Does anyone own a Jack Russell?!

[TropicPlunder]

Inspired by the bichon thread from earlier .
I'm in the early contemplating stages of a second dog, and have always liked JRTs. I've met some awesome little dogs, but not known any well enough to know what goes on in the background .
So....do they need a farm or regular ratting trips to be content? Or can they be great family dogs in an active home with decent garden and doggy company?

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

They vary. I have lived with a JRT and a number of crosses. If you get one whose parents are farm ratters, expect independence, arsiness and a tendency to bark. And bark. And bark a bit more. They are not for everyone.

Properly raised and exercised they can be great family dogs, but they have a well-deserved reputation for dog-aggression (not all of them, obviously, but they tend that way) and they bear grudges (ours, after a bite, had a hated breed and still hated it a decade later).

[Booboostwo]

I have a JRT and he is just lovely! He has the personality of a big dog in a small body. He was perfectly fine to train (using reward based methods) but he does have a strong hunting instinct. When the cats bring in a live mouse to play with, he is the one who steps in to sort things out. At 2yo he lost he recall because we moved house to a farm with a lot of squirrels which drove him mad, but a couple of months on the long line sorted that out. He does require long walks like the big dogs we have and he really enjoys playing with the other dogs. He is wonderful with the children, an 18mo fell on him while he was sleeping and he just walked away (obviously it was an accident and won't happen again, but still accidents will happen from time to time and it's good to have a tolerant dog).

[TheSandgroper]

I’ve known a couple of jacks. One was fab. The other is the rudest little shit I’ve ever met.

We have a bt who is fab but don’t believe those who say they don’t moult. Pulled or not, her hair gets everywhere.

[Gingerninja4]

Next door has 2 . One is lovely laid back not interested in other dogs other one can be nice to people but snappy at times when aaked to do things hates most other dogs(Is fine with mine as known since . puppy goes in nice then turns

But lot is likely down to lack of exercises they often only walk half block in morning left home alone all day and get maybe one other walk a week that is 45 mins

[Booboostwo]

but lot is likely down to lack of exercise
They do need big dog level of exercise and not lap dog mainly carrying around. My dogs get an hour or an hour and a half in the mornings, an hour in the afternoon and a short walk in the evening, all off-lead. They also spend 2-3 half-days outside while I faff about with the horses. The JRT has only now at 11yo started to opt out of some of these walks and mainly in bad weather.

[adaline]

Our next door neighbour has one and he's awful - so aggressive. This morning I was in the garden with my dog getting ready to go for a walk, and he had his head under our garden gate snapping and snarling at mine. If the hole was big enough he'd have been under and he'd have bitten him - he's done it before

Interestingly another Jack Russell went for him on our walk yesterday - snarling and lunging. Maybe they just don't get on

However all that said I've met some lovely ones but they've all been in homes where there's someone home all day and they've had plenty of attention, fuss, training and exercise. They're not easy dogs and need a lot of input - they're working dogs at the end of the day and terriers are bred to go for miles and miles and to dig and burrow and chase.

[Wibblytummy]

Ours is still just a young pup (15wks..) she is a JRT x Bichon but she doesn't fit a lot of the descriptions here. She is incredibly quiet, slept through in her crate the first night with not a peep. We have 3 children (8,6,3) and she allows them to be very hands on and loves the fuss. We're training now and I've not been through the adolescence phase but she trains well. So far her biggest downfall is how playful she is with the other pups at class.
She is incredibly clingy and loves to be by my side if I'm downstairs and I work from home so she has constant company but if set in the kitchen alone she can settle too.
All in all, a little gem but then we chose her because her mum (a JRT) was a lovely kind tempered little thing and we always wanted one if she ever had pups so not sure if they're the opposite to the JRT typical

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

We have a jrt cross yorkie and he's a cracking little dog. He's not yappy and we've really worked hard at socialising him well (had him from 8 weeks.)

He loves kids, friendly but not overly bothered by other dogs, happy with one long walk or two short walks a day, easy to train, extremely loyal....

Perfect family dog imo.