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Original poster

Today my 2 JRT's got our cat :(

36 replies

Piffle · 04/05/2007 12:12

Totally shocked
1 yr old pups, our cat Thelma is 3, and knows she can beat the dogs in thru the cat flap. BUT dd (4) had locked it and they cornered her and both had her round the neck, DP and I were right there, and got them off her, cat ok but now no way can I trust my dogs.
WTF do I do?

OP posts:

Kelly1978 · 04/05/2007 23:08

I agree with the pack mentality idea, but I think assuming a dog will view the difference betreen a cat/rat/rabbit and a child is expecting a bit too much. Dogs are still instinctive animals and although they can be well trained but I think a dog that shows such strong instincts cannot be trusted around children.
I also think that you can rehome them and not feel guilty provided you are honest about them. I like JRTs and would be quite happy to ahve one provided I had no young children around, and there are plenty of people I know who keep jr or cairn terriers who don't have children and feel the same.
To be perfectly honest I feel that getting JRTs with a young child was a bit foolish, but then any dog can turn out the same, it is jsut a matter of risk. My parents had a golden retriever when I was a baby and had to get rid of it since he was too boisterous, then had a cairn terrier. They had to get rid of her too, she was very docile (though great for catching rabbits!) but I tormented her half to death!
The retriever went off to a farm, the cairn to a relative - both had very happy lives to a good old age and were well cared for. We moved on to labradors and gave lots of dogs a good life as part of our family. Nobody lost out. Your dogs are still very young and will easily be found more suitable homes.

Original poster

Piffle · 05/05/2007 11:06

Have decided to rehome them. Am very sad and feel incredibly guilty towarsd them that I cannot offer them the home they need.
Will throoughly vet any hopeful owners
Now trying to find the cat who won't come home

OP posts:

lucyellensmum · 05/05/2007 14:28

Piffle, please don't feel guilty, you have weighed up the situation and made a decision based on what you feel is right for your family and your animals. Get in touch with JR rescue and i'm sure they will find a lovely home for your terrorists At the end of the day we must remember that these are dogs, not humans and they will miss you at first but TBH would probably benefit being in a dogs only household, a farm maybe? Then they can chase rabbits all day - sounds like fun to me ;) Just because they did this to the cat (i dont like cats so i'm with the dogs on that one ;) ) doesnt mean that they wont have a go at DD but i would be v wary especially with there being two of them as one may get over excited and the other may misinterpret this, its not fair to keep them TBH because if they do have an incident with DD it could result in serious injury and definately destruction of one or both dogs so its fairer all round if they go to a new home.

lucyellensmum · 05/05/2007 14:30

i meant to say, doesnt mean they WILL have a go at DD, they probably wont, but i woudlnt take the chance if it were me.

hercules1 · 05/05/2007 19:49

Piffle, we had to rehome a dog last year as it was a rescue one and totally unsuitable for us. I felt at teh time dreadfullly guilty but it was the right thing to do and I have 2 great dogs now who are far more suitable for our family.

dejags · 05/05/2007 20:03

poor you piffle. Haven't had time to read the whole thread - on boob duty these days .

I am a bit biased on this subject because my beloved cat was killed by dogs a month ago. Personally I'd be worried about the unpredictabliity of the dogs but I am afraid I am at a loss to give you advice on what to actually do about it.

Hope you get it sorted

AnAngelWithin · 07/05/2007 10:18

how are feeling now piffle? did you find your cat? hope she is ok? thinking of you

Original poster

Piffle · 07/05/2007 21:19

the cat still not coming in over the fence - the dogs have a fenced off part, the cat used to come through when they were not looking, now she won't)
So we have to feed her under dd's climbing frame den
one of the dogs has been found a home via our vet, a farm home, working ratter experience JRT owner/breeder.

He is also prepared to pay us which is decent as we just paid £100 to get the bugger neutered.
Lucky as would have done it myself on Friday
So that leaves one dog to go...

OP posts:

Mossie · 10/05/2007 11:08

Piffle you poor thing. What a horrible decision for you to have had to make.

If it helps, I read something in the Caesar Milan book about rehoming dogs (was considering getting Arthur rehomed for a while, long story) which is that although you feel awful, they get over it really quickly; often in the wild, dogs will leave one pack and join another, and that's all that your pet dogs think is happening.

Just a thought, does your pet insurance cover a behaviourist? Ours does, it's PetPlan, if you find you can't rehome your other dog it might be worth a go?

I wish you the best of luck and also {{{hugs}}} as I can imagine how hard it must be. Hope your cat is all right, I am sure she will be eventually.

RTKangaMummy · 10/05/2007 11:25

Piffle sorry you and your cat have had to go through this

Hope your cat will come home once both dogs have gone

Jenkeywoo · 12/05/2007 15:12

Hi Piffle, just wanted to say how sorry I am for all you've been through, it must be so hard. I'm glad you've found a good home for one of your dogs. Any news on the other one? I hope your little cat has come home now.

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