I've seen quite a few topics on nipping puppies but our JRT does a bit more than that so I've started a separate thread.

She is five months old. She growls when we go near her when she is lying down. We stroke her and talk nicely but she still growls. We say no, and stop stroking for a few seconds, then go back and she growls again!

But sometimes - without warning - when we go near her - she lunges and bites. She has bitten my 7 year old on the nose and made it bleed, my son on the face and hand, myself on the hand, my hubby on the hand. All bites are enough to draw blood.

Most of the time she is fun loving and friendly. We never "sneak" up on her - we always speak first in case she is startled and so bites. Now she gets a loud NO when she bites, a shake by the scruff and time out in the bathroom for five minutes. These bites are few and far between but they are dangerous. She will be desexed at the end of this month.
My daughter is quite wary of her - with good reason - they NEVER pull her or tease.
Why is she like this?

Is this behaviour a recent thing? Could she be coming into season? That might make her that stroppy...

Annette

NoAnnette, its not really a recent thing - she's done it for the last couple of months at least. She has tried to er...get friendly with my daughters dress up tiger cat AND our siamese. lol

Hi there

I have 2 JRT's, one which we have had since she was 8 weeks old and the other (male) that we adopted when he was 6 months old. Never had this problem with our female but when our male came to us we did have a few 'teething' problems of this nature. He had had a bit of a funny start in life and although not mistreated I think the child of the family had been a bit heavy handed with him - and he had snapped, hence he was being rehomed. We felt very sorry for him and made a big fuss of him, encouraging him to come up on our laps, on the couch etc and in retrospect I think this was a bad move. He never broke the skin with his bites but would growl and snap enough to make a slight mark if you tried to move him, say, from the couch if you needed to sit there. He bit my daughter, son and husband, although as I say not hard enough to do to much damange.

I took some advice from a JRT 'expert' on another board (hadn't found this one then) who said that he needed to have his 'pack' status sorted out. For 2 weeks he was not allowed to get on the furniture or our laps. He was given love but with us bending down to him on the floor. He was made to 'work' for toys, food, treats, walks and even petting (just got him to sit or 'shake' before giving them to him.) The other thing that we were told was to not sleep on our bed but that was not a problem as our dogs don't anyway. It was tough - I just wanted to take him in my arms and cuddle him as he had been through the trauma of moving home but we stuck to it for the 2 weeks and boy, was it worth it!

By the end of the 2 weeks he was greatly improved and we started to let him get on the couch etc but were prepared to make him stay off if he showed any sign of his previous behaviour. He didn't and now, 3 months on, a more loving, gentle and malable dog you could not wish to meet. He went into be neutered last week and the vetenary nurses couldn't get over what a poppet he was - would let them do anything to him without a murmer. (I smiled and thought that would not have been the case a few months ago!)

Maybe you have tried these things or maybe your problem is different, but it certainly worked for us and it is probably worth a try. The trouble is that if you get scared of her when she behaves this way it is easy to give in and then she must feel that she is in charge.

Wishing you well and I hope this problems are sorted soon

Karen

May I add that u also want ur children to do the feeding and everything suggested from the previuos post so she knows that ur children are alpha to her and not seen as just playmates. Also take all toys away and allow her her toys when u say so, this also shows u r in control of everything. Put her on lead and inforce more basic obedience, sit, stay, down ect. I personally would keep her on lead so that u can also give a correction when needed and with out grabbing her. Yelling and harsh corrections can only make her worse. Good luck.
ttfn :)

Thank's Dollface :) I did not make it clear that we had to make sure that ALL the family had to be involved in this to reinforce that they were higher in the pecking order than the dog.

We didn't use a lead although it was suggested to us, mainly because the problem was not too severe in the first place but I can imagine that it would be very helpfull if the dog was more aggressive than ours was.

Karen :)

Hi

Can't say I know too much about JRT's - except I had a staffy cross one once...

All I can say is that I would NEVER tolerate a dog snapping or biting me or my family - I would get her checked by a vet incase she has something wrong psychologically/physically but if that was all clear she would have a slapped backside and be thrown in the kitchen to think about it. I would also crate her when the kids are around, and re-inforce her position (at the bottom of the food chain! :) ). With my current staffy rescue I had a similar problem in that she would warn the kids off - but after 2 taps on the backside and some isolation it has never happened since. Short sharp shock.
She's 5 months now and she knows that if she bites you back off and leave her alone.

Sorry if this comes across strong, but if she scars one of your children then you are in a serious situation indeed.
Best of luck
Chloe

I agree with Chloe i think it needs short sharp and hard reinforcement, dont let them think they have control over you!

