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Am I trying to be like Murf
Dave, thank you so much for the kindest of words.
My condolences, both on the loss of your Westie, and on your getting a Jack, your life will never be the same again.
All kidding aside, I know how tough the loss of a beloved pet is. Those damned little buggers really get to your heart don't they?
If you don't already know a JRT, or PRT (mine are actually Parson Russells BTW) is actually the only pure-mutt there is, and as anyone who has ever had a cross-breed probably knows, they're as smart as a whip!
Teach that little cutey early, and teach it well, they will learn anything and everything you care to teach them.
Do it and yourself a favour though, don't feed it strictly commercial food. To a JRT or PRT, commercial food is like feeding a kid at Mickey D's 3 meals a day, that pup will run around like a wild banshee, high as a kite.
I've had & bred them for over 20 years now, if you have any questions PLEASE feel free to shoot me a line or two.
Best of luck, you'll need it.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Dave, you will find that there is a very powerful connecting link between a JR's ears and their stomach.
Try, while she's young, giving her 'practice' commands, somewhere quiet, inside, where there are few distractions. Start with the basics, sit, stay, come, etc., but reward each positive response with a tiny bit of food. In very short order she will be VERY obedient, then slowly start to change it so that she only gets a treat every other time, then every third time, and so on until she is doing ti for nothing but praise, and lots of it.
As you already figured out, control is absolutely EVERYTHING.
They have some sort of eye problem that they are ALL born with, they look at another animal and no matter what we see it as, they see it as a mere fraction of their own size. It could be a 200 pound bear, but to a JRT it would look like a mouse.
We had a little episode of this here just this past weekend. My wife and I went for a little walk at the lake, the dogs caught the scent of something under the dock and away they went, suddenly there was the most horrendous noises coming out from underneath. They had found and cornered a racoon, and a big one at that. By the time I was able to call them off of it, poor Rocky was missing several clumps of fur and one of them came out with about 2" of it's tail in her mouth.
To make matters worse, when we got home sunday night, my wife let them out for a pee and they surprised a chipmunk, the poor creature made the last wrong turn of it's life, it ran in the open door of the sunroom. Before my wife new what was happening the Chippie was dead.
If it's any consolation, JRT's are so fast, as you probably have already discovered, that they seldom get into any serious trouble. My two have had several run-ins with coyotes and such here, it always ends up the same, nothing can run fast enough to get them. There was one close call with a Red Tail hawk, but the dog saw it swooping in when I yelled, she laid real low and at the last moment she went straight up and snapped at the poor bird. I dont think that hawk will ever look at another animal the same way ever again. It shocked the bird so bad it flew into a tree trying to get away.
If time allows, try spending an hour a day, three days a week working on obedience. It doesn't ahve to be all at once, it can be 15 minutes 4 times a day or something.
BTW, I updated my pictures and now you can see both the little buggers, it is my new picture # 4.
Best of luck.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Hey folks, the theory is right, they're all 'cousins' to each other.
As I touched on earlier, JRT's are "pure-bred mutts", that is they are the product of very selective inter-breeding between pure-bred animals of similar breeds. The idea was to combine the best attributes of each into one "super dog" that was the best all round hunting dog possible.
The original goal was to end up with a breed which could run with both the hounds and horses, would readily go to ground and flush the fox back to the surface, be a more than adequate upland bird & game dog, and also be a good companion dog, one which was not in the least bit afraid of horses or guns.
He succeeded quite admirably, IMHO.
The original main breeds combined were the Wire Haired Fox Terrier, the Beagle, and the Corgi. There were also, however, many other working breeds, mostly of the terrier group which were minor components of the end result.
The Rat Terrier is a breed that is really only known in North America (mostly just the United States) and is a result of a mixture of the fox terriers brought here from England my the original settlers. In most other parts of the world the same basic dog is known as the Smooth Fox Terrier and there is some speculation that the Rat Terrier breed was just a way to standardize a new cross-breed of terriers that evolved in the US.
They are all the same in general appearance, temperment and behaviour.
Usually hyperactivity is a sign of either an incorrect diet, or lack of activity. Please note, by 'activity' I do NOT mean exercise. A JRT (or most any other terrier) will do just fine on very moderate amounts of exercise provided they are given a liberal amount of mental activity to keep them occupied. My present dog's Grandfather was my main stud dog years ago, he was also at my side day & night, he would lay at my feet in the office, waiting for something to happen, and he never tired of merely watching the world go by out the truck window as I drove between sites. He (and I) would log upwards of 75,000 miles a year. This is why JRT's make such fantastic companions for retirees, they thrive on some constant activity, regardless of how minor or trivial.
Anything closely related or resembling what they perceive as prey is in great peril from all of these dogs. Racoons, Chipmunks, Squirrels, Ferrets, Mink, Weasels, Cats, even Groundhogs are favourites.
Best of luck.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
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Sounds like some knowledgable dog folks here that may be able to answer a question.Around here, Rat Terriers are quite common and we have a pair ourselves.I have heard that this breed and the Jack Russell are pretty closely related.Is this true?The Rats make great farm dogs and have the built in desire and ability too
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Wow, here's a step back in time.
Yes Brendon, Rat Terriers are very closely related to Jack Russell's, and yes, they have a very deep-seated built-in hatred of rodents, even skunks.
Luckily mine, which are the 'original' JRT's, now officially called Parson Russell Terriers, have skunks down cold and odor free.
The skunks just amble along and don't have much in the way of vision, they don't need it, the dogs line themselves up about 45 degrees to the rear and side and just run at them as fast as they can. When they hit the skunk just behind the ear they clamp their jaws down and roll and flip the skunk coming to a stop back on their feet and shaking vigorously. The first hit and flip usually breaks their neck cleanly and there's no fuss or smell.
Best of luck.
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