One of my Staff pups was attacked this morning by a JRT and it was a rather worrying situation.  My 2 pups are nearly 6mths and v.dog friendly (but are submissive with other dogs).  We've met this JRT before (its 1 yr old) and it is quite domineering with them but previously its been no more than very enthusiastic, noisy play (you know how noisily some pups can play :-)) and both my boys have always been submissive with this JRT (it's a male).  Well, this morning, the situation changed...one of my boys (Marmaduke) had been playing with this JRT and suddenly the JRT's whole demeanour changed and it went for Marmaduke, pinning him to the ground and becoming very very aggressive.  My other pup just ran and the mum of the pups became a bit defensive (ie hackles up and defensive posture but no growling or lunging).  Marmaduke began screaming (totally different from his usual play noises) and was trying to get away, but the JRT pinned him by his throat and started trying to shake him.  A small amount of blood was drawn.

The JRT's owner was trying to grab his dog and I was really unsure as to whether to put my hand in to try to help but there was a big risk of getting bitten.  Eventually the man managed to grab his dog and leashed it and Marmaduke tried to run but I caught him and just asked him to sit quietly and put him and the other 2 on the lead.  Incident over and we walked away.

Both pups rather distressed and desparate (sp?) to get home and I just remained as calm as possible and walked normally so as not to worry them any further.

Unfortunately this is now the second time my boys have been attacked by a JRT (different dogs on both occasions and please, not saying anything horrible about JRT's just maybe it was coincidence that's all) and am now concerned that my dogs may become defensive with other small dogs or similar looking breeds. 

Is there anything I can do to help prevent this situation and to ensure that they remain confident and friendly boys?

Thanks for your help.

P.S. I hope I've not offended any JRT owners...I've nothing against the breed at all it just happened to be on this occasion and on the previous one it's been that breed that has been aggressive.

Juliet
sorry to hear about poor pup :(
Whether I offend anyone or not I have to say I always call Gus back if we meet a JRT _ I have personally never met a nice one yet
Good luck with pup and give him a {{{{big hug}}}} from us

We've had JRT's when i was growing up and i have to say they are cocky little so and so's but my father would say that's part of their charm.
I sometimes wonder if little dogs have an inferior complex about their size, maybe the JRT realised that your pups are getting bigger and he sort of showed aggression towards them now rather than later and risk getting hurt.??
All i can think of is if you let your pups meet as many dogs as you can while leashed at least that way you are in control to a degree.

But what a shame for them, i get it often with my dane!! :D Loads of little dogs trying it on lol.

I quite like JRs, but some of them are just allowed to roam around here & they are a total menace. Ever since my dear old wouldn't-hurt-a-fly dog was grabbed by the throat by one I try to keep mine away - not always possible when they go into attack mode. :mad

Hi,
Sorry to hear of your terrible incident. I am the owner of two JRT's and no I am not offended by what you say. Although my boys, 15mth old brothers, are friendly to other dogs when we are out. They did go through a horrible time when they fought between themselves. On occassion to the point of going to the vet. When we meet people I always say the boys are terriers and very rough. The reason I say this is that with my boys if they approach a dog and the dog shows no 'body language' they are fine but if the other dog shows any insecurity my boys can become very intimidating. I usually call my boys back before they can meet off-lead, then allow them to meet on-lead.
I understand how some people feel about JRT's as before I had this breed a good number of my 'large' breed dogs were attacked by them, or other terriers, there is nothing more frightening than a terrier attack. When they get into a fight it is often very difficult to stop them as they are so persistent it's unbelievable.
I hope I have my two under control enough to stop them if a fight ever did occur. When they fought with each other they stopped the minute I told them to.
It's always best to leash them until other dog owners pass. Although if another dog went for mine I would allow mine to defend itself.
I lost a 14yr old rescue Rottie, whilst all the trouble was going on, when a Pitbull got hold of him. They were jaw to jaw and I told Kong to let go, he did, and the Pit promptly ripped his throat. I had to have him pts 6weeks later as it had affected his mind so that he thought everything and everyone was after him. He once 'kept' me in the kitchen all day because he thought I was a burglar, thank god he wasn't vicious.
Again it is the owners not the dogs fault. If you have a terrier, almost any terrier, you must be aware that they are hunting dogs and can be unpredictable around dogs.
D4wn

Juliet. Some Terriers are nice, I would like to think my two are!, It depends as I say on the training and the owner. I hope my two are as nice in another 15mths as they are now.

