Do Jack Russells get used in the hunting field? Some one had told me they were used to flush foxes out of holes etc. Check out my 4 year old Terror, in my webshots. She is good around the horses she just avoids them.
They WERE used to flush foxes from dens-holes in England. They are (I think) still used for same in Ireland. Not much in US. Some hunts did; none do (I don’t believe.) That’s why their tails are cut short - you leave a ‘handle’ of 4 vertebrae so you can pull JRT from where he’s stuck, face first, in a den.
And 
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v454/Aeowen/Misc142.jpg)
They were originally bred to hunt foxes by Parson Jack Russell. All JRT’s are supposed to descend from Trump, his foundation bitch. JRT’s are still used to work below ground by many breed aficionados. The JRTCA is the organization in the US that I know of that promotes working these dogs below ground. I used to be a member and my old stud dog holds his Trial Certificate he earned proving his ability to work an earth and find/work the quarry.
JRT’s were bred to be baying terriers…in other words their job was to flush the fox or quarry from it’s den through the bolt hole. If the animal did not bolt, than the terriers would stay with the quarry and “bay” loudly so the terrier man could dig down and kill the fox. It is considered a fault if a Jack Russell terrier attacks and tries to kill the quarry in an earth. A terrier that does that is called a “hard” terrier. A good example of a breed that is a hard terrier is dauchsunds who were bred to hunt badgers.
Everything about JRT’s is functional…their mostly white color is to make them visible in an earth and their small flexible chests allow them to go where the fox could go in a tight earth. They are very brave little dogs also and utterly fearless. Many a JRT owner has had their dogs go to ground and refuse to come out also. I have heard horror stories of backhoes being brought in to get them out. I’ve also heard of terriers killed in earths…skunks underground are deadly if they spray for example. Cave ins also can take a toll on the dogs.
I don’t know if modern foxhunts use JRT’s any more or not…but I saw your post and thought I’d fill you in with what I know of the breed from years of involvement as a breeder.
Thanks for the informative post Daydream…I have a year old JRT and am slightly dismayed at his inability to hear me shouting when he gets after something :no:
Thankfully he doesn’t chase horses but anything small that runs is fair game…I’m pretty sure he would not actually kill it as he loves to play with the barn cat and is mostly afraid of him (except of course, when he runs)…and he is wonderful with other dogs and small children.
And never one to pass up the opportunity to show a pic of him…here he is - characteristically with dirt all over his face
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2681659390097913210doeXSC
and a puppy shot for good measure:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2961813300097913210lBkCPU
You are welcome. I am happy to share what I know.
AWWW! He’s a cutie! I love that puppy shot! He certainly sounds typical for his breed! Selective hearing is a classic terrier trait!
One of mine…Casey…a pup I kept from my last litter…is a sweet lover boy with kitties. He wants to clean their ears and all the cats have learned to love having their ears washed out. It is funny to see him “mothering” the kitties. I found him in the nest with a kitty the other day…just piled in there with her and huddling. Funny dogs JRT’s and they have so much personality.
I find them to be great dogs to have on a horse farm also. They are good around the horses and great little ratters also.
yep JRTs do have “selective hearing” LOL
I have five right now…4 of them get along just fine, and for the most part, hear pretty well…although I do have to occasionally get the lunge whip out to threaten them when I see them conspiring to gang up on a barn kitty.
I have one that only hears what she wants to hear, and picks fights with the other terriers, so she can only come out of her outdoor run when all the others are locked up.
All of mine are great hunters and love to go mousing along the edges of the soybean and corn fields and ditches where the grass is tall and the field mice hide out. I walk along beating the grass with a stick, mice run,
terriers catch them and break their little necks.
Several years ago the farmer up the road from me raised hogs and in the winter he would put the hogs in the bean and corn fields to clean up what the combine missed. He also had big wooden self feeders that he filled with hog chow, and the rats would tunnel under those and make even more rats…he’d call me to bring the terriers when it was time for spring field preparation…he’d lift the feeders with the bucket of his tractor and rats would scatter…and the slaughter would commence.
