Thinking of getting a Jack Russell puppy, have some questions

[doggydoodles]

We went and had a look around our local dogs home today and we all fell in love with a 5 yr old Jack Russell but when we went to ask about him we were told that he doesn't get on with cats and we have one.

Dd2 was distraught and cried all the way home. I told her we'd go back and look another day but she has her heart set on a Jack Russell now, as do the rest of us I think, so we are thinking of buying a pup.

Questions are ...

1. How good with kids are they ? our youngest is 4
2. Are they particularly prone to any particular health probs ?
3. How much do they eat when fully grown ?
4. Are they easily trained (toileting particularly) ??

I know it will be a pup so have to expect chewing, weeing/pooing on the floor, whinning etc etc and all thats fine we've had kids after all LOL.

ours have been a dream to toilet train
They eat sod all - dried food
ours are great we did have to stop them from teethign on dd who is 3, she ahs learned to tell them off when they jump up.
No famous health probs, many live til 15 plus

That all sounds great Piffle, am especially glad about the dried food as I hate wet dog or cat food.

How old are yours now ??

6 mths
be warned though, our vet told me when I took our first puppy in (we got one earlier) he said they can get very destructive without a mate, so we got another one, it pays off, their poo is tiny, they play together so you do not ned to be 100% on them all the time.

There is no way in the world that I will be able to convince dp to get 2 LOL.

Hopefully it will get on with the cat, shes young and quite mad so fingers crossed.

i grew up with JRTs and one lived to 16 the other to 21. the later one died of heart problems which can affect any breed as the dog gets older. they have lots of energy and need lots of chew toys. a cage can be used if they get destructive, not as punishment but as protection for your things and themselves(ie chewing electric cables) when you are out. good training when puppies is the foundation to good behaviour later on. also ensure you mix them well with other dogs early on as they can be a bit argumentative, especially about toys, otherwise

i have a jr male...he's lovely but very naughty!
we got him cause my DH loves jacks but he's also soft and wouldn't tell the dog off when he was a pup so now we have a naughty jack russell! not a good thing! we also have a beagle female but i would not recommend one of them! she's so bad!
i agree with VNMUM though... a puppy crate is a good idea we use one with ours (a big one!) cause the beagle has never ever gotten out of chewing and she once nearly killed herself chewing a plug socket!