Kelly123

Blimey - quite a debate ive started here! For those who have said that i shouldn't have a JRT because of the children : I am a childminder. All decisions I make are made in consideration of my work. I feel it is a part of a childs education to learn how to interact and look after animals. How to behave around dogs, puppies, all animals. All of the parents of the children I care for feel the same. Saying that i obviously wouldnt bring a pup home and expect it to be surrounded by children. I have a set up in my home that works for me, and for Ollie, so there is no reason it would not work well for any new pup i may or may not get. I care for children in my living room, that is our playspace. During my working hours ollie doesn't come into the living room. He has the kitchen and garden as his space, and his crate for some peace and quite. The chilren still play with him, and throw the toys ect, but he doesnt bounce around them, and they do not bounce around him. We all go out for walks together, and the children love learning how to handle, and approach other dogs ect. The is also a section of the garden that is fenced, which Ollie has for his own private space. No children. As for all the suggestions of a small collie / shelti ect. This is just not an option for me. I have to think of the crate space too! If i had another crate ion my house even close to the size of Ollies i would have to climb over it to reach my cooker! I need a small breed, a small crate. I'm pretty darn sure that most of you will still disagree, but i really do think the JRT is for me. Energy levels, intelligience... They have all i love in a dog, and i already give Ollie 2+ hours off lead exersise a day. I feel i am a competent trainer, and have only ever had minor issues with Ollie which i have rectified ( stubborn dog!) I honestly find it hard to believe just how many negative replies there were to my thread! I really didnt mean to start any hostility, but at the same time i do not like the presumtion that i am just some un-dog-savy woman who has not thought things through, that seems to be coming from some people. I have had numerous personal messages from people who didnt want to post on the forum beacause they thought they would be slammed for agreeing with me! Surely there is some mutual ground on the little ol' Jack Russell Terrior! If anybody feels like answering one of my original questions i'd really appreciate it as i am still getting mixed replies from elseware re: which sex would be best? Cheers all. I hope this message has not come across as rude, i did not intend it that way, but i did feel i needed to have my say.

Thankyou for all the advice - i didn't mean to start an anti JRT thread though! lol I went out yesterday and today, just to go out of my way to meet JRT - (the park of course) I came across 11. 2 of those i knew of already as they dog walk at the same times as me. The other nine were new to me. 7 were very friendly, with the same kind of temperments as Ollie. 1 was very(!!!) crazy - jumping up ect, but the owner just didnt seem to have control and i consider that to be a training problem. The last one was on a lead as was a rescue nerous of other dogs. So they cant all be bad! I'll keep you all updated on my research!

Thankyou for your input The Jack Russell Breed is an idea that wew have been throwing around, but we are by no means decided. If anyone can recommend good small breeds that go well with a collie i'd love to hear. I also do believe that although dogs can have certain charictaristics, how the dog turns out depends on how it is brought up, and how it is trained. Obviously though, as you say all the facts have to be looked into. As for Ollie, i have had him since he was 5 weeks ( ) old! There was a sudden illness in the family that i got him from and they were unable to care for the pups properly. he gave me a run for my money in puppyhood but i survived to tell the tale!

Hi All. Ive not posted in quite a while but have been hiding in the shaddows reading away! So, heres how it is. Ollie is now 4 years old. We (whole family) have been thinking about getting a new addition for about a year. Originally we would have loved anothe BC, but due to the amount of space this has ben ruled out. So we have been looking at smaller breeds, and are pretty sold on Jack Russells. They like Collies have lots of energy to burn, so we thought the newbie would make a good companion for Ollie. We will be getting a pup, as i work looking after children in my home, and it make everyone feel more secure if they know where the dogs have been brought up. So like i said we have been thinking about it for a looong time, and have now decided that the time is right and we are ready for another waggy tail to join the family. I should add that ollie is my first dog, so i do not have experience with multipul dog households. So here are my questions... Should i get Male or Female ( i would prefere a male, but have read that 2 males in same house is bad idea??) Is the Jack Russell a good match for my lovely BC?? ( should also add that Ollie is pretty submissive) Ermm, so actually i dont have as many questions now i'm writing this, but all advice appreciated! Thankyou!

Hiya everyone. Ollie started agility at a class arould a month ago, but im just wondering if i should keep taking him there, or get the equipment muself and do it at home? We go every sunday morning but its just like im paying to use the equipment, and then have to wait my turn. In 1 1/2 hours he gets to try a course once. I cannot try another club as this is the only one even close to where i live... its an hours drive away. I feel like i might be better off building my own stuff and then saving to buy properly, to give him more of a run at it. The trainers there are quite good, but havnt really taught him anything. he knew jump and tunnel commands before we even started going. I have quite a large garden so he could have quite a good course set up, and also if i make them portable we can go to the park with it. Im not too bothered about competing... Sorry this is a bit long winded. all i really wanted to know was...." should i stay or should i go?" (youve seen the vid right? ) Also anyone got any pics of there homemade equipment?

