talk to me about terriers

[Noymira]

My mom has two sweet terriers, half westie and half yorkie, a pair of brothers names Jack and Luke. They are great people dogs, but one of them has a very high prey drive and cannot be walked off a leash or let loose near our chickens. He sits twitching and shaking just watching our chickens, you can tell he really wants to chase them. They can be a little loud when they alert to strangers, but calm down fast, and are very protective of my daughter. They are tenacious, smart and funny little dogs!

 

[carolinagirl58]

just keep in mind that the very qualities that will make your terrier a great Earth Dog Trial competitor are the very same qualities that will make it terrible around most livestock. Those dogs LIVE to hunt.

 

[Tab003]

We have had lots of breeds over the yrs., but as far as Terriers~~~love the Jack Russells.
The one we currently own does not mess w/ poultry, rabbits, goats..., but will kill a snakes, rats and protects my daughter at all times.
When my daughter enters the barn he runs a perimeter check, then comes and stays by her side while she feeds, cleans...
He has even picked a baby bunny that fell out of the nest box and carried it over to us unharmed.

 

[julie75]

I will have to go with the Jack Russell also. I currently own 2, and would not trade them for any other dog in the world. They are smart, funny and very protective. As another poster said, you can not bring them home and teach them to sit and leave them on their own, they get bored easily. They are VERY smart dogs and enjoy the challenge of learning new things, which they do very quickly. Most dogs will cause you to pull your hair out if they get bored, Jack Russells are no different. It's all in the training, no matter what the breed, esp. in terriers. Our dogs only bark if someone or something comes into our yard, which is great to keep predators away. Yes, they love to hunt whether it's a cricket, lizard, salamander, squirrel, rabbit, deer-you name it. If it comes into their territory, they are going to run it back out. They do not bother my chickens or ducks, but they were taught not to. They protect them just like they protect me. They have alerted us to 3 snakes in the last few weeks that were too close to the chickens for comfort. My chicks and ducks free range all day and my dogs will go out a lay right in the middle of them and I have never had any problems. Of course you have to teach them not to. With ours we held a chick or duck, let them smell it and then told them no. We did this on a regular basis while the babies were in the brooder and it taught them that they were off limits. Same with the rescued rabbits that we have, and believe me a JRT loves to chase a rabbit. Alot of people will criticize the JRT, but it's not the dogs fault. You, as the owner, have to teach them right from wrong when they are young, just like you do children.

My Shadow taking a nap!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/83683_100_1059.jpg

 

[vettechmomof2]

I LOVE terriers of all sizes.
Our terrier is a mix, awesome thick wire coat and energy to go forever. We have had him for 12 years now and he was an adult when we rescued him. I will always have a terrier around if I can. He is highly animal aggressive to all other animals that are not in our family and it has taken many years to get him trustworthy around our cats, and other critters.
In his younger days he would actually attack our other critters that were in cages but we eventually trained him not to. He is great for agility EXCEPT I can only take him when the course is empty or he wants to kill other dogs

He is my children's best friend. The dog that they can dress up for hours and put into a stroller. He is 30 lbs of muscle and has only recently started slowing down with severe arthritis.
I love terriers!

 

[SourRoses]

Speaking of Jacks and water.... we had one boy, Dundee... he was just crazy for water. Always biting at the water from a hose.. he would go crazy! We would go to an annual event called 'Jackapalooza' where a lot of people from an extinct Jack Russel forum would bring their dogs and camp out for the weekend. We sure had alot of fun.. trials, go to ground, races. The NOISE though! Once the dogs started working.. all of them in the competition as well as those on the sidelines and those left back by the tents would be "yapyapyapyap".. it was deafening. At home though, our dogs only bark when somone or something is on the property. But at the 'Jackapalooza', some of the kids one day started playing with water baloons, tossing them back and forth... and Dundee came along at caught all of the water baloons in the air, popping them and the water splatting all over his head

The kids thought it was hilarious and had to keep filling baloons up.
One his puppies, we gave to a lady in Maine from that forum.... Petunia... she was totally water crazy too. Only, she liked bodies of water. The people lived on a huge lake with a boat and dock and all... Miss Petunia loved to go riding in the boat! When they were heading in and close to home she would leap off and swim the rest of the way home. Or from home, she would go running out the yard and leap off the end of the dock to go swimming.. bringing back smooth rocks from the bottom and chewing on them

She caught a few fish, too, I hear.

If you really want an earth dog... a Jack is the way to go. Just be really, really, careful that you don't end up in over your head. Hopefully, you can find someone with working dogs that you can spend a fair bit of time around before you become commited. I love JRTs.. but they really are not for everyone. Be careful also, of the lines you get. In my experience, temperament can vary signifigantly depending on the lines... case in point, my crazy Squishy versus Rosie and Dundee and all their wonderful pups. A breeder who has proven earth dogs is what you want. I would add to that too, and look for one that keeps at least some of the same line of dogs IN THE HOUSE with the family.. not out in kennels... that way you can be sure the breeder will be breeding for dogs that they can live with, and thus you can live with. The puppy you want (and this goes for any breed).. make sure they are raised in the house with the family, and kept with momma and siblings until 12 weeks. Early socialization plays a huge role in behaviour.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Yay! Squishy! Yes she is correct! After several of those Jackapalooza's Rosie's pups became high demand because of her and Dundee and the temperament they both have. People came to buy pups (if they wern't already spoken for) saw the parents and went home with a pup they could love forever. yes they are high demand..no you cant leave them alone all day while you are at work or school. When Rosie had pups we did everything we could to make it easier on the new owners..trimed nails weekly, paper trained, taught the word NO, held them on their backs and rubbed tummies, handled their ears and mouths, took food away and gave it back. of course Rosie was a strict mommy as well and taught them well...she only had to "smile" at them and they backed off

Now she tries it with Squishy and he just ignores her

He was not left with his mommy long enough to learn the cues.
But generally they are too smart for their own good...or yours....just have to be smarter than the dog

If you can do that then jacks are for you! but yeah..they are prey driven! We used to have a cat....he would race outside when the jacks (3) were out....then
stop..on the path and groom himself! The jacks would start to race towards him then screeeeeech to a halt when he stopped and stalk off all ticked he wouldnt "run" for them

smart cat! The neighbors cats....Hmmmm they would sneak in ...then run like crazy up a tree with 3 JRT's hot on it's heels! same with squirrells

dumb stupid squirrells! Ha!
Even at 12 years old and her first time around Chickens I have taught Rosie to "leave it!" and now when I let her out the back she doesnt even look at the chicks in their pen like she did at the start Like this...

see? those are cats in the background.

She was too interested in her frisbee!