Kind of gruesome but it tickled the heck out of that old guy to watch those terriers in action.
The bonus was he let me ride on his property in exchange for the entertainment!
[QUOTE=Czar;2075909]
Thanks for the informative post Daydream…I have a year old JRT and am slightly dismayed at his inability to hear me shouting when he gets after something :no:
Thankfully he doesn’t chase horses but anything small that runs is fair game…I’m pretty sure he would not actually kill it as he loves to play with the barn cat and is mostly afraid of him (except of course, when he runs)…and he is wonderful with other dogs and small children. [QUOTE]
cool dog:) i love the puppy shot:))
i have my first terrier, albeit it’s an english bull terrier and she has the same hearing problem;) maybe it’s a terrier trait? i’ve learned that on certain hikes where there are ravines, she needs to be on a leash b/c if she picks up a trail or a scent she forgets about the world. i almost had her go off a cliff into a river once - scary!
Thanks for the compliments guys…I absolutely love him to pieces.
However, I am worried to hear that selective hearing is a terrier trait. I thought perhaps he would grow out of it.
We are in the process of moving out to the country and I am afraid he will go chasing after something and right onto the road.
We had Jacks on our farm as kids but they grew up savvy farm dogs and knew the limits. Coop, however, has only known city life on a leash other than when we go to the farm and he’s allowed to run free - but I am always around and the road is far away.
I don’t really want to tie him up since the idea of moving was to give him room to run. Any suggestions?
I would fence off an area for him. I hate tying dogs. We have a fenced yard for our dogs and a dog door. They can come and go as they please. Mine only go out around the horses with me along. My old stud dog (almost 14 years old) is nearly deaf now and he cannot hear the horses running up on him and sometimes the babies like to play “chase the JRT.”
When you do introduce him to the horses, having him on a leash is probably a good idea. Mine all grew up with horses so I’m not sure the best way to introduce him but hopefully someone will chime in with some good advice.
Obedience, Obedience, Obedience training. And yes… they still can have selective hearing. You should have heard all the interesting things coming out of my mouth when I was standing in the rain last night trying to get my 4 to come back into the house when I got home. I am sure I would have been entertaining to someone. 2 of mine hate cats and have rapidly reduced the population at my place since their arrival a year ago. The other two like them. Go figure.
Good luck… your’s is a cutie.
Bobbi
Czar, he is adorable!!! I was also very concerned about mine using their “selective hearing” when chasing something, so when they were puppies I taught them to come back when I called after throwing a ball or stick (so they had to stop and return in mid fetch) worked out pretty darn well! They do occasionally ignore me, but it’s usually when someone they know is coming in the driveway (I had a boarder who used to stop the car and let them get in for treats :mad:). They do, however, stop in mid-chase of the cats and most other things.
JRTs really are the best little dogs - I wouldn’t trade my two for the world!!!
(And because I take every opportunity to share pics too, here are a couple)
puppy Bella “helping” Sadie retrieve… http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1507092865047997541loUtmD
And proof that not all JRTs and cats are like oil and water ;): http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1507092848047997541XwRIPP
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1507094079047997541ZBmmAG
I agree tying up a Jack is not a good thing unless you want the area he’s tied in to be a crater, and it will make him more aggressive towards cats, other dogs, etc…
A friend of mine moved to the country after several years of city life with her JRT…he was soooo happy to have room to roam but REFUSED to come when she called. She had a fenced yard for him but he learned to climb out of there…
She resorted to electricity for training…electric wire around the inside of his exercise yard, which immediately deterred his climbing and a shock collar for his “free time”. He is now the most responsive JRT I know…all she has to do is softly say his name and he’s RIGHT THERE! He knows if he gets too far from his mama, something bites his neck!
The key to successful use of the shock collar is never shock him if he’s on his way back to you as if to hurry him along.
