Any Jack Russell Owners or General Dog Question

[craeg]

Hi All

My kids are banging on about us getting a dog and we have never owned one before.

If we were to get a dog it would probably be a Jack Russell as my mate has them and he says they are awesome, very intelligent and excellent with kids? Discuss?

Should we get a boy or a girl? Advantages/disadvantages of each?

Any recommended breeders in the East Midlands/Beds?Norfolk areas?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks
Craeg

 

[jungle_re]

love my JR to bits great bushcraft dog too, although mine has a habit of sleeping in the tp of my mates bergen. Some pictures n here somewher but i cant seem to find them

 

[StormWalker]

In my expeirience (sp?) the dog will be closer with its opposite sex

eg

I have 2 No malamutes and a akita cross breed the 2No Mal's are male and are much closer to the wife and the akita cross is a bitch and does not leave my side. But all three are great with the kids 3yr & 11yr old.

As i am work 8-10 hrs a day i am glad that the 2No malamutes (which can be a bit boisterous) are closer to the wife than me or i feel they would be trying to dominate her when i am away.

But great dogs are the result of great owners.

Hope this helps

SW

 

[craeg]

Thanks for the advice guys ....
Keep it coming

 

[ol smokey]

I have had dogs all my life, and have professionally trained dogs. I am now in my 70's
My first question would be, What age are your children? Second question Do you live in town or country,? Third question what size of house do you have, and do you have a fenced in garden? These may seem silly questions, but they are very relevant.
If you have freeview on your T.V. you should watch the" Dog whisperer" and see how many problems people have with dogs. I am not trying to put you off, but so many dogs are bought without enough thought, and then cause problems which can have an adverse effect on relationships within the family. I am pleased to see that you are asking owners about this, before taking the decision. Hundreds of dogs each year if not thousands, have to be re homed or abandoned, because they did not fit in, or come up to expectations.
There are lots of books in pet stores and libraries about choosing a dog and what to expect in having one. If you care to send me a P.M. with your Telephone number I would be happy to have a chat with you and offer any advice or answer any questions you may have, to the best of my ability. Cheers mate.

 

[Rebel]

Good advice from "Ol Smokey". Also ask yourself if you've got the time and inclination to meet the dog's need for exercise and stimulation.

More important than the kid's ages is the way you expect them to interact with the dog. There might be a bit of a learning curve for the kids as they learn that the dog isn't a toy that they can do what they like with. Some kids catch on really quick, especially when the dog is as big as mine!, for others it takes a bit of kid training. However it can be really rewarding for everybody and both dog and kids can have a lot of fun together.

Watching the dog whisperer is good advice. I'm not sure that a Jack Russell is the best breed for you as they can be aggressive towards other dogs and humans (I used to have a Jack Russell cross) but I might be wrong.

http://www.k9obedience.co.uk/dogbreed/parsonjackrussell.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Russell_Terrier

They are a working terrier breed so they do need adequate stimulation and exercise.

 

[craeg]

I have had dogs all my life, and have professionally trained dogs. I am now in my 70's
My first question would be, What age are your children? Second question Do you live in town or country,? Third question what size of house do you have, and do you have a fenced in garden? These may seem silly questions, but they are very relevant.
If you have freeview on your T.V. you should watch the" Dog whisperer" and see how many problems people have with dogs. I am not trying to put you off, but so many dogs are bought without enough thought, and then cause problems which can have an adverse effect on relationships within the family. I am pleased to see that you are asking owners about this, before taking the decision. Hundreds of dogs each year if not thousands, have to be re homed or abandoned, because they did not fit in, or come up to expectations.
There are lots of books in pet stores and libraries about choosing a dog and what to expect in having one. If you care to send me a P.M. with your Telephone number I would be happy to have a chat with you and offer any advice or answer any questions you may have, to the best of my ability. Cheers mate.

Hi ol smokey
My kids are 11 & 15, we live on the edge of town 2 mins from country and our house is a 3 bed semi with an enclosed decent size garden. We have no other pets apart from next doors bloody cat that invites itself into our garden when it feels! :AR15firin
Will watch the Dog Whisperer as we loved the Ch4 programme, "It's me or the dog" and might take you up on the offer of your advice when we get closer to the decision.

Cheers
Craeg

 

[Barney]

Jack Russells can take some hammer, mine can do 20 mile a day no worries at hunting speed. Clever little buggers to boot, allegedly they remember the way the foxes run to ground and head them off at the pass, my two just know the shortcuts home and try to head off there anyway..

I have walked mine for years and never had a disagreement with any other dogs so far, depends how you train them I suppose, at the end of the day they are Terriers, fearless.

They will take a command though, wont eat until allowed too, come to heel at a shout, they dont need commercial dog food, mine live off scraps and a handful of biscuits a day.

Good dogs but I am biased, we have always had them.

 

[Atesca]

I've lived with dogs my whole life and wouldn't be without one. My grandparents had jack russels but we have always tended to have larger dogs, Boxer, Alsatian/Collie cross, Doberman and an Akita.

