Jack Russell Terriers

Mince Pie

Mince Pie

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Have done a search but nothing has really popped out! OH and I are planning ahead to what kind of dog we will have when we get our own place, I'm currently dog sitting for a friend and one of hers is a little wire haired JRT which we've both completely fallen for! I've currently got a collie and OH has previously had a family dog which was a collie x lab so we're both used to high energy dogs, OH likes walking and it would come to the yard with me so should get enough exercise :)
I was just after some owners views as there are a couple of things which concern me - namely how common is it that they have no recall? Are they good with other dogs, kids and other animals? Are they difficult to train? Is there anything else we should know - neither of us have any real experience with terriers!

Many thanks :)
 
I've had Millie since she was 7 and a bit weeks old... Recall is just about training as with any breed, Millie is brilliant though! Millie loves to learn, training is great fun with her, she's a flyball daemon & loves agility too, picks things up incredibly fast, she lives with my cat & other dog A lurcher. She respects the cat, but is totally in charge with the Lurcher. She does have a what mine is mine and what yours is mine attitude when it comes to toys. She is fab with other dogs/people/children. Its all about laying down the ground rules and sticking to them, as she definitely thinks she's a much bigger dog! She has boundless energy, but is currently curled up on my lap fast asleep!

Who wouldn't want this in their life...
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Ive found with JRs they are all very different as they are not an established breed. Some are out and out hunters and some have no interest in any sort of vermin and can be real lap dogs. Others can be fine with children and other dogs and some can be right little s*ds. I really think you need to do your research about their temperment and their health as they like a lot of little dogs can suffer from laxating patella. I think they can also have eye problems.
 
We have jrtx. She's got a fantastic temperament, but is hyper active, doesn't matter how long a walk she's had! Her recall is brilliant though.
 
I have a lovely JRTx. I think, as with all breeds, a lot is down to natural temperament, socialisation and training. Having said that Pookie is a very confident dog who doesn't know how little he is and fancies himself a large breed. He is extremely bright and easily trainable, responding well to positive training methods. He does have a strong hunting instinct and did lose his recall with the arrival of adulthood so we had to go through a long lining phase, but I wouldn't change him for the world!

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Ours has a recall in everyday general life. If he see's a cat/squirrel/rabbit/deer etc he's off! But he is from working parents and wants to do his "job" He's full of energy and is good with other dogs and kids. He will even tolerate being dressed up by them. I love love love jr's and will never be without at least one.

He can be feisty when he feels he's being treated roughly by our bigger dogs, they like to chase him and he's not afraid to put them in their place. The staffy knows not to mess with him :)
 
They're all different, I have four. Three have great recall, one suffers from selective deafness. All are fantastic with my 3 year old nephew and have been since he first crawled into their baskets when he was first able to move.

Three Of them are absolutely fine with other dogs off the lead, the smallest bitch is a little sod, but she ain't been bitten yet!

I love JRTs they're such characters, but I do get jealous of Lab owners who show off about their dogs' ability to sit and wait and catch things and generally be saints!
 
Haha selective deafness I'm used to - I own a dog with strong chase instinct... ;) I love their characters and like a "ballsy" dog, there's 4 JRTs I know - 3 is happily take home and 1 which I hate! OH even allowed my friends JRT on the couch so he must be smitten! :D
 
Mine recalls perfectly in everyday life, she once freaked out and bolted (long story) and was gone then. I would trust her 110% around anyone, however have always socialised her well and kept her under the thumb. She isn't a ratter but I can trust her around chickens, pigs etc she wouldn't snap at all. Slightly ball crazy and she will warn people if they are looking in back of car or bark if she hears banging noises at night but for me that's ideal. She's one in a million <3
 
I've got 3. I walk the boy on his own off the lead. If another dog comes by I tell him to sit and wait and he does just that, never trained him to but makes me look good. I generally walk all 3 up the woods off lead and rarely have to call them, they pop back to check where I am !
Only one is a real hunter and if she caught a cat I've no doubt she would kill it and she's also bit of a yappy cow but we got her at the age of 8 and she'd always been left alone to do what she wanted.
Great dogs and very loyal. They love to play and my sitting room floor currently has 2 raggies, a toy fox, rubber bone, 2 tennis balls, a rubber tug of war thingy and a rubber ball strewn across it. :)
 
We've just got a JRTx, he's incredibly cute, proving to be really intelligent already, at 9 weeks we have recall 90% of the time and sit down to a tee, he's fetching like a pro (until he gets bored), now working on wait and lie down, I don't think they are going to take long at all.

