The Milligan Family consists of Bill, Martha and Derrick. We became acquainted with the Jack Russell Terrier breed in the early 1980’s. Our first association came from the Jack Russells that were at horse shows. Our first Jack Russells actually came from puppies bred by Martha’s parents. They were what we refer to as “horse show” Jack Russell Terriers. You will recognize the type: short legs and long backs.

We were members of the JRTCA way back in the early 1980’s. That is when True Grit was a few copied pages stapled together.

We became involved with terrier trials in the early 1990’s. We were asked to help a friend to put on a fun day for the Charlotte Polo Club. The only experience we previously had was watching terrier race at National Horse Show in Washington, DC. We had some expert help and got through without any major disasters.

We can still remember when terriers were not required to be muzzles and we had two tall male terriers that were brothers that wanted to fight. No muzzles were available so we tried taping their mouths with duck tape. Since them we have gone on to organize many fun days and sanctioned terrier trials. In looking back we can see how addictive terrier trials are.

Agility is one of our favorite activities with our terriers. Again, from the time that we saw a demonstration, we were hooked. We got a set of plans and constructed a set of equipment. I remember thinking that we had never taught a dog to do anything. They just seemed to take to it naturally.

Bill retired in 2006 after 35 years as a busy executive for Tubular Textile Machinery. He spends his days checking out Money.com and working on the farm or in his shop. He enjoys running the lure at the trials.

Derrick graduated from Catawba College in 2006 after an outstanding career playing football. He is employed by Makson Construction Company as a project supervisor. He is usually out of town working on an apartment or condo for the company. He spends his "spare" time in the woods hunting whatever is in season.