Grumpy JRT

[saggyhairyarse]

My JRT puppy is 5 months old now and for the most part is pretty easy going dog. I have 3 children and he is woken up at 6am, played with and stimulated nearly all day and he is well exercised.

He is pretty obedient and picks up things quickly and he does know he is at the bottom of the pecking order.

The only 'problem' is that he is very grumpy in the evenings and growls at the kids. He doesn't do anything other than growl. As soon as he has had enough he gets sent to bed which is in a crate in my utility room but he will then growl if you go in the room (he does get told to be quite) but the fridge and downstairs loo are in there so we do need access.

Is the best thing just to tell him to be quiet and ignore him?

I've a 5 month old JRT too. The only time he ever growls is if he's disturbed while asleep in his basket in the evening so he sounds quite similar to yours. During the day he's as easy going as they come and puts up with a fair bit of handling from the kids without a hint of aggression. I've been very strict with the kids to not go near him when he's in the basket even if he's awake so he knows he won't be disturbed. He usually has two good long sleeps a day plus short naps.

He hasn't growled for a few days since I started tempting him out of the basket with a treat before the night-time toilet trip - before I was stupidly going and lifting him out so no wonder he growled at me.

Steep learning curve......he's is so much fun, though.

JRTs (well, mine's a PRT, but more or less the same thing) are SUCH clever, motivated, inventive, fantasitc dogs. They are adorable. They have their quirks, and they do need training to avoid being little Napoleons, but I would never ever choose a different breed.

I'm staggered by how much rest my dog still needs, even though he is well into adulthood. Live hard, rest hard, I suppose.

I'll second that Aguis. I think mine would climb the walls with only 2 lots of 10 minutes exercise a day, though - luckily I have a quiet area nearby where he can run off the lead for a bit and let off some steam. Once he's fully grown I'm going to start running with him.

I thought exercise restriction was more inportant with the bigger breeds that can have so many joint problems etc if over-exercised in youth? 2x10mins sounds quite limited for 5months old JRT?? Though obviously you need to make sure they don't overdo things. I suppose it depends on the kind of exercise. Sprinting after squirrels up steep hills or trotting alongside owner.

I run with mine, liath. It works really well.

All breeds can have joint problems.

A 5 month old pups joints are cartilage, not bone.

Thanks bella. I think I was fairly careful when mine was young -- I hope I was restrictive enoug, but I paid more attention to the kind of exercise than the duration, iyswim.

The spring sunshine has made it into the house at last, so my PRT has begun his seasonal mission to sleep in precisely the ten square inches that are illuminated, even if those happen to be on top of a bookcase.

One of mine used to lie so close to the stove I swear I could smell his coat singeing

Mine has just been standing folornly by the fridge, where there is plenty of sunshine but a cold tiled floor. Sucker that I am, I have just carried his bed there so that he can sunbathe in comfort. The EXTREME hardiness when out and about running through hedges and plunging into iced water, coupled with the cat-like pursuit of total comfort at home, is really comical.

I must stop wittering about him now and get some work done. He is so lovable though.

I have to confess to having been a bit baffled by the exercise thing, though. I've done a lot of internet searches and asked vets about it and I can't find any good evidence for restricting exercise in puppies. I'd love to know where the 5 minutes per month rule comes from - has anyone actually done a proper study comparing outcomes for puppies exercised for different amounts of time? My BIL who's a vet said there's very little in vet medicine that's actually evidence-based becuase there aren't the pots of money available for research that there are for human medicine and that most advice is based on anecdotal evidence at best.

I have been fairly cautious with mine and he's never been over-tired in his short life but equally I've never stuck rigidly to the guidelines for however minutes of exercise per day & he has plenty time running off the lead. It's tricky.

I have a 5mth old giant breed pup.
Although I don't take her for long walks, I think it's more important to avoid putting stress on joints by preventing them from jumping about, going up and down stairs, jumping in and out of the car and on and off furiture etc.

I also think it's better and much more effective to wear a pup out with training games and new experiences than plain walking anyway.

Nobody told me about over excercising my JRT when she was a puppy, only heard this from someone who had a bigger puppy after me. I'm hoping it's nonsense otherwise I've done the wrong thing.

We always exercised her lots - like 45 mins morning and afternoon and lots of ball playing. We believed a tired dog would be a well behaved dog