Meet my best friend. (Terriers)

Member Name: kimking

Product:	Terriers
Date:	19/12/03 (319 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: faithful, happy, friendly

Disadvantages: sheds hairs, active

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I have a little friend and work mate who I know I could always trust to cheer me up when I'm down, be on my side when every one else is against me, give me a big welcome when I haven't seen him for all of half an hour and through all this. asks very little of me. My friends name is Jack and he's a tri coloured Jack Russell Terrier.

Now a lot of people are very weary of Jack Russell's simple because they seem to have a bad press, which is not really warranted as with almost all dogs they are as trust worthy as the people who handle them.

They get their name from Reverend John Russell who as well as being a clergyman was also very keen on Fox hunting and breeding dogs for the sport he was also one of the founder members of the Kennel Club. The grand daddy of the Jack Russell was called Trump who John Russell bought from a milkman.

The Jack Russell's of today resemble the then Fox Terrier and is one of the few breeds that have the name of a real person who was associated with them. Although originally breed to hunt foxes the jack Russell is often used to hunt most burrowing animals and have for a long time been associated with ratting.

They have a lovely loyal, active, happy and intelligent character and do make lovely pets when trained properly and being so active some people think they need special handling to stop them from being destructive. Not true, one of the things a Jack Russell loves to do is chew; I buy those rawhide sticks for Jack and they keep him occupied for hours.

Exercise is very important and although they are small dogs, they do require almost as much exercise as a large one to keep them happy and because of their hunting instinct they are rather tempted to chase and even kill other small anima

ls but this can be trained out of them with the right owner.

The ideal Jack Russell should be approximately 14 inches at the withers and have a thick skin and a thick dense coat, they are usually white with black or tan markings and are quite a sturdy build. They do make excellent pets as long as the owners are suitable, if not handled properly they can become quite destructive and difficult and as with all dogs a lot of research should first be done before acquiring one to be sure they are the dog for you.

I have found Jack to be a lovely little friend and I even take him to work with me, as a carer I look after elderly people and many of them love animals and have often kept them their selves but old age has made it impossible to still keep them as many have mobility problems and so could not exercise them sufficiently. Jack always comes to work with me and puts up with a lot of petting and fussing.

I trust Jack completely and know his limitations, I know if he's had enough he'll walk away and sometimes give just a little grumble at the most. My charges love to see him; in fact I often say I think they would be happy if Jack came by his self as I often feel in the way. The only problem I find is they do tend rather to spoil him and I'm always finding dog biscuits behind their cushions where he hides them before I see what he's got and take it away from him, He's got quite a little tummy on him.

I would recommend a Jack Russell to a future owner as long as they can be understanding of their needs, which basically are plenty of exercise, a firm but kind and understanding hand and something to keep them occupied, this can simply be something to chew. There is one thing you might like to know if you're a keen gardener and that is they often love to dig holes in the earth, In Jacks case to hide all the biscuit he sneaks by me.

A few more things to consider before owning one of these dogs are; the

y moat a lot and as they are mainly white every hair shows up but this can be minimalised by regular grooming. They like to bark; although this makes them good housedogs it can be annoying at times. Vet bills can be expensive and active dogs can sometimes have mishaps. Once my son and his friends took Jack fishing and he jumped up suddenly when saw the fish wriggle on the hook and grabbed it, thus he needed the vet and a minor operation to get the fishhook out of his mouth.

Lastly of course " A dog is for life and not just for Christmas" before going out and buying a pet please make sure you research the breed and think very carefully before buying. Animals become insecure just like children do if they are abandoned and passed from pillar to post. It's just not fair.

Thanks for reading.

Kim and Jack.

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