Jack Russell?

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reindeerlover

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Have to urgently find a new home for a 4yo male JRT. He's vaccinated, neutered and microchipped, great with kids, horses, cattle. House trained, walks well on on a lead etc. He bit a baby lamb very badly and it died, I currently live on a sheep farm so clearly he can't stay. Farmer wanted rid of him by last weekend but no rescue centres have any space!

He is currently locked in a trailer most of the time as he isn't allowed to run free :(

I would consider a foster home for him until there is space at a rescue centre if anyone could offer this either?
 
muzzle him and keep him on a lead at all times on the farm, take him elsewhere to excersise off lead-dont pass him on as he may just keep doing the rounds.

i am afraid i dont agree with passing animals with issues on, especially in the current climate-either work round his issues (which is what i would do) or make the responsible decision and PTS, he wont know your doing it and he wont ever end upin the wrong hands sufferring
 
Jools I read is as the landlord is the farmer and it's his decision.

We have rehomed a sheep chaser (JRTxLabxFoxhound) to an urban home and she did very well but that was years ago and there wasn't such a problem with unwanted dogs back then :(
 
Jools, the farmer wants him gone. There is no option, he has to go. He doesn't have "issues", he is a terrier. He has to go somewhere with no sheep, it's as simple as that. If he was aggressive or had bitten a person then I wouldn't be looking for a home for him.

Thanks for your reply though.
 
I'm sorry to say this but once he's killed a sheep, even if he was rehomed in the town you have no guarantee that they wouldn't take him on a foot path through a sheep field for example. Put him down. It's peoples' incomes your talking about, next time it could be the whole flock suffocating or stressed.
 
if new owners are aware then can just keep on a lead if a possibility to come into contact with livestock which isn't likely to be daily if urban so more manageable. could try private homeing on dogs pages.
 
reindeerlover said:
Jools, the farmer wants him gone. There is no option, he has to go.
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ok i did not read it like that in your OP, in the current climate i still stand by the PTS route though, he does have and issue he has caused the death of a lamb, being a terrier predisposes them to this sort of behaviour but is not in itself a reason for it. i have 2 terriers one will not kill anything (intentionally) though he loves to chase, the other i can trust with anything (i introduce them to goats as soon as i get them, if they show an interest in the goats the goats soon change their mind)

a lamb, a cat, a rabbit etc etc. my lurcher has/does chased cats and i would never pass that issue on. if i had a terrier that bit/chased lambs i would not pass that issue on either
 
2Greys said:
if new owners are aware then can just keep on a lead if a possibility to come into contact with livestock which isn't likely to be daily if urban so more manageable. could try private homeing on dogs pages.
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yep you could and you would run the risk of the dog being used for dog baiting/fight training, being a fad then dumped etc etc-its not worth the risk to your dog
 
very pessimistic jools, if OP responsibly rehomes and home checks (either self or via rescue volunteers) rather than offer free on gumtree to whoever wants, then can avoid pit falls. There is a website for volunteers to assist with fostering/home checks etc will find link for it.
 
Thanks 2greys!

I will not be putting the dog to sleep if I can possibly help it, he has been a well-loved dog. In addition, the farmer didn't see him attack the lamb so there is a small possibility that he didn't do it. He is fine with grown sheep too, he won't attempt to chase them.

He will not be advertised on a free website, I will only rehome him to someone who knows his history and who I know (even if only through forum posts!).

I really don't think you can say that a dog that chases rabbits or cats has "issues" either.... I am pretty sure that those are just parts of being a dog.

Please don't think I'm taking the killing of a lamb lightly, if the farmer wanted him euthanised then I would have done it. I don't think it's a good thing, or even ok that he has done it, I'm mortified! However, I will not be putting him to sleep.
 
2Greys said:
very pessimistic jools, if OP responsibly rehomes and home checks (either self or via rescue volunteers) rather than offer free on gumtree to whoever wants, then can avoid pit falls. There is a website for volunteers to assist with fostering/home checks etc will find link for it.
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yes it is pessimistic as i see it all go wrong all too often
 
Aw, I would love to help with these situations but know I can't as already have one dog, work full time so she goes to my mum and dad's then so I couldn't take another.

I don't see this as an issue to be honest - it depends on the situation he attacked the lamb I guess. If you say he's not a sheep chaser thenit seems odd he would go for a lamb?

I think you can work with these dogs as well and maybe a more surburban home would be better for him. My dog will go for rabbits, squirrels etc (she has terrier in her), it's just natural for them but, as long as you manage it then I don't see the issue.

I do hope you find him a suitable home.
 
He has lived with a cat since he was a pup (until feb) although may take some time to get used to a new one. Good with other dogs at the yard.
 
