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Jack Russell Puppy Behaviour - Normal?


*kirty*
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I recently minded a 13wo JRT puppy. She was a little ball of teeth and madness lol. I'm a terrier noob so it was certainly an eye opener for me. Anyway, I have some questions about her behaviour. She was VERY mouthy and if I scolded her or told her 'no' she would growl or bark at me. Is this just normal terrier behaviour or something else? She was also quite bossy with other dogs - would 'guard' me from my own dogs, snap if they got in her face, etc. Again, is this normal or is she likely to grow up to be DA?

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Pretty normal JRT behaviour, they are not the dog for everyone and some of them need to be only dogs.

I've got a JRT here and she's very feisty - got her at 9 yrs of age and now she's 12 and no different, they stay feisty till they drop. She's a real growler but I know she's harmless, I've had terriers for years and a few JRT types along the way. This one is a beautiful little dog but could very easily be misunderstood by the inexperienced owner.

Jill from JRT Rescue is the real expert on here and does a great job taking on JRTs in need.

So many people probably get them because they are small and therefore going to be easy but they discover that they are pretty challenging and subsequently dump them.

Edited by Her Majesty Dogmad
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Having had two of them, I would say it seems normal to me. There are definite variations within the breed though, Tip was a "back chatter". He always had to have the last word, and it took a lot to train him out of this behaviour, but we won that battle- for the most part!. Jingo is still at 14 months, very mouthy, but very gently luckily. Consistency has done little to discourage this, but luckily he is easily distracted. I guess there are Jack Rssell's who are both..... :eek:

They are definitely a challenge,as I guess all breeds are in one way or another, but we are up for that challenge, it keeps us on our toes!

Di

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Thanks, good to hear its pretty normal. :)

Megan, for example she is biting my foot, so I say 'ah!' and push her off. She will stand there and bark at me! I always swap her if she has something she shouldn't. She had tonnes of toys and things to destroy when she was here. I actually really miss her! :)

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sounds like a typical JRT, we have two and I tell people if you like 3-4 kids that push the boundaries ALL the time then you could cope with a JRT, they can be quite demanding, you just need to work out which punishment is best, my old girl hated having eye contact withdrawn and could hold a grudge for weeks. We recently adopted a JRT female and she is very naughty but I am learning her signals and she is learning our household routine. Wouldn't have it any other way, but not a dog for everyone.

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We had a 7 week old JRT puppy surrendered to us last year - according to the owner the puppy was aggressive.

The puppy drew blood from the owners grandkids arm!!

When pup arrived it was a hyperactive ball of energy and the batteries never seemed to run dry.

Jill from JRT rescue was brilliant and we rehomed a well trained (for a JRT pup) 12 week old pup.

Without the advice from JRT Rescue I really think this pup may have been doomed.

I cannot work out if I am missing something here as Jill from JRT rescue certainly knows this breed.

Perhaps the OP can contact JRT rescue directly.

xx Lyn xx

Edited by lillypilly
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Normal for them to try it out- yes. But not normal for it to be an ongoing issue if it's being appropriately dealt with. JRT's learn very fast- both good and bad things- where another breed may take 5 reps a JRT might take two. They're not disimilar to ACD's in some ways too- tough, high drive, intelligent and quick thinkers.

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Oops - my JR must be broken I think! She is very "soft" - hates a raised/stern voice and has always been the one to take a new puppy or kitten under her wing. She's definitely all terrier though and a great ratter. She takes absolutely no notice of our chooks, guinea fowl and the odd visiting peacock but when that scrub turkey comes over the fence look out!

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What Cosomolo said :thumbsup:. It should not be ongoing behaviour, but my goodness they will test their luck at times :laugh:.

I must have got lucky as well, Harri was a good puppy. I don't remember him ever being a hard dog to handle at all.

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Good fencing is a must, preferably with concrete all the way round as most JRTs are escape artists.

Heather (rescued from Renbury at age 9), dug out 3 times in the first few weeks but she was only going next door to say hello on one occasion and on the other side the neighbour was trapping rats so she was going to retrieve the bodies into her yard - eeekkk. Got up one morning to find my Westie cross munching on a dead rat like it was an ice lolly - upright between two front paws! :eek:

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