Ebay is always a great place to look. I have, car sticker jewlery box and bell with message" the one who listens when i talk, the one who cheers my lonely walk" next to pic of bc, a bc welcome sign, screensaver, and pictures EVERYWHERE!

ollie is 18months and wieghs around 40lbs

Thankyou so much to everyone who shared info/advice/experiences in my previous post. It was 1 week ago today that realised that ollie had some"issues" and i am so happy to say that today in his obiedience class he was a star! He did not do anything wrong! i was so proud of him. thanks to the last weeks training he sits when i say, he doesnt wait for me to ask twice. He walks to heel again, but better than he had done before. And so much more than this too. His attention in class was constantly on me, he was waiting for his commands and ready to learn,which made it such a pleasure! It was so lovely seeing him really enjoying it, and i was really enjoying it too! Next week he will be introduced to the agility equipment and i cant wait. Needless to say i will not be getting lax with the training again. I have learnt that just becaues he is a trained dog now, doesnt mean i can stop training! Thankyou so much everybody!

This is very true, i have met some people like this and it really is ridiculous! Re-reading my post i can see how my wording was a little extreme!!

All of this feedback is great, Thankyou! I should say that when i wrote the first post, i was very frustrated and it was more of a rant! I do not want to completely dominate ollie, i love it when he comes to me for cuddles and games, and love the play with him. The toy thing had just become very consistant, and if i didnt play when he wanted he would up the anty all the time with the attention seeking. Thats when i had to step up and make it more equal. Im pleased to say its working. If he now comes to me to play and im busy, he accepts this, and lays down and plays alone. "root beer" "Sure, there are times when they want to play, and my reaction is "not now", but there are also times when I say, "good idea - let's play!" This is where i needed to get back to and now i am! "mbernard2424" "My male, Gel, did (and still tries sometimes) to call the shots about play time, sheep time, etc. When I realized what was going on and tried to put a stop to it, he started to shut down on me." This was my problem, because i was leeting him get away with to much he had tryed to be in charge when we were out, and started to ignore my recall, im glad to say after two days of intensive recall training( which ollie has obviously loved ) he is now back to normal with that too!

dont get me wrong, i love playing with ollie, this was just one example! I have been having some behavior problems with ollie, and this was just one thing that had started to contribute towards it!

thanks for the replys, so far so good today, we have been on our wallk and he was still going to heel, and came back on 1st recall at park, i think i shocked him yesterday!

Ollie gets at least 2 hours a day. ! morning walk and 1 evening, with 1 of them always off lead.

I have spoilt Ollie, given him too much humaness, and not enough dogness so now ive got to revert back. He started agility today, (just a catch up on obedience though this week, next week intro to some jumps) and things that ive been doing have become realised to me. things i just never took any notice of before. He has been the dominating pack member at home, and i didnt even notice the change. e.g, whenever i wash up, ollie gets a toy and drops it at my feet, and i kick it for him to get. Without even thinking about it ive allowed him to inniciate play, so therefore let him take charge. This has happened in many ways without me realising what i was doing, and i think this is probably a big reason for his stubborness at the park. He has stopped seeing me as his dominent leader, so is kind of challenging me. I cant believe ive been stupid enough to let so much training go to waste. At his old training class he was a star, i was so proud of him, and to day, he was just so stubborn, ( and oh the shame, he got bannashed during the induction for barking too much, my bro had to take him to another room cause noone could hear the trainer), and it just took him about 15mins, to get all of his attention on me. So i came home today with the task ahead of me to become pack leader again, to regain all of the respect i had before and to get my well behaved dog back in time for agility next week. So far it has gone brilliantly and i already have him back to walking completely to heel again, and not lunging at chicken bones on the street. ( a bad behavior that i had accepted disgracfully). We went in a 1 hour walk he pulled only once and with the help of a rattle bottle to reinforce my command, he heft every bit of stray food on the road. I only had to use the bottle once and he knew the score. Washing up this evening he tried everything he could think of to get me to kick his toy, jumping, barking, whinning, tipping his water bowl over, EVERYTHING, but i ignored and he gave in and in the end layed down, with his chewy rope. So so far this is going well, and hopefully by the end of the week i will have my good boy back. I just feel so stupid that i let it happen, and so guilty that i have to keep shunning him. Just thought id share my story. Any comments appreciated!