I'd recommend not just looking at breeder but also considering a rescue dog - all my dogs have been rescued and have all been loving and very good with kids. Plus there are the little advantages like the dogs are normally house trained and you can get some idea of their history and temperament.

As far as recommendations go I have used Babbington Hall rescue center in Awsworth, Nottinghamshire twice now, once three years ago to get my Akita and once this morning to pick out a Dalmation that I pick up next weekend after she has been speyed.

They do have a website, just google Babbington Hall, but they haven't updated it for a while as they are building a new one.

 

[Steve13]

You can't go wrong with a terrier , we have a Patterdale x Jack Russell x Whippett and she is great, 9 this year and full of life and vitality, Barney is right , she will run all day then be ready for more

A fantastic character , good family dog, the all round pet

You will not be sorry

 

[DoctorSpoon]

Terriers and terrier crosses are great dogs (we have a staffy x whippet), but you have to be firm and keep the upper hand with them. If you let them think they might be boss, even briefly, you're in trouble; they'll do what they want, when they want to, bark at everything and everyone and be a real pain! It comes automatically to most blokes, but the rest of your family (including your kids) will have to learn to be firm with the dog too.
Nicola

 

[Prophecy]

Sorry, my pet hate (nice pun eh?) is when people say 'this breed is great, you can't go wrong' etc...

There are no absolutely safe dogs for your kids. You can't generalise them like that. A dog is an animal, and whilst one breed may appear to have certain traits from another, a lot of it comes down to how the dog is cared for.

There's always potential for harm, and I totally agree with Nicola's post.

I'm not trying to put a downer on things as I love nothing more than kids and dogs! I hope you get things sorted.

This is a great site and this page shows you the pros and cons for dog genders.

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/buying/articles/male-female-dogs.html

Look at the 'Which breed is right for me?' section too - it might help you.

 

[Prophecy]

Another vote for rescue centres/pounds!

I got a dog for £60 from a rescue centre which included 6 weeks insurance, free 6 month check-up, microchip, all the initial vaccinations (although I only got part of that), neutering, first few days food, blanket from it's litter, and license.

Whereas it's not uncommon to pay £400 and just get a pedigree pup with none of that.

 

[Walks with dogs]

I'd have to agree with Prophecy that no breed of dog is guaranteed to be a "safe" dog. That said, you could do worse than a Border Terrier. Fantastic little dogs with bags of character and generally very good round kids and families.

 

[Lee Wright]

We took on a Tri-colour Collie X Springer at 16 weeks old as the owners got bored (turns out that puppies don't just sit around and let you cuddle them...) and he's been brilliant up to yet, spent all this weekend camping with the Explorer group I run, get on well with other dogs and is doing very well in the way of training. The best piece of advice I have recieved so far is off my mum who told me to give him plenty of exercise and make sure he socialises as much as possible with other dogs.

Have you considered a Greyhound/Whippet/Lurcher? Parents have a Collie X Whippet and a Greyhound X Wolfhound hich are both rescue dogs. There are organisations where you can adopt an ex-racing dog as they used to be destroyed after their working life Very good dog's in my experience, take far less exercise than you would think and they would clear the cat problem within the hour

 

[Dougster]

I had an Irish Setter for 10 years before and he was fantastic with my kids - from when he first sniffed them outside the maternity ward.

I got his great nephew at 10 weeks old last summer and whilkst the kids can get away with murder with him, he'll always love them, I could kill him at least every other day.

I'm sure he'll be a star when he's about 4.

Even if he's a great dog there will be tough bits.

 

[DoctorSpoon]

Have you considered a Greyhound/Whippet/Lurcher? Parents have a Collie X Whippet and a Greyhound X Wolfhound hich are both rescue dogs. There are organisations where you can adopt an ex-racing dog as they used to be destroyed after their working life Very good dog's in my experience, take far less exercise than you would think and they would clear the cat problem within the hour

Our dog came from Lurcher Link and they have a sister organisation called Greyhound Gap both of which run excellent forums which will give you advice on suitability and availability!

 

[redandshane]

Dougster

I too had a Red Setter for 10 years a loveable rogue he was
Brilliant with kids and a favourite down the pub
Bit too keen on covering some ground sometimes though
Obedient to a point with me but he reduced the wife to tears on many an occasion with his headstrong ways

Back to OP my first dog was a rough haired Jack Russel bitch great dog although they need to grow up with kids around They dont like being teased
I grew up on a farm which is a Jack Russels natural working enviroment really-lots of rats !!
Buy from a dealer whose older dogs you can see in a social situation

 

[spoony]

you have to be firm with dogs esp terriers, they can also be snapper, its in a terriers nature,
try the http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/

 

[Opal]

We had a female Jack, very good dog, excellent at catching the rats around our gardens, lived to 12yrs, great temperament, I reckon it's up to the owner how a dog turns out. Put plenty of time in to train it and you will be rewarded.

I only had to use a finger or whistle for it to do what I wanted of her, my son has a Westie that doesn't take a blind bit of notice of anyone, lovely dog tho'.

The best dog we ever had was the last one, an Irish Terrier,brilliant with very young kids, amazing temperament, died of anaemia aged 5yrs.