A man's best friend? (Jack Russell)

Member Name: Shoe_Gal51

Product:	Jack Russell
Date:	29/08/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loyal, loving and playful

Disadvantages: Aggressive streak, can be too territorial

What to say about the Jack Russell terrier? Well firstly, I love them, although my experiences have been widely more negative than positive.

We acquired our first Jack Russell, Buster, some years ago when I was a teenaer stil in school. He was the achetypal Jack Russell Terrier, short body, short legs, very small, predominantly white fur with light brown patches over his ears, gorgeous silky coat. I came home from school one day to find him excitedly running around out house. My Mum had been at her cousins house during the day when somebody had come into the house asking around whether anybody wanted a Jacky. The answer was a resounding "no" - especially from my Mum (we had never had very much luck with dogs, although we do love them) until she found out that Buster was about to be thrown into the canal in a bin liner if a home couldn't be found for him that day. My Mum took him straight away, vowing to find him another home, but of course our home ended up as his new home. He was around 2 years old at the time.

We persisted with Buster for 2 years before my Mum gave him up to a local farmer who kept Jack Russells and used them for hunting and ratting. That dog was a nightmare, in the 2 years he belonged to us he damaged our belongings, refused to be toilet trained and constantly humped the legs of any person that entered our house. This tiny dog was something we couldn't cope with, and the final straw was him ripping up a huge amount of my Mum's carpet overnight one time and so bye bye it was to Buster. I was heartbroken, but knew we all it was for the best.

Jack Russell Terriers are notoriously hard to train, so if you are thinking of taking one into your home then prepare to put a lot of hard work into your new little friend. They require constant training thoughout their lives, constant reminders of what is right and wrong for them to do, and they like and need a lot of excersise, as they get bored very easily.

Around 6-7 years ago a JRT puppy would cost you around £50, nowadays, JRT puppy litters are advertised at around £250 a piece, a testament to the rise in popularity of these little guys.

We have another Jacky now, he has been with us for over a year and his name is Peanut. He looks almost exactly like Buster did, except a slightly longer body and a long snout. He really is a beautiful looking dog, with such expression in his eyes. That said, Peanut has his bad side, and it is the worst side possible in a dog. He has a very bad temper and doesn't take being told what to do very kindly. We rescued Peanut from a home where he was treated rather badly and even 14 months down the line, this is still apparent. He was very exciteable, very agressive when the fancy took him and so we decided to get him castrated in April this year. We were warned not to put all our eggs in one basket with the castration because it might not work, and if it did it could take 6 months or even a year to calm down his over excited and agressive temprament. I personally have been the victim of 3 attacks from Peanut, one of them very vicious, while he was in pain after his operation, and he scarred my leg after this incident. I don't understand how a dog can go from clearly loving you, laying on your lap and sleeping by your side, showing unconditional affection to showing such nastiness to you when things do not go his way!

This is the unpredictable nature of the Jack Russell, and strongly recommend that the dog is kept as your own from a puppy, so you can fully train them in the way you want. Our mistake has been getting dogs that are already set in their ways, and this makes training them very difficult indeed.

That all said, Jacky's are very loyal and territorial dogs, and their size will not hinder the sense of protection they bestow upon you.

If my stories haven't put you off, then I would recommend owning one of these little guys, all bad points aside, I love my little Peanut to death!

PS. Peanut hates people leaving the house and circles madly and chases after the person leaving barking and being generally unhappy. This happens when ANYONE leaves the house, it drives us insane and we have to resort to sneaking out, which isn't often successful because the little buggar always hears us. Any hints or tips on ways to deter him from doing this would be gratefully received! Spraying him with water only makes him angry (its been tried and tested, haha!)

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Could be an amazing companion, if trained properly!