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Question:

We own two jack russels and though we thought they were house trained they are now cocking their legs up over pieces of furniture. Is this a phase (just growing up), what can we do to stop it. I appreciate that jrt’s are yappy dogs but does anyone have any novel way of training them not to bark. Thanks for your help, in anticipation. Our dogs are both male, one is 9 months the other is 7 months. Richard Irons

Response:

> We own two jack russels and though we thought they were house trained they > are now cocking their legs up over pieces of furniture. Is this a phase > (just growing up), what can we do to stop it. I appreciate that jrt’s are > yappy dogs but does anyone have any novel way of training them not to bark. > Thanks for your help, in anticipation. > Our dogs are both male, one is 9 months the other is 7 months. > Richard Irons

As far as the leg lifting goes, you need to confine them when you can’t watch them 100%. Either use a dog crate or gate them to a bathroom or kitchen. They are still puppys and are not yet trustable with free run. As for the barking, you will need to teach a "quiet" command. This can take a lot of work and patience with a yappy dog. When they bark, allow them one or two barks, then say "quiet". If they comply, praise them. If not, then put them in a down stay. Then praise the quiet. Most dogs if given something else to do will stop the original behavior. Have you taken them to obedience classes? A lot of folks tend to not take small dogs. I guess because they are small, their behaviors are easier to ignore… I’m not really sure. With basic obedience in place, most behavior problems are easily fixed by using those basic commands to your advantage. Classes also help to reinforce your’s and your dog’s roles with each other and gives them good social skills due to the other dogs in the class. Again, I can’t say this enough, most problems with dogs boils down to obedience. Not all but a good number of them. If you have good firm obedience commands in place you can solve most behavior problems that arrise by using those commands to deter or change unwanted behavior. This newsgroup and it’s members can teach you how to achieve some of the basic commands and help you get past specific problems but you will gain a greater understanding of dogs and a better relationship with your dogs by participating in a good obedience training calss. Good luck. Donna

Response:

>Our dogs are both male, one is 9 months the other is 7 months.

This says it all.  Your dogs *may* be housebroken for all intents and purposes, but they are maturing males and they are doing this to assert their "position" in the household. You don’t mention if your dogs are neutered yet,  if not…. run don’t walk to the vet as this "sibling rivalry" will only worsen as they become more mature. If they are bred it will be even worse as anyone can tell you that a male dog almost invariably becomes more dominant once bred. I am surprised that you bought two male JRTs to share a household.. I recently acquired a female JRT , and all of the literature I read and the breeders I spoke to mentioned the problems of keeping two or more JRTs (but especially those of the same sex) as companions as they have very strong hunting instincts and they will not hesitate to fight one another.  In fact, they suggest that anyone interested in two pets acquire differing sexes and spay/neuter to make handling easier.  It is stated that same-sex housemates should never be left unattended together (neither should a group of them be left alone – they will pack on each other) as they are such game little dogs that should a fight occur, they will often fight until one or both is seriously injured/sometimes mortally… JRTs are cute little critters, but you must never forget that they are first and foremost *hunting* dogs.   They are *not* the adorable darlings that are portrayed on t.v. Robin

Response:

I have a four year old vocal jack called toby who is a very loving dog but gets very excited if he sees another dog whilst on the lead(he ignores them when off it) he also goes mad at joggers, cyclists, and large trucks,steals other peoples footballs and is generally embarassing. i tried all sorts of punishments and shouting to no avail.It just spurred him on to greater excess. BUT he is a greedy little dog and loves his treats and also will do anything for a game, so i picked a word, in this case LOOK! said in an excited manner whenever i was going to give him dinner, a treat, or start a game until i got his complete attention whenever i said it, then when we went out i made sure i had treats with me and if he started up i said LOOK! and it focused hi attention back on me. my other dog, a lurcher, also learnt the word and is better at recall now. I hope this helps you. Jacks are lovely little dogs but

Response:

I have a 5 year old male JRT and I can certainly attest to his desire for dominance within the family.  I can’t imagine having two of them! He is a lot of fun and a lot of work. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Our dogs are both male, one is 9 months the other is 7 months. > This says it all.  Your dogs *may* be housebroken for all intents and purposes, > but they are maturing males and they are doing this to assert their "position" > in the household. > You don’t mention if your dogs are neutered yet,  if not…. run don’t walk to > the vet as this "sibling rivalry" will only worsen as they become more mature. > If they are bred it will be even worse as anyone can tell you that a male dog > almost invariably becomes more dominant once bred. > I am surprised that you bought two male JRTs to share a household.. I recently > acquired a female JRT , and all of the literature I read and the breeders I > spoke to mentioned the problems of keeping two or more JRTs (but especially > those of the same sex) as companions as they have very strong hunting instincts > and they will not hesitate to fight one another.  In fact, they suggest that > anyone interested in two pets acquire differing sexes and spay/neuter to make > handling easier.  It is stated that same-sex housemates should never be left > unattended together (neither should a group of them be left alone – they will > pack on each other) as they are such game little dogs that should a fight > occur, they will often fight until one or both is seriously injured/sometimes > mortally… > JRTs are cute little critters, but you must never forget that they are first > and foremost *hunting* dogs.   They are *not* the adorable darlings that are > portrayed on t.v. > Robin

Response:

Richard writes: >I have a 5 year old male JRT and I can certainly attest to his desire for >dominance >within the family.  I can’t imagine having two of them! >He is a lot of fun and a lot of work.

Sooooo, my question is…. When do they slow down?  LOL My Susie is a wild thing.  I expected active, hyper even…. but she *can’t* sit still! Since we are talking about training here, did you have any luck with obedience?  I want to start, but to be honest she doesn’t have any attention span to speak of.  What sort of things work for you?  (she is housebroken at least I have had Aussies for years and years, they are hyper too so I thought I had it handled.  The major difference with them though is that they *want* to please…. she could care less! Robin

Response:

> I have a 5 year old male JRT and I can certainly attest to his desire for dominance > within the family.  I can’t imagine having two of them! > He is a lot of fun and a lot of work.

I’ve got three of them.. They are the greatest.  They pretty well entertain  each other.. They do like their time with each of us too. We just love them…                  Susie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> >Our dogs are both male, one is 9 months the other is 7 months. > This says it all.  Your dogs *may* be housebroken for all intents and purposes, > but they are maturing males and they are doing this to assert their "position" > in the household. > You don’t mention if your dogs are neutered yet,  if not…. run don’t walk to > the vet as this "sibling rivalry" will only worsen as they become more mature. > If they are bred it will be even worse as anyone can tell you that a male dog > almost invariably becomes more dominant once bred. > I am surprised that you bought two male JRTs to share a household.. I recently > acquired a female JRT , and all of the literature I read and the breeders I > spoke to mentioned the problems of keeping two or more JRTs (but especially > those of the same sex) as companions as they have very strong hunting instincts > and they will not hesitate to fight one another.  In fact, they suggest that > anyone interested in two pets acquire differing sexes and spay/neuter to make > handling easier.  It is stated that same-sex housemates should never be left > unattended together (neither should a group of them be left alone – they will > pack on each other) as they are such game little dogs that should a fight > occur, they will often fight until one or both is seriously injured/sometimes > mortally… > JRTs are cute little critters, but you must never forget that they are first > and foremost *hunting* dogs.   They are *not* the adorable darlings that are > portrayed on t.v. > Robin

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