Mumsie

We have a young JRT rescue who loves to go wandering, thankfully i walk her on a lead everyday in different directions and when she has escaped most of the people in the streets around here scoop her up and bring her home. Sometimes we are to blame but quite often she will try every paling in the fence to find a loose one and then sneak off. She often decides to take herself for a walk even if the family is all home, she just seems to want to explore on her own. She is taken to a dog park at least once a week, and has free run of inside the house, i could understand if she were home all day by herself but i work from home so it is rare for her not to have company.

We have pulled out an old big recycle bin, i guess it didn't really work well the first time we used it because it was too compacted with grass clippings. Time will tell if the dogs enjoy digging it up once it is in the garden. thank you for all the replies, they have been really helpful

Thank you for your replies, certainly some things to think about.

Has anyone used the Bokashi Compost System? I am wondering if you have used the system if your dogs have tried to dig up the compost or roll in the compost after it has been dug into the garden bed? The system is good but expensive and i don't want to use it once and then find that we can't use it again http://www.bokashi.com.au/ thank you

haven't tried this but people have suggested using a muffin tray with a bit of kibble in each spot - might help until you can find an alternative

Absolutely loving this post, we have a toy box for all the dog toys, bones, chews, balls etc. When i clear the floor to wash and vacuum they watch me put the toys in the box and then run to get one or two out while i am trying to clean the floor. So funny to watch them take toys out and place beside them beside the box to find the one old bone at the bottom that they want to chew. Our 11 y.o. JRT loves golf balls, we have heaps around but can guarantee the one he wants to play with is behind the piano or a long way under the couch. He sits and stares at the spot, grunting and whining until we find the exact ball he wants, even if there are two or three under there, unless the correct one is retrieved he will not budge, you would think we were wilfully leaving HIS favourite under there - they are all white golf balls so no idea how he tells them apart. We put draft stoppers (the material ones full of sawdust) along the front of couches and piano to stop balls and bones going under but sometimes one still manages to get passed and hide.

So sorry to hear this result, heartbreaking for you and your family, create some special memories for your son with Bru, pictures at the park etc. Our boys were quite young when our first dog died, i explained that he was very ill and when the time came the vet would give our dog a special needle and he would die, but only when we decided it was the right time, our boys had time to get used to the idea of the dog passing away. I didn't go into details and they asked questions as they thought of them and we had photos of our dog that the boys could look at and remember him as he was before he became ill. Praying you have wisdom and comfort during this time

In tears for you reading this, praying for a good result and be comforted that we all share your pain

Many years ago we had a bit of mixed mongrel male that was desexed, we noticed him missing one morning, looked everywhere for him and thought he had escaped, he turned up about 2 days later, filthy dirty. a few months later it happened again, then about a year 2 years later it happened again a couple of times. We know he was taken because the last time we actually heard the car that dropped him off drive away. He was always covered in mud, long hair matted and very hungry. We had checked our yard for escape routes, he was always returned to our closed back yard. Thankfully he never appeared injured, it was very strange.

My JRT male loves my satin pjs, he will jump on the bed, crawl under the pillow and sleep on the pjs if we forget to put the gate up to block access. We know when naughty Miss Tilly has been walking on the coffee table because she steps on the TV remote and turns the TV on and yes we too have had a wheat bag torn to shreds and the contents spread all over the room. love them though

ahhh bliss while he is asleep and lots of puppy breath when he snuggles with you. We bought the same fold out bed for our two, they love to snuggle up in the corner and cheaper than dog beds Any ideas for names yet?

reminds me of Basil Brush with that colouring - definitely a heart stealer

If I hadn't just bought two dresses for my sons wedding I would buy this one in a flash, love the style and material.

Most dogs seem to come "alive" when they see their leads come out, my old girl slept all day but would get up and come to find me about 5pm everyday for her walk and the distance varied on depending on how she was coping that particular day. Thankfully most people commented positively on her age and many asked where she was after she was PTS saying she always looked liked she enjoyed her walks.

