Advice please on jack russell terrier cross breeds

[heresHalloweenagain18]

Hi there

Myself and my family are looking to rehome a rescue dog after losing our dog recently. He was getting old and we prepared for the fact he didnt have long to go (myself and hubby) and we had said a while back about wanting to get a jack russell in the future.

We as a family agreed on rescuing a small breed of dog and are considering a jack russell or jack russell terrier cross.

I have looked up the breed previously and recently have been looking up again and researching for a couple of weeks the breed as i have heard over the years they can be yappy/snappy.

Have looked through the archives on threads on mumsnet too and its a very mixed bag of opinions on the breed.

Something that does jump out at me is the reference to them being a typical terrier and orginally bred as hunter so will chase smaller animals such as cats, rodents, birds and its depending on there prey drive if they will chase and kill.

I have also seen reference in regards to people not advising to get them if we have children as unpredictable. I dont have children and cant see it being in our future as we have had nearly 5 years of infertility since i misscarried my only pregnancy and failed ivf. Hubby has said no more.

We dont have children visiting often my toddler neice has been round a couple of times which was more due to the holiday season.

We do have 3 cats, two are very much house cats and have made one room their den where the new dog would not have access to.

The other older cat is mostly in and in another room but will hang out in other areas of the house and goes out briefly.

I am concerned about them with the cats based on what i have read though am keeping an open mind as dont want to generalise the breed.

I seems that it does really depend on the dog themselves how well they respond to training. I understand from what i have read they can be hard to train (though not through lack of intelligants as very clever, it repeatedly comes up) and take a lot of perserverance, patience and hard work.

I also get the impression even then it may not be something that can be trained out of them so to speak as it really is inbuilt in some of them (again depends on prey drive)

The dog would never be completly alone in the house, there are 4 adults in the house myself included and for varying reasons 3 are at home in the day. We tend to go out one or two at a time.

I have downloaded a book onto my kindle and looking at other titles as trying to cover the breed as a whole and subjects like there history, training ect .

I want to ask if anyone has any personal experience of owning a JRT/JRT cross ? Positive stories would be nice to read but overall looking for honest advice about them .

Thanks xx

With a crossbreed you’ll never know which traits are inherited from each parent. My parents have one which is half Jack Russell. He lives happily with two cats and only chases balls. He’s very friendly with people and dogs. His only terrier ways are being hyper active and very noisy.

I have had several rescued JRT crosses over the years and one full JRT who had a huge prey drive and would chase any small furry. The crosses have varied but I can’t say any of them could be trusted with small animals. We have chickens but keep them in a separate fenced off area in the garden behind a wall. We also have a very feisty dog savvy cat who will stand her ground but we use a stair gate and she lives upstairs where the dogs are not allowed. A rescue will advise on which terriers are suitable to live with dogs, but I think you will find they are few and far between! Most of mine have been fine with children. They have all been yappy, apart from a JRT/ Beagle X. I love them, and although I appreciate they they are not everyone’s cup of tea, they are definitely my favourite and real characters!

I have a Patterjack X. I think there is a little bit of German Shepherd in her too. She took a long time to settle, even though she had spent her previous 8 years with a loving family. Her strong prey drive means that she will chase small dogs, cats and birds.Next doors cats sit on the garage roof to torment her. She goes nuts running in circles and barking. The cats think it is the best entertainment ever. They are not stupid enough to come into the garden. I do think she would attack them.

Being a terrier, she is noise and movememt sensitive and will bark and fuss for no apparent reason that we can hear or see. She will never let another dog near her. I only let her off lead when there is no other dog in sight.

She is fiercely loyal, loves walking, always ready for a game, but not affectionate. She will always sit very close to us and occasionally she will allow us to pet her.

My limited experience tells me that terriers and small animals don’t mix.

Can only speak for my JR, but he is quite independent, very intelligent and quite trainable. OH reports that he is fine around chickens! He is an enthusiastic hunter of rats, mice, rabbits etc. Has been tolerant of children (8 yrs up).
Always said I'd never have one, nasty yappy creatures etc, And yes he did bark a lot, however most of the yapping stopped when last dog died, so he may have been unfairly blamed!! He really is not much bother and quite a comic. I think they generally need (or at least appreciate) more exercise than you think, given their size.
Can't say about cats, he seems to see them as vermin, but if your going down the rescue route they should check this, if you get a puppy he'll learn.
And barely touched by KC so still a fairly healthy breed.

