Ed Note: Be sure to read a news flash at the end dated today, 9/26/26.
As conformation fanciers, we are guilty of not spending more time on obedience topics, and that’s “our bad.” Obedience takes dedication and insight into what works for a particular breed, and as former terrier owners, we know it can be a real challenge to ask a terrier to return a glove, when the dog would rather wear it while engaging in a criminal activity without leaving behind incriminating paw prints.
You have to love terriers.
That said, we did want to comment on a newly approved 2026 change to AKC obedience regulation, and not because three-quarter jump heights themselves are new.
The problem is that the AKC announced the wrong terrier.
On its Obedience News and Updates page, the AKC says that its Board approved adding the Norwich Terrier to the breeds eligible to use the three-quarter jump-height table. Taken alone, that sounds straightforward enough.
As far as we can tell, it’s also kind of wrong.
The AKC’s own obedience regulations effective January 1, 2012, already listed the Norwich Terrier among the breeds approved for three-quarter jump height. In other words, Norwich Terriers had been on that list for at least fourteen years when the supposed “addition” was announced in 2026.
The formal minutes of the AKC Board meeting held May 11–12, 2026, clear up the mystery. The request actually came from the Norfolk Terrier Club, and the Board voted to lower the regular obedience jump height for Norfolk Terriers to three-quarters of the dog’s height at the withers. The change became effective June 1, 2026.
The current rulebook, with Appendix A revised May 12, now lists both breeds—Norfolk and Norwich—one immediately after the other. Somewhere between the Board minutes and the online news summary, Norfolk apparently became a Norwich. It happens. One morning we woke up with blonde hair.
What does three-quarter jump height actually even mean?
In the applicable regular obedience classes, jump height is normally determined from the dog’s measured height at the withers. Under the standard table, a dog standing more than nine inches but no more than eleven inches jumps ten inches. Under the three-quarter table, a dog measuring less than ten inches jumps four inches, while one measuring from ten inches to less than twelve-and-a-half inches jumps eight inches.
That is a meaningful difference for a Norfolk, whose breed standard calls for an ideal height of nine to ten inches. It does not reduce the number of exercises, relax the judging or award extra credit. It simply changes the minimum setting of the jump. A handler may choose a higher setting, but AKC regulations provide neither a penalty nor extra consideration for doing so.
The Board minutes do not explain the Norfolk Terrier Club’s breed-specific reasoning, so we will resist supplying our own. What can be said with certainty is that the parent club made the request, the AKC Board approved it, and the change took effect June 1.
The Norwich Terrier didn’t get a “special dispensation” in 2026. The Norwich already had it. The news is that its drop-eared cousin, the Norfolk, has finally joined it—and that even an authoritative source occasionally needs its ears examined (we wanted to use another body part but thought better of it).
We don’t always provide sources, but in this case, we are. We checked the AKC May 2026 Board minutes, current AKC Obedience Regulations, AKC’s online obedience update containing the Norwich error, and the Norfolk Terrier standard.
And finally, folks, we don’t like to be hyperbolic (well, we do, but we try to show restraint), but we must share that our presence on Facebook has taken a serious hit this past week.
The social-media platform has adopted a new policy limiting Pages to sharing two links a month. That means we are no longer able to routinely share interesting breed-related articles, promote our own work, introduce the latest NPDD merchandise or direct readers to other worthwhile resources. Lord only knows how this will affect our popular photo contests on May 1.
We can only imagine how devastating this restriction may be for charities, fundraising efforts, rescue organizations, small businesses, independent writers and community groups that rely on links to connect people with donations, registrations, applications and essential information. For a platform built around “sharing,” this feels rather like inviting everyone to a potluck and then confiscating the serving spoons.
NPDD will continue doing what it has always done: celebrating purebred dogs, sharing accurate and interesting breed information, supporting responsible dog ownership and giving our community reasons to smile. We may simply have to become more creative about how we reach you.
You can help enormously by visiting the National Purebred Dog Day website directly, subscribing to our updates where available, following the page closely and sharing our posts with fellow dog lovers. If Facebook declines to carry the links, perhaps good old-fashioned word of mouth—now with keyboards—will have to do some of the heavy lifting.
We aren’t going anywhere. We are, however, asking for a little help keeping NPDD visible. If you enjoy what we do, please check in regularly, comment, share and let others know where to find us. Facebook may limit our links, but it cannot limit the enthusiasm of people who love purebred dogs.
Photo of a Norfolk Terrier by Nigel Wallace / iStock