I'm going a bit OT, but I know Yonjuro won't mind :D Mumsie your post interested me because of my experience with a tiny little rescue dog of mine, Myrtie. Because of her extreme reactivity, I decided join a dog training club simply to try the "flooding" method. Well, she didn't bat an eyelid. We walked into this large park where the training was held, dogs everywhere, all sorts and all sizes and I honestly expected Myrtie to either die of fright or start a stampede. Neither. Her insouciance was amazing, almost embarrassing LOL. I also found the same when I took her to a dog park. I was waiting for my Pink Slip so decided to walk to the nearby dog park. I chatted for a while through the fence while Myrtie ignored all the other dogs and just sniffed around. When I finally bit the bullet and went inside -- same thing. She totally ignored all the other dogs and just sniffed around to her heart's content. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to do much dog training with her as she died of Pulmonary Hypertension in the middle of last year. I always believed that Myrtie's reactivity was caused through fright and, because she was a brave little thing, her attitude was: I'm going to get you before you get me. And it didn't matter the size of the dog. Despite this, she was the best little dog at home, full of vip and vim and lots of personality. Had to smile at your use of the word "vim" brings back fond memories, from memory it was a powder cleaner for the bath. Our rescue JRT is just turning 2 and she has been with us for nearly 10 months, she received no training for the first 12 months, just let run on a farm, she was well cared for just not socialized. She has been timid, grown in confidence and now becoming over confident and her recall is not reliable at present. Currently I ask her to "stop, settle down" when we see other dogs, this can be either not pulling on the lead or running in circles, I affirm non reaction with pats and "good girl" cooing. She is at least stopping to look if I call her when she is off leash and starting to return nearby but not totally back to me. The word "stop" is also optional with her, but she is so darn cute I can't stay cross for long when she is naughty.

As an owner of two JRTs I am sorry for you and annoyed at owners of any dog that approaches another dog without checking with the owner first. I have one JRT that ignores most dogs or drops behind me if he feels threatened, the other is a rescue I am training not to be reactive. We know most of the dogs in our area and I will cross the road or take a wide berth of some of the larger dogs but I still smile and wave or at least acknowledge the dog owners and they tend to appreciate that I am removing my reactive dog from their dog rather than them having to deal with her snapping and carrying on. I haven't taken her to dog park yet because she is still too unpredictable.

Great advice, we use soft soap to suffocate the tick, Vaseline works the same as soft soap. We camp in an area where lots of ticks drop off the trees.

Could it simply be that as humans we have assumed they want to chase/play with a ball and therefore it is one of the first things we tend to use to play and interact with them as puppies? They then associate balls with interaction/attention, if they have a ball with them we will be more likely to offer to play?

I understand that some people are against physical punishment for their dogs however we use rolled up catalogues (junk mail) and tap them on the bum. They soon learn that the rolled up paper in my hand means stop it right now, don't often do this only when they are persistently being naughty. They have shown no fear when I carry the junk mail inside, only when I roll it a particular way.

Our 2 year old JRT stood on the grass in the rain eyeballing me because I asked her to pee on the grass. She ran around for a good 20 minutes but refused to pee, I was getting constantly "i can't believe you expect me to toilet out here" looks. Silly duffer, if she had peed straight away she would have been barely wet.

We adopted a dog at Easter, as soon as I was introduced to her she didn't bother with those who had raised her and had to move her on, she looked at me and basically that was it for her, it took me a while to take to her but she just loves to be near me wherever and whatever I am doing. Still trying to convince her I will not climb out the bathroom window when I close the door! When I go out she sits at the window and waits for me to come back even if there are other family members at home. She loves playing with our other dog and will welcome and play with other family members but likes to check that I am still in her line of sight. She is a little ratbag but I love her and I think she loves me

we have a plastic dog bed as one of the options for the dogs, we lined it with an old sheepskin rug and never had issues with sweating. The dogs just take turns sleeping in it, it is also on carpet so no space for air underneath.

Hi Grumpette, I found a car shaped sand pit at Bunnings that will work perfectly as a pool for the dogs. Will try and post a photo later. thank you for the suggestion

thank you for the reply Grumpette, I didn't think of Bunnings. I washed my two JRT's today, thankfully they fit in the laundry tub, but still do zoomies around the house as soon as we are finished.

I find that most dogs have puppy like behaviour all their lives but generally calm down after they are 2.5 years old. My old girl was 16 but she was always "my little girl" when she was good or "madam" if she was naughty