@florentina1 🤣 They are a bit like cats. Stroke me. GET OFF NOW!

I also have a jack shit, he is great
He is slightly yappy and has recently developed into a devil dog when he is on lead and sees other dogs...not sure why
He is great with my cats, he actually plays with them
Is also ok with my chickens, ducks and rabbit.
He doesn’t like little children, he barks at them, but i put this down to him never having encountered many ..I would definitely have another, would however never have another collie after she killed my kitten 😰

I have a Jack Russell Shitzu cross and she's just wonderful.

Our JR is a rescue, predisposed to being nervous.

Is an alert dog - yaps at the door, let's them in but wags!!!

Our cats are the boss, will snuggle up when cold and sunbathe together.

Is bossy around young dogs and big dogs and black dogs - past issues of being bullied! Will play chase with other dogs, fine with any dog that ignores her.

Complete Princess and with proper socialisation I think would be much better behaved around all other dogs.

I think I have a freak of a JR from reading these (rough coated) she’s lazy, no prey drive apart from chasing odd squirrel and never caught anything. Loves all humans big and small, not that fussed about other dogs but not grumpy. Barks if someone comes to house but stops immediately when we open door and I like that in a dog. Can take or leave toys. Not possessive at all. Mum is the same. Her only downside is nervous of random noises which I have no idea how she developed. Wish we’d let her have pups in a way (we didn’t of course) because these character traits are always commented on in her.

I love love love my Yorkie Russell, but she is yappy, occasionally snappy and chases cats, birds and would even try chasing sheep when she was younger. She will bark at strangers in the house and at dogs she doesn't know, and also any dog that has ever been anything other than friendly towards her, mostly because she is an anxious little thing. But she is adorable and cuddly and always ridiculously excited to see any human or dog that she is friends with. I like the fact that she loves to go on interesting walks and will happily spend all day at the beach etc., but really isn't bothered about going out any more than necessary if the weather is rubbish. Definitely not the easiest dog to manage, but she has a lot of personality.

I have 2 jacks and they are chalk and cheese. One is highly intelligent and you can train him very easily. He has a very sweet and loving nature and will cuddle all day when not performing for an audience. He cannot be trusted around small children though.

The other isn't very bright and loves only me and completely ignores everyone else. He's completely untrainable but does anything i say and is never more than a foot away from me.

Both have amazing recall, massive prey drives and hate cats with a passion.

I have a jack x chihuahua. He will chase pretty much anything small and furry....i've had the odd dead mouse left on my sofa.
He barks at anything and seems to be getting worse as he gets older! He loves to play fetch and loves to sit on your knee under a blanket.
He has allergies, which i heard was quite common in the JRT breed.

My parents had a jack x springer spaniel from a pup. Looked like a leggy JRT. Sadly he had to be rehomed. He was a beautiful personality, lovely temperament, easy to train, fab with kids etc but you could NOT tire him out. He was permanently hyper despite hours of exercise and brain training.

Dad would take him on 10 mile hikes with our older Labrador, across sand dunes and throw the ball down the dunes all day for the JRT, and the lab would refuse to go any further before they turned to come back. The lab would sleep for two days, Dad would be in ribbons and JRT would still be bouncing off the ceiling.

He went to friends with farm land (crops, not cattle) where he had free reign to run all day and was much more settled.

My neighbour has 2 cross

First one is jack russel and unknown. She is lovely dog laid back affectionate with people knows is aloof with others on walks same with dogs.Used to live with cats

Second one is a jack shit with bit of suspect chihuahua thrown in .Is affectionate and people pleaser but has strong terrier traits on lead will bark at other dogs in aggressive way and same if dog barks at her and cats are a no no(they ended up rehoming the cat. Can be snappy at home when told of sofa etc Some of traits maybe down to household (loud bousterious /old fasjoned training .They also think her behaviour funny as is small

and her parents who can both be snappy (back street breeder )