He's a chewing machine, everything and I mean everything goes in his mouth to be tasted or chewed! Yesterday he discovered horse poo is really, really tasty.

He's had a couple of tellings from the cats so is already staying out of there way and not generally bothering with them.
 
I adore my boy but I will never have another JRT, he is good to recall but then we only have him off his lead very rarely, he is fine with dogs that he has been able to 'get to know' over a period of time but will go to attack (has never actually bitten) strange dogs if they approach him while on his lead. He is not good with other dogs in the house, they can be in the house but not the same room. He is SUCH a particular boy with so many varying issues that I will never choose to have another JRT. He flew at a baby when it cried and I would never, ever trust him in the room with a small child. He has been very good with children over 6.

I love him so much but boy he isn't easy! I don't think I would advise anyone to get one as a family dog when there are other breeds that don't come with such health warnings!
 
Billie1007 said:
I adore my boy but I will never have another JRT, he is good to recall but then we only have him off his lead very rarely, he is fine with dogs that he has been able to 'get to know' over a period of time but will go to attack (has never actually bitten) strange dogs if they approach him while on his lead. He is not good with other dogs in the house, they can be in the house but not the same room. He is SUCH a particular boy with so many varying issues that I will never choose to have another JRT. He flew at a baby when it cried and I would never, ever trust him in the room with a small child. He has been very good with children over 6.

I love him so much but boy he isn't easy! I don't think I would advise anyone to get one as a family dog when there are other breeds that don't come with such health warnings!
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No disrespect but if that was a Dobe,Rottie or GSD or god forbid a Staffy,Bully breed they would be labelled as vicious.
 
Really DB? He's never bitten a person or another dog, does a lot of growling and snapping though. Even when he has got in a tussle with another dog he has never bitten, just been very noisy. Define vicious?
 
He does indeed act in aggresive way but has never carried out his threat. Don't get me wrong we can walk down a crowded street with him on a lead no problem. If someone were to leer over him and go to stroke him he growl - which is why we don't allow anyone to stroke him. What's your point?
 
Being labelled as vicious is often the publics perception as to how your dog behaves, you said he flew at a baby who cried, that is not normal behaviour and something I wouldnt tolerate with my dogs. They may well not like babies crying but would shrink away and avoid rather than going into a rage.

Im sorry I didnt mean to label your dog as vicious but was merely pointing out how joe Public would read his behaviour. Perhaps I should have said aggressive rather than vicious, I could walk down the road with mine and could guarantee that if anyone tried to touch them they wouldnt growl or snap.

My point is being a little dog things like Ive described above would be tolerated but if mine or other breeds step out of line we get crucified.

My problem with JRs is the temperment its just so varied and you can never guarantee what you are going to get, with most breeds temperment does vary to a degree but not to the extreme of JRs.
 
