First dog - training, food, cats and horses

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zoon

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We've just got ourself a new dog. She's an 11 month old jack Russell x Lakeland terrier. She's had very basic training, but not much so we'll be off to classes soon, but where do I find the best ones to go to? And will she be in puppy or dog classes?

Also she is currently fed pedigree puppy food, which I understand is not the best. What foods are recommended (I do not want to feed raw)?

We have a cat, which she is mildly interested in. But the cat chases her and then the dog thinks its a game and gets excited. What is the best way to deal with this? The cat snarls and hisses and chases when she gets too close. If the cat left her alone, the dog would blank the cat. Not sure how to explain it to the two of them!

And also she has never seen horses before. Mine are kept at home so she can now see them outside. She seems quite cautious, and the horses also seem a bit worried about her (despite having dogs around all the time at a previous livery yard). What should I do about that one?

As you can see, I am a bit clueless, so excuse my questions as want to do it right.
 
Hi
Well done on new dog, she will not be the easiest to train, at her age and with her breeding so don't expect the world overnight. PM Cayla on here and she will send you a sheet on crate training, she is HHO dog training guru.
Can you get a stair gate or similar and block off a section that either cat or dog can be behind? If the dog gets revved up enough the cat will come off worse, even if cat is the one starting it.
Keep the dog on a lead around the horses, they will soon get used to each other, she will probably rather go off ratting anyway, much more fun!
Everyone will suggest different foods but we feed Harringtons and our dogs look well on it.
 
I agree with all those points, Clodagh made a good point that she will be difficult as she is a teenage terrier. They think they know best but are so worth it for their characters, be the pack leader from the start and stick to the rules and routine you develop.
 
We took on a patterdale male aged 12 months and found him quite a challenge. It's a delicate balance of having strict boundaries and rules but also taking into account the intrinsic nature and breeding of these super charged terrier types. Our boy never settled to a crate, but we use dog gates a lot to restrict his access. He is not allowed in our bedroom, because we end up getting into arguments about him ratting the duvet and he's not allowed in the sitting room because he rips up mail and also patrols the window barking furiously at anyone daring to walk past. With these sorts of strategies in place it helps him relax and also means we are not falling out with him constantly. He is deep down a very lovely little dog who hatrs being told off but his terrier instinct is never far from the surface. He will never be a biddable easy dog who does things just because we want, but we love him anyway. We could never trust him with cats though, although he accepts my rabbits because he knows their housing is too secure for him to break into. if they ever escaped thought, they would be dead. Exercise is key for these types, ours needs a couple of hours a day or he becomes fractious and unsettled. Many patties/ lakelands can't be trusted off lead and have terrible recall but ours has always been great outside the house. We always used to treat when he recalled though so I think this has helped. Good luck, the forum is great with lots of terrier owners able to offer advice.
 
Thanks. She's got the basics - sit and no, stay works sometimes and her recall is inconsistent, but not too bad. She doesn't like being shut in a room so doubt she'll be happy in a crate. She isn't allowed upstairs and there is a gate at the top incase she tries. Cat and dog better today. Dog is ignoring cat and cat has stopped the chasing and is now just hissing, which s being ignored. Think it'll fizzle out.

How do I go about finding a good local class to take her to?
 
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