To want to get rid of our dog

[peasontoast]

I've seen similar threads but I wondered if anyone has direct experience with Jack Russell's? We have had our dog since he was 9 weeks, he's now 14 months. He is friendly with other dogs except if I'm giving him a treat. He started chasing livestock at around 7 months and it's been a real struggle to avoid sheep/cattle on our walks. The most worrying thing is that, having always been lovely with people and well known in the area for his friendly temperament he is now starting to growl at strangers in the street and last week hie tried to bite the vet and had to be muzzled. Today when I took him to school as usual he tried to bite a little girl who was stroking him very gently on the head. Is this something that happens with JR? I mainly bought him as company for DD so I am now pretty fearful about the way he might be going.

I'm sure someone else will be along to offer advice, but I do think that Jack Russells are 'nippy' dogs, and therefore not good to have around children.

No its not normal for JR's - I've got one and she has a lovely temperament. I'd go to the vet and ask for advice, it might be that he's coming into adolescence (have you had him neutered?)or that he thinks he's top dog or something.
Anyway - obviously you can't keep him if there's any risk he might injure your children, but I would consult the vet and see if its something that can be sorted out by training. Meantime keep him muzzled when you take him out, and get him an extending lead for walks so he can't chase animals.

I don't really know the answer to your question but if you re-post in Pets I'm sure you'll get more help from dog people!

My mum has 2 JRs, and I agree that walking them near sheep/cows is a nightmare.

However hers have never snapped at any of the grandchildren- with out sounding patronising have you taken them to training classes?

meant to say - I don't think its too awful if a dog reacts badly to a vet doing something painful to them. Could the little girl have inadvertantly hurt him in any way?

What did your vet say when your dog tried to bite? Was he at the vet for another reason (eg sore ears) which might be making him a bit more defensive about being touched round the head?

Even if there is no obvious medical reason for his change in temperament, it's worth taking him to your vet for a check over. Your vet will also be able to discuss his behavioural issues with you (tip: tell the receptionist you want to see the vet about a behavioural problem, not a "check up", as many good practices will set aside more than one consultation for a behavioural consult, so you have time to deal with all the issues.)

If your dog isn't neutered that may be something worht considering. Your vet will probably give you some basic behavioural advice, and offer you a referral to a dedicated behaviouralist if necessary (they will have more time to work on your dog's problems at length) THis can be expensive, though, and time consuming.

In the meantime, you must keep him on a lead when you are out, and either muzzle him or ensure he isn't around children- if he continues to chase livestock or nip children the decision about what to do about him may well be taken out of your hands

Thanks - couldn't see a 'Pets' when I looked at topics...no, the little girl was being very gentle and he was looking at her so she didn't startle him plus a number of other children had come past and stroked him and he didn't react so it seems unpredictable. I suppose the vet might have hurt him but he has been handled more roughly by other vets without such a reaction. I can't bear the though of having dog that has to be muzzled all the time he's out especially as he's always been so friendly and people in the area have come to know him as such. I just can't make out what's going on. He was neutered at 6 months although it never seemed to make much difference - he has always had a lively temperament but never aggressive like this.

And he's also pretty well-behaved compared to a lot of other dogs - comes when he's called, sits etc

Pets is in the In the club section if you still want to post there.

Hi there,

I have two JR's (no kids yet) they are generally good little dogs, BUT they are terrible with cows and sheep, my youngest loves to chase them, so they have to be on a long lead when I take them near sheep to avoid the stress.

Neither of them are that keen on my neices fussing at them, but they are getting used to the little people, both neices love them cos they are smaller than the rest of the dogs they have around them (just prefect size for four and two year olds to boss around!) I have to be honest they can take it for so long and then they have had enough, but so long as your daughter knows to let him have some time on his own it should be ok.

The other thing to note is that although they are small dogs, they do need a lot of exercise and mental stimulation, I can walk my younger dog for 16 miles before she is tired out properly, maybe you could all get on your bikes as a family and go for a ride, that should help to tire him out and then he will be a little more chilled out. JR's do bark, they are quite protective of their space, but if you use positive affirmation and praise and feed him when he does the right things that might help too?

I would advise a look at the breed characteristics for JR's you'll find them online, they are big dogs in a small dog's body and potentially will be your daughter's best buddy and partner in crime, but they do need some firm handling.

Best of luck, I love my two girls and wouldnt be without them :D

I think you need advice from the vet for behavioural probs.as jooly said. It sounds like something outside usual 'come', 'sit' type training. Vet will be able to suggest something if it is a dominance issue (e.g.my neice's dog started to get the idea she was in charge, so vet suggested the dog wear a light weight lead around the house for a while, so she learnt her place)

I can see its very upsetting for you, but I'd give him a chance with appropriate precautions in place.

Thanks you peeps - I have posted in Pets now so perhaps someone will have similar experience and I will contact the vet tommorrow.

No one in at 'pets' at the moment...
Trouble is I'm not going to be able to afford expensive training sessions which probably sounds a bit irresponsible but I did do some research before I got him and although I was ready for yapping and big dog-little body issues I never read anything but positive stuff about behaviour towards people/kids.

He won't necessarily need lots of expensive sessions. It depends on what issues he might have (unfortunately very difficult to assess over the internet!)

If I was your vet, I would want to know

Any painful areas? Anything sore?

Sudden onset problem, or developed insiduously? (may seem sudden onset to you, but there may have been precursors that you wouldn't necessarily have picked up)

Any recent history (anything that could have made him fearful/ nervous? any change in environment/ circumstances, even a small thing like diet change?)

How does he behave in the house? Is he treated subordinately or encouraged to sit on the sofa/ sleep in the bed?

The key to treating these problems is delving deep to try to find the reasons for the behaviour and then trying to "reset" his responses. this can take a bit of investigation, hence the reason many of these cases are handed over to behaviouralists who can spend the necessary time, observe the dog etc.

Hi Jooly - thanks for sticking with me on 2 threads! We got a new sofa recently and have stopped him sitting on it when he was allowed on the old one...could that possibly be a reason? I have checked all over his head and there's nothing sore there...as I said he was always the most excitable of the bunch and gets upset by the dogs next door barking but that's been going on all the time he's been with us. If he was consistently aggresive I suppose it might be easier to get a grip on the behaviour...but at the moment it seems quite random.

I'm going to stick to the other thread, just to save confusion !!!

check him over for infected ticks ie in his ears, armpits etc he may be in discomfort.