mongrel in most cases. Working bred ones have their purposes and tend not to make good pets (bred to be independant, noisy and quick to kill rats etc).

Pretty much every short legged, predominantly white with coloured patches dog gets called a jack russel, so if its one of these, then well they could be smaller than normal, but since they are a type rather than a breed there isnt really a standard height for them. I suspect this woman has bred two fairly small terriers together. (that said, working bred ones are bred for ratting and going to ground so they'd need to be fairly small)
Whether the pups will STAY small is anyones guess, if they have taller animals in their ancestry then they could make a greater height than either parent dog.

Em