I don't see the problem with the sheep as being insurmountable in this instance . No responsible dog owner would let their dog off in a field full of sheep so it's hardly a big deal that the dog would need to be on a lead near them. I have no idea how mine would react but assume the worst and they are put on leads going through fields with sheep in them. Cows are different as mine tend to think of them as horses so just stick with me. Rescues are struggling but I would still think trying to find a good one to help is a better option. W did have a horrible situation on this board with someone rehoming to another poster who was less than truthful and if my memory serves me right, the dogs were seized by the RSPCA.

I am not underestimating the impact of a dog known to kill sheep and might feel differently if yours was a dog who kept running away to attack but there is a element of doubt here. Where are your based? not putting my hand up as have 3 staffords already but can certainly put the feelers out for you..and pictures too if you have any.
 
You said the farmer didn't see the jrt bite the lamb- so what makes him think it was the dog?? If he has never shown any inclination to chase/attack before, surely it might not be him that did it?
Just a thought.
 
I have a JRT and live on a sheep farm. He is brilliant with people, horses. This morning he was nose to nose with the lambs wagging his tail, helping me poo pick with the chickens and trying to eat cat food and 99% of the time he is great with all the animals. However he has killed one of my chickens, I have had to pull him off a sick ewe that he thought he could kill and he has had a few showdowns with the cat. He sense weakness I think and it unleashes the terrier instinct within him (which is quite strong, he is a fab ratter) and quite frankly I don't trust him and as a result I manage him appropriately and he isn't unsupervised with what he might consider pray.
If he did kill a lamb and I wouldn't put it passed him and I had to get rid of him, I would PTS. We know what he is like and manage it but I wouldnt want him to make others feel guilty.
Just my opinion, good luck OP.
 
BWa said:
If he did kill a lamb and I wouldn't put it passed him and I had to get rid of him, I would PTS. We know what he is like and manage it but I wouldnt want him to make others feel guilty.
Just my opinion, good luck OP.
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I also have a terrier (staffy cross) which has a problem with other animals except dogs (which he's great with).

I manage him by never letting him off the lead in the countryside. He gets to run in town parks, at the yard or out of town he's on the lead and sometimes muzzled as well.

Like you, I wouldn't pass him on. If I had to part I'd rather pts as it's not a problem I'd like to impose on anyone else.
 
Having just had my arm savagely bitten today by a JRT x needing hopital treatment and my cat virtually ripped apart in front of me I say pts. This same dog was killing chickens the week before and the owner may well have thought the same. Chickens one day, cat and human the next week....
I only thank my lucky stars that my young son wasn't in the garden at the time.
Once they get a taste for blood - just saying.
Sometimes people need to be responsible as difficult as it can be at the time. Obviously your circumstances may be different ......
 
Zirach said:
Having just had my arm savagely bitten today by a JRT x needing hopital treatment and my cat virtually ripped apart in front of me I say pts. This same dog was killing chickens the week before and the owner may well have thought the same. Chickens one day, cat and human the next week....
I only thank my lucky stars that my young son wasn't in the garden at the time.
Once they get a taste for blood - just saying.
Sometimes people need to be responsible as difficult as it can be at the time. Obviously your circumstances may be different ......
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That's a horrible experience, poor you. :(

However, to be fair, I don't agree with the "taste for blood" thing. All over the world dogs are used for hunting and killing vermin and those dogs remain perfectly trustworthy with their human handlers and their families.

My dog would probably kill sheep if I let him. But that doesn't make him dangerous to other dogs or people IMO.
 
FionaM12 said:
That's a horrible experience, poor you. :(

However, to be fair, I don't agree with the "taste for blood" thing. All over the world dogs are used for hunting and killing vermin and those dogs remain perfectly trustworthy with their human handlers and their families.

My dog would probably kill sheep if I let him. But that doesn't make him dangerous to other dogs or people IMO.
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Agree, sorry you had such a horrible experience though x
 
Sorry but I don't agree with the taste of blood. The dog attacked the chickens, knew where they were and got a taste and came back. I am terrified I will come back to ours now as at the moment it hasn't been pts as yet and has been removed a few miles away and 'secured' by the owner.
I have owned dogs for many years and have never experienced problems with my dogs attacking anything and not coming to call, I have owned mongrels to labs and terriers. IMO the owners are to blame for not training their dog correctly.
These particular dogs were shut in a small back garden and not taught any different. That's the sad thing - the dog suffers for the owners ignorance.
OP you sound like a responsible person and I am not referring to you in particular btw just my own case.
Thank you for your sympathy, I only hope the law will follow through and no one else needs to be sat up still awake at 5am in pain and devestated as my poor pet clings on to life :-(
 
FionaM12 said:
That's a horrible experience, poor you. :(

However, to be fair, I don't agree with the "taste for blood" thing. All over the world dogs are used for hunting and killing vermin and those dogs remain perfectly trustworthy with their human handlers and their families.

My dog would probably kill sheep if I let him. But that doesn't make him dangerous to other dogs or people IMO.
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I completely agree, we have had working terriers our whole life, and they have never turned on any of us or our "pets".
 
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