Jack Russel dogs - good pets???

[MommaAlexis]

I will say I love all dogs and will blame the owner for bad judgement before the dog any day.
In that same breath, JRs need attention. LOTS of it. LOTS of exercise. and they need a "job". doesn't matter if it's fetching the mail, "guarding" the house by barking up a storm, etc. If you don't give them one, they'll find one and you may not like it very much! When a dog gets bored, they turn aggressive. It just so happens that JRs have a shorter fuse and will turn aggressive faster. To the other poster, SAME goes for labs! I've owned labs my whole life, and they NEED the attention so badly. People think they're easy going dogs, because they're seen as such a family pet but that's entirely false! They're big, and smart. Which can make a bored dog easily if not given proper attention. I see this all the time, as I volunteered in a shelter and rescue loads of animals. It's all these dogs that everyone says are family pets, so some unsuspecting owner doesn't do their research and when the dogs gets bored and shows aggressive behavior, they drop them off at the shelter. It's terrible. If you're prepared to give it a couple hours of straight attention a day, then you should be fine and have no problems. And common sense, no leaving LO alone, etc. which you said you wouldn't be doing anyways. Sorry for a bit of a rant there, I just don't want you walking into something expecting something different then what it is.

 

[Mummy Bean]

Il's have two...and although they real friendly and cuddly...they do like to play fight and can get quite nippy...thet also jump up alot. The puppy they recently got is also v jelous of our lo.

R u able tomeet the dog a few times...maybw have it for a weekend before u decide??

 

[Fascination]

My grandparents have a JRT and she's horrid! A vicious, snappy, nervous little creature. I think it totally depends on how well the owner has brought them up though and my grandparents have spoiled her rotten and never disciplined her for biting/growling etc, so she's a little terror, but it's their own fault rather than the dog's IMO. Still, the dog isn't allowed anywhere near my LO and I would never own one, personally, just because she's put me right off the breed! X

 

[rwhite]

I have heard that Jack Russells can be temperamental, but I suppose it would depend on the dog too. But they don't have the best reputation for being child friendly. And I know that both my parents and my sister had a Jack Russell and they both found that they got bored very easily even though they had been exercised, and had a tendency to destroy things, eeek. Actually - funny story, my parents Jack Russell once chewed up my grandma's false teeth when they were left on the bedside cabinet Oh dear.

This one sounds okay, just make sure with the current owner that the dog has been around children and ask if they have ever had any problems with it before you make a decision

 

[TFSGirl]

They are extremely intelligent dogs, and if you treat them well from the beginning they should be very well mannered. We had one and he was absolutely hilarious and had SUCH a personality, and was smart as a whip. He'd do things just to make you mad, and not feel bad about it the way other dogs did, he's just look at you like "yeah, so... what are YOU gonna do about it?" lol

As Alex said, they need a TON of attention, My mother took hers to work every single day with her and would walk him morning noon and night. He knew all the departments at work and you could call him over the PA system and he'd come exactly where you were... so smart... but the moment he was "mad" or bored, he'd do something.

One time my parents had a guest for the weekend, who actually turned out to be a real asshole in the end anyway, but the dog NEVER liked him. Every time he had been over the dog refused to be in the same room with him. So this one time, my parents tell the dog "Bruce is coming over this weekend" and the dog disappears from the kitchen and my parents laugh because the dog "understands" who Bruce is and leaves even at the mention of his name.... well 5 minutes later the dog comes back and just looks at us with this strange look.... so we start looking all over the house for what he has done because we KNOW he has done something... and then we find it; he had gone up into the guest bedroom where Bruce was to be sleeping and shit right in the middle of the bed. Oh dear I miss that dog lol