I only have the one, and as I told my mother the other day, I reckon one is quite enough! He had a terrible start in life, and my mother got him healthy again after he came to her. I met him and really liked him, so I brought him home to live with us. The reason I say that one is enough is not that he is naughty, he is just a handful! He is active, which is easy enough to manage given that we already have a Dalmatian so are no strangers to dogs who need to get out and about a lot, friendly with both of my kids, though I do have a bit of trouble keeping him from jumping on my son when he gets home from school (work in progress), and gets on well with Loki. He does think that he is a much bigger dog than he is, and isn't afraid of anything at all. Ben tends to play very excitedly for a while, and then prefers to come and sleep on my lap for a bit before starting all over again. He leaves the cats alone most of the time, though he will chase one of them if she runs. He doesn't hurt her if he catches up, he just watches her. I've also socialized him with the rabbits since day one with us, and he gets along with them as well. Ben will try to get into the hutches to sniff at them, but doesn't seem to understand why they don't like to play with him. They aren't afraid of him at all... they are well used to Loki's head in there! His one major drawback, which is not really his fault in the grand scheme of things, is the noise. He barks, which turns into a bizarre sort of yodeling howly shriek if I dare to leave him on his own. I can go out of the house and he will settle, but if I am in the house and don't take him with me, he starts. He spent an awful lot of time shut away in a room alone in his early days, having been separated from his mother and being the last pup in the litter. He is settled and content with us, but even on the other side of a baby gate, he gets very anxious. We are working on that, too. Oh, and he loves to play fetch. He taught himself that. He has a toy tire that he absolutely adores, so is more toy motivated than food motivated; the exact opposite of our Dal! He has learned 'sit' using the toy as a reward, and is very clever but also selectively deaf. His recall is good in the house or back yard, but we can't let him off the leash when we go out walking as he gets excited by all of the other dogs and people and won't come back. He has a long leash, so he doesn't seem to mind. I think he is going to need quite a bit of training still before the baby arrives, to be honest. While crying and carrying on has never bothered him in the past, I don't know how he will deal with the cries of a tiny baby. He'll never, ever be left alone with the baby, none of my dogs ever are, and I'm sure with proper preparation and attention when the baby is here, Ben will do just fine.

This is him, 7 months old

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Sorry, didn't mean to be defensive. He is a bit of a nightmare at times. Dog school didn't help a great deal as he learnt to accept the regular members and handlers but it made no difference to his behaviour outside of the training sessions. We are trying, currently to get him used to being in the house with his best doggy friend as we go away with that family in October. So far he banishes her out of a room if she dares to come in it while he is there....
 
I hope you didnt feel I singled your dog out and I agree vicious was the wrong word to use. We have a little dog a Lancashire Heeler who belongs to my daughter and she gets away with murder not that she is aggressive in anyway but I am very firm with my Dobes because of the publics perception of them and feel they have to be spot on so they dont get crititised or bring the breed into disrepute.

There are some lovely looking dogs on here judging by those photos.
 
I have one and my son has one. Both very different. Mine is tiny, short haired and pointy faced with quite a timid character. She is easy to train, very food motivated, excellent recall and never ventures far away from us. Fantastic with kids horses cats and chickens but has killed rabbits and squirrels in her younger days - she cannot be bothered now but likes barking at/chasing them.

My sons is a parsons type with rough coat long legs and a squarer face. She is extremely vocal and is a bit of a stick and ball addict. She is not food motivated so was harder to train. Her recall is 99% now. She is quite fearful of big dogs and can be quite aggressive if they are on the lead/behind a fence and she is off the lead. She has never bitten anyone or anything other than a rabbit she caught when out with mine. I would not trust her unsupervised with chickens or small furries and she chases cats. She is excellent with children.

Both of ours are fabulous family dogs and they get on well when they are together. They are good with other dogs off the lead but not good if either them or the other dog is on the lead. They are fantastic fun, very cuddly, very funny and just good company. I would recommended either of ours to anyone.

But my sister in law has a beautiful short haired medium sized boy with no recall, dog agressive, would kill any small furry thing and completely untrustworthy with anyone:( He guards food, furniture, doorways - allsorts. He was poorly socialised early on and their "training" is not consistant - so maybe he has just been badly handled. He lives in a small house in the town and is never walked except "pavement" walks and then only for 15 minutes twice a day which is a different life from mine and ours sons who are rarely walked on the lead and almost never on "pavement" walks. So maybe some of his issues are lifestyle rather than inherent bad temprement :( If he were mine I would probably PTS as he will bite someone badly soon and she has grandchildren:( He is the only "bad" one I have know - and I think he probably didn't need to be that way:(
 
Billie1007 said:
Sorry, didn't mean to be defensive. He is a bit of a nightmare at times. Dog school didn't help a great deal as he learnt to accept the regular members and handlers but it made no difference to his behaviour outside of the training sessions. We are trying, currently to get him used to being in the house with his best doggy friend as we go away with that family in October. So far he banishes her out of a room if she dares to come in it while he is there....
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If you don't mind me asking, what do you do when your dog banishes another dog from a room?