Mark

Hi

Thought that you may like to read this article about becoming 'Alpha' in your house.

http://www.critterchat.net/guideto.htm

I think it explains the Phsycology behind it all quite well. With regard to the idea of a smack on the bottom and physical correction in general - I think this may work with some dogs but not others. I think I read somewhere that with Jacks in particular physical punishment tends to increase aggression rather than help. We resisted taking this action with our dog particularly as we felt that in part, the situation had arrisen through his fear of the child in his previous family. But I do agree that this is a situation that cannot be tolerated and must be dealt with. A trip to the vets to make sure that there is no physical problem sounds like a good idea too.

Thinking positively, she is still very young and I would have thought you should be able to re educate her more easily now than if the problem were to be left.

Good luck!

Karen

Thanks everyone, much appreciated input! I live in Oz and we dont really use crates here (they arent for sale that I've seen and I've never known anyone who ones one). Some breeders who show dogs may use them but that may be it.

We've got two other dogs (she is replacing a third who died). Its interesting how differently she reacts to the two. She jumps all over our old Lab, playing constantly, but our other old dog (corgi cross) has never tolerated her - from day one- and she has never gone near her!

I will make a concerted effort to get her on the lead and do some serious training with her. I will make her sit everytime she wants something etc. Interestingly, someone said that they were told not to let the dog on the bed but a JRT book we read said to let them in your bed if you dont normally do this because its really important to bond with your Jack if you are to have any hope of training it.

I am hoping desexing a bit more maturity and some education takes some of the "edge" off her. When we have a dog, its for life, better or worse, and I'm not giving up on her just yet ;)

MM

I wouldn't count on spaying softening a bitch's temperament. In fact spayed bitches having the female hormones taken away will often act more dominant and masculine.

I would imagine that Crates are available in OZ from specialist dog outlests, and mail order as they are her. Crates are by no means that common a dog accesory among the ordinary pet owner, and certainly I know many people to whom itis a totally strange concept, whereas in USA it seems to be considered the norm.

Show people, and the veterinary proffesion, dog groomers etc use them frequently.

If you put dog crates in a search engine, and add Australia, you will come up with some mail order sites I am sure.

There are two main types. the wire crate that folds down on itself into a flat pack, and the type that are rigid plastic, that are airline approved, and bolt together in two halves, so can be turned into a bed when not being used as a crate.

The size for a JRT could be the 18 inch wide, by 24 long by 21 inch high, or next size up.

Karen, just letting you know I recieved your email (thanks!!!) I tried to reply but it was returned (invalid addy). Thanks for the link - I'm about to try it out now!!!

MM

I agree about the spaying, it won't necessarily help although it won't necessarily make things worse either.

I suspect too that it is simply a training problem, rather than anything else :) If I were in your position i would instigate the "Nothing in Life is Free" idea, so basically the dog gets nothing unless she does something for you first, even just a Sit or Paw, as has been suggested. (Obviously she needs to know what these commands mean in the first place though ;) ).

Also don't go to her for fuss, ensure she comes to you for fuss.

I have a friend from Oz and she says many dogs are still kept in yards, is this the case with yours? As if so, she may just have got so used to being outside and maybe not being handled etc that she feels you are taking liberties?! :p

I would also suggest regularly "doing" stuff with her to improve the relationship generally, so maybe a little everyday training, playing with toys, etc. Terriers usually love squeaky toys and tug toys too :) Train the dog to Leave or Give on comand too, as this would give you lots of control which you will still need to have.

Also try not to let her control you, in the sense that you leave her alone when she growls. It is best to jst stay put (unless you are seriously worried for your safety) and then, when she calms down, wait a few seconds, then praise in your chosen way - a game, a titbit, or verbally. Unless there is actuallysomething wrong, she will learn that your approaches are to look forward to. Eventually use htis type of reward for her letting you examine her, as a vet might :)

Hth a bit. My sister's Jack Russell was gorgeous, very vocal and courageous. I have a soft spot for them :)

Lindsay

Yep, I agree with Barbara (Brainless) about spaying not 'softening' a bitch's temperment. The only thing it will guarantee to stop is the mood swings before, during, and after the heat cycle.

It won't necessarily make her anymore aggressive by going ahead and spaying her, but she will likely have more of an attitude when she gets older to urinate in lots of spots out on walks (marking territory). You can easily stop this when she's on leash, but off leash.... :rolleyes:
good luck,
regards,
toodles