If you call, and he ignores you and turns around and goes the other way, thats when you zap him.
Then cheerfully call him back and give him lots of praise and a treat for being there.
good luck… he’s a cutie!
i think that depending on their lines some
have more of a prey drive than others.
i rely on a 50 foot training lead most of the time. but i admit that i during the summer/fall months (when there are no baby deer to kill or hunters to shoot at my dog) i let her off the leash. does she run? yes. sometimes she’ll take off after a deer scent and disappear somewhere in the woods. i have a whistle i carry w/ me and i stand there and whistle once in a while (every 30 seconds or so) to let her know where i’m at. she comes back, usually within a couple of minutes, no longer than 10 minutes (which does feel like an eternity).
my dog trainer finds that they respond better to whistle for recall. maybe b/c they’re used to hearing us yapping all the time? maybe b/c it’s a more precise sound than our voice? it works for us.
so i’d start working on his recall w/ a whistle. “coon come”, whistle and when he comes treat, treat, treat! repeat that for a while. then try to slowly replace the voice call w/ a whistle.
good luck!
i complain about my crazy terrier all the time, but i think i’m hooked. they all (terriers that is) have such interesting personalities, they’re agile. i like them:)
INVISIBLE FENCING…
…keeps my jacks alive.
We are breeding the small Jack Russells they are going back to the Foxwarren Kennel in UK. In Germany they are used to hunt the fox and they are even used in herds to hunt the wild pig.
Have a look at http://www.jrt-vom-falkenhorst.de
only the German version is working yet
Thanks for all the advice guys…Cooper is actually very good with horses - he seems to respect their size so he doesn’t chase when they run and he stays out of the paddocks for the most part.
We’re only renting so I don’t know if we can build a fence - he’s actually good about staying around when we go for walks in the country. He’s suprisingly affectionate and attached for a JRT so I’m not nervous of him taking off completely…I just don’t know how I’ll teach him to stay off the road.
I like the shock collar idea - I will look into that.
Mine can jump out of a four foot fenced yard. She really can jump!! Evil little witch, but I love her to death!
JRT’s
What an informative post! I have a three year old female JRT, who is expecting her first little the mid part of January. Gidget (she came with that name!) is very affectionate and gets along well with our Siberian Husky as well as our two cats. She is however, very keen on escaping the house through the front door when we go to retrieve the mail. She has done it twice, and both times I’ve had myself a merry hour long chase through the neighbor’s back yards and the corn field that is adjacent to our street. She escaped on my elderly mother just this morning, but fortunately the letter carrier saw her scoot and followed her to the neighbor’s yard. Although she plays deaf to my calls, she will gladly romp up to anyone else within range. The letter carrier called her once and she went right to her. I’ve taught her the basic obedience commands, sit, down stay and come (when she is done running!) and she knows to heel on lead and heal position. After her pups are weaned and placed in their new homes, she and I are undertaking an eight week obedience course with professional dog handlers.My goal is to be able to take her on hacks with me and not worry about her taking off or running after other animals. Wish me luck!
here’s a pic:
Irony at it’s peak
Just after I posted last, I went out to ride and Cooper made a liar out of me (regarding not taking off completely).
He usually sticks around the barn while I tack up and pops in and out - well, he popped out and didn’t come back. So I looked around a bit, not too worried, but I couldn’t find him. He doesn’t always come right when called but it he eventually listens so when he didn’t show up I started to get worried.
I got on my horse and went looking - no where to be seen.
To make a long story short, he had followed something down to the road and was found by some guys who were going house to house asking if anyone was missing a dog. My husband was driving up & down the road and they flagged him down.
The farm is just on the outskirts of town and the road is well-travelled - it was a miracle he wasn’t hit by a car.
So, we will be investing in a shock collar tomorrow - but now I am super nervous about moving. Will walking the perimeter with him and calling/shocking him whenever he goes to go near the road work?
