The top speed of a Jack Russell and the danger of the internet.....

[Fab Foodie]

We all should know this but....

Yesterday my colleague announced she was adopting a Greyhound (we have 2 Whippets), in conversation we got down to talking about their running speed and I quickly googled 'Fastest dogs' and found a top ten video from the USA. Whipps about right at ~35mph and all was well until at #3 was the Jack Russell at 38mph! Faster than a Whippet???
So I double checked and on a few top 'fastest dog' sites, loads of them- and there again, top speed of a JR Terrier was 37/38mph. Now I know they're might plucky and give a good chase, but they are in no way faster than my Whippets, this I know, even the longer legged Parsons Russell will not out run a Whippet. So I dug deeper and then on a JR specific site it said 'Top speed of about 20mph' and a bit more delving into JR specific sites found broad agreement which seems realistic, 20mph is pretty good for a small legged terrier!
Did you see what happened?
Did you see how the error spread?
Did you see that no common-sense 'fact-checking' is going-on?

This my friends is the simple peril of the internet, trust nothing and even when corroborated, trust nothing.

 

[MartinQ]

We all should know this but....

Yesterday my colleague announced she was adopting a Greyhound (we have 2 Whippets), in conversation we got down to talking about their running speed and I quickly googled 'Fastest dogs' and found a top ten video from the USA. Whipps about right at ~35mph and all was well until at #3 was the Jack Russell at 38mph! Faster than a Whippet???
So I double checked and on a few top 'fastest dog' sites, loads of them- and there again, top speed of a JR Terrier was 37/38mph. Now I know they're might plucky and give a good chase, but they are in no way faster than my Whippets, this I know, even the longer legged Parsons Russell will not out run a Whippet. So I dug deeper and then on a JR specific site it said 'Top speed of about 20mph' and a bit more delving into JR specific sites found broad agreement which seems realistic, 20mph is pretty good for a small legged terrier!
Did you see what happened?
Did you see how the error spread?
Did you see that no common-sense 'fact-checking' is going-on?

This my friends is the simple peril of the internet, trust nothing and even when corroborated, trust nothing.

Even you?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Even you?

Especially me!
But if you notice (at least in this case) I questioned what I read because I knew enough to know a JR cannot out run a Whippet...on other subjects I'm as much prey as the next man....
As this example shows, a simple error made once gets copied multiple times to the extent that it becomes 'a truth' because everyone repeats it and we rarely challenge the 'popular or accepted view'....

 

[Salty seadog]

We all should know this but....

Yesterday my colleague announced she was adopting a Greyhound (we have 2 Whippets), in conversation we got down to talking about their running speed and I quickly googled 'Fastest dogs' and found a top ten video from the USA. Whipps about right at ~35mph and all was well until at #3 was the Jack Russell at 38mph! Faster than a Whippet???
So I double checked and on a few top 'fastest dog' sites, loads of them- and there again, top speed of a JR Terrier was 37/38mph. Now I know they're might plucky and give a good chase, but they are in no way faster than my Whippets, this I know, even the longer legged Parsons Russell will not out run a Whippet. So I dug deeper and then on a JR specific site it said 'Top speed of about 20mph' and a bit more delving into JR specific sites found broad agreement which seems realistic, 20mph is pretty good for a small legged terrier!
Did you see what happened?
Did you see how the error spread?
Did you see that no common-sense 'fact-checking' is going-on?

This my friends is the simple peril of the internet, trust nothing and even when corroborated, trust nothing.

Everyone knows A Jack Russell is the fastest dog...... and can keep wicket for England.

You and your alternative facts.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Didn’t Jack Russell win the 100m at the 1908 Olympics?

 

[Rocky]

His dad Bertrand knew a thing or two.

 

[Beebo]

Everyone knows A Jack Russell is the fastest dog...... and can keep wicket for England.

You and your alternative facts.

And they can knock out a good water colour of Trent bridge.
Not a simple task with paws.

 

[Archie_tect]

All we need to know is that when you are out cycling in Kent and someone barrels past you, don't worry, it'll just be Fabbers chased by an irate Jack Russell.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Ah, circular reporting! Dave Gorman did a piece on it some years ago; A Wikipedia contributor had erroneously inserted on Gorman's wiki page that the comedian had hitchhiked the Pacific rim during a year off. A newspaper columnist later picked that up from Wikipedia and put it into an article, I think it might have been followed by others.
Gorman swears that he has never hitchhiked the Pacific rim and has since tried unsuccessfully to edit it out of his Wikipedia page, but it keeps being reinstated because there was a confirmed source for it - That source being the newspaper article which had used Wikipedia as their source.

There is speculation from some observers that Gorman inserted the Wikipedia claim to prove a point about circular reporting (and to provide material), he denies that, but the problem with dodgy sources is that you never know!

 

[cyberknight]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8uP-dxllKQ&t=2s

 

[Speicher]

Can you extrapolate?

@Fab Foodie - you knew what I meant!


What about a combination of speed and stamina?

If the greyhound is trained to run at top speed for 500 metres, does it slow down after that?

The Jack Russell may have a much lower top speed, but can they run further?

 

[PaulSB]

Speaking from personal experience I can vouch for the speed and accuracy of the Jack Russell. At least equivalent to that of the very latest in military grade laser guided ordnance.

Two summers ago I cruised by a farmyard at perhaps 15-17mph. Out of nowhere the JR launched itself with astonishing precision at my left ankle ripping the sock and drawing blood. Six inches either way and he'd have been in my wheels.

 

[Speicher]

My next door neighbour has a large golden Labrador is who is excellent at cricket.

He can bowl a maiden over.

 

[Kajjal]

Most terriers sprint at top speed to the exact place you don’t want them to be and start causing trouble

Ours has jumped on the back of a German Shepherd and also chased off a Rottweiler in the past

 

[tyred]

When driving, I once came across an Alsatian running along a narrow road and slowed down to his speed and he was running at an indicated 29 MPH according to my speedometer. I was impressed at the time as I didn't think a dog could go that fast.