OP, I have one JR that is part of a four dog pack. He thinks he is the biggest of all, but we treat him like a big dog, we have never let him get away with anything. I cannot stand small breeds being allowed to behave badly just because they are small. Squirrel will recall at any time and has done since he was 12 weeks old after his first off lead walk...luckily, we didn't need to train this as he learned by following our collies. He can be mid chase on a rabbit or pheasant and if I call, I just have to make the call a bit louder to get his attention. He will stop the chase. He doesn't like it very much though, he is a well oiled killing machine and when I recall him mid chase, he comes begrudgingly rather than willingly, lol.

All dogs will have their own personalities, but personality and behaviour are very different things. Behaviour issues do come from us, humans. It doesn't matter how good a job we think we are doing...if we have a dog or dogs with issues, it is because of something that either we do or a previous owner has done.

I had to work through a whole load of issues with my first collie as I just loved him so much. He ended up dog and people aggressive. It took 4 years, but he s now fine with any dog or person...I only had myself to blame and it is a hard pill to swallow realising that you are the reason for the dogs issues. I have rescued another brain damaged collie that used to be super dog aggressive and is now fine. The other two are the JRT and a Lab/Rottie cross. Having learned from my mistakes with the first collie, the JRT and Lab x who we got as puppies, again rescued...we have practiced what I have learned and we have no issues with them at all. They still have their own personalities though ;)

Sme dogs will never like children, some will love them. Some dogs will be very guarding of your home, some won't care...but whatever their personality...they should never act on anything. A dog should never growl at a child...it should just damn well know it isn't allowed to. A dog should never charge the front door when the bell goes, even if they want to, because they should damn well know that it is your door to answer, not theirs...and so on.

Do your research, but so long as you are responsible and give a dog the right start in life...less cuddles, more boundaries and well timed affection...you'll have a well behaved dog for life.

All our dogs enjoy cuddles on the sofa with us every night, we lavish them with love...but we can do that because we know that we only have to click our fingers and point to the floor and they will get down.

Dogs are what we make of them, so get out there and look about. Rescuing is great, but whatever you do, I always think our dogs choose us more than the other way around, so just enjoy your new fur baby :)
 
we have a 2yo JRT. We got him when he was 7 months, he had been bought by a young couple who stayed in the city and worked all day. When they came home from work he was bouncing off the walls until it was bedtime.
When he first came to us he constantly demanded attention, was very possessive over food & toys and basically thought he ruled the roost.
He is now a grand wee dog, great round the ponies, loves the cat, stays on his own and is generally very good. He doesn't meet a lot of other dogs but when he does say at shows he is no bother at all.
He is off his lead at the stables and busies himself doing jrt things and is a great rat/mouse catcher.
He is a lovely wee dog but give him an inch and he would take you a mile.

his favourite position after a busy day
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I am a lab girl myself but many of my friends have JRt's and I just think its just very difficult to know what you will get they seem to vary from apsolutly georgous to complete and utter monsters .
However they are little dog body's with big dogs brains and think often they are not trained enough behaviour is tolerated that would never be tolerated in larger dogs .
 
So 18 months on I have an update....






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Meet Fella, 7 weeks old JRT(x?) from working lines. Met both mum, dad and the rest of the dogs on the farm, all of which were happy, friendly sociable little dogs with a lovely nature to them. I don't think he is a straight JRT as dad was big, stocky and black. He has settled in well and the big dog (collie) has accepted him with no issues :) Now all I need is a caffeine IV lol!
 
Broke_But_Happy said:
So 18 months on I have an update....






20140902_224607_zps1cogwzu9.jpg



Meet Fella, 7 weeks old JRT(x?) from working lines. Met both mum, dad and the rest of the dogs on the farm, all of which were happy, friendly sociable little dogs with a lovely nature to them. I don't think he is a straight JRT as dad was big, stocky and black. He has settled in well and the big dog (collie) has accepted him with no issues :) Now all I need is a caffeine IV lol!
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Been loving his photo's on facebook...especially this one :) xxx
 
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