I have to agree, I wouldn't let Sal meet a JRT off the lead The ones I've meet have had "Attitude"

Hope the pups okay

Karen

hi all,im a owner of 2 jrts and they wouldnt even hurt a fly,guess im lucky as when we was out the other day a male jrt was off lead and tried to hurt my bitch but i picked her up and went home,the trouble is some just dont know when to stop,also my 2 love all dogs,other animals big or small.

I have heard that male pups that are approaching puberty can suddenly be given a very hard time by other male dogs.  I think it has something to do with ensuring they kniw their place before all that testosterone makes them think otherwise.

Sorry I haven't much to suggest (being a bitch owner only) other than being very careful with meetings between them and other male dogs.  I would tend to let them say a very brief hello, but walk on before any posturing and point proving starts, especially with volatile breeds such as other terriers.

During puberty the testosterone levels are up to 5 times the normal adult levels in order for the male pup to develop the male characterisitcs, after this provess is complete they will settle down to a more manageable adult level.

Yes I agree with just letting them have the quick 'hello sniff' then move off quickly encouraging the dog on!' B4 the posturing, this always happens with my male, he always gets attacked/snapped at by other small dogs!! He is quick enough to get out of the situation.  I call him to me straight away, or usher him on b4 anything starts.
Thats the good thing about having dogs trained/under control. Even if the little dogs arent!!
I have 2 staffords, male and bitch.
The owners of the smaller dogs do have a panic when they see my too coming,  I suppose because of the media attention they get. But if my dog attacked there dog first they would shout and moan that my dog should be on the lead! But when their dogs growl/snap first its funny???? But if my dogs or other big dogs protected themselves they would get the blame!!

Thanks all for your positive feedback, I followed your advice today out walking and leashed them everytime another dog approached (became a bit of a trial after a while there were so many dogs about! :-)) and the pups were friendly and eager to go and say hello.  They had a bit of a play with a Springer and a Cav and all was well (but the owners were concerned when they saw I had mine leashed but I explained the situation and they were very understanding) and then suddenly out of nowhere a JRT appeared but my boys just wagged at it and went into play posturing so I just called them to me and we walked away...so all is well fingers crossed and neither of them seem any the worse for their ordeal and neither are wary of JRT's - hurray!

Will keep up with the leashing when we see other dogs though, it helps with their recall and training anyway so can't be a bad thing.

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for the support from JRT people...we'd be quite happy to meet your lovely dogs out walking:-)

Juliet
glad he hasnt taken a dislike to them then :)

This just shows how Socialising a -puppy well can help so much.  The more the pups have positive associations with other dogs (and other things) then the less effect the odd negative situation will have.

I would just say here try to be relaxed about putting them on lead when you see other dogs approaching, as you don't want to put the idea into their heads that other dogs mean trouble, though by their reaction It would seem you are doing this.  :D

Don't worry Brainless, when I call the boys to me, it is in my usual way, then they get their usual loads of praise for coming back to me, so I think they just think it's all part of their usual training routine.

I then asked if they could play with the Springer and the Cav and the owners assured me all would be ok as their dogs are very "pup friendly" so the boys got let off to have a play around and then after a few minutes (coinciding with the arrival of the JRT!), I then called them to me again and off we went on our way.

I've tried so hard to socialise them as much as possible and am hoping that just the odd negative experience will not last in the memories like you said.

Thanks for you comments...:-)

Hi, what is the breed JRT (on google all I found was Jack Russel Terrier - is this the one, but they are so tiny...)? Are they quiet small or big? I just started socializing my little puppy GSD, but she is a girl and almost 3 months (she is still a little cautions of other bigger dogs, but smallers ones are OK, she plays with them and even tries to chase them). So I'd like to be aware of these kind of situations. Thanks, Alina D.

Hi, yes the JRT is the Jack Russell Terrier. In the UK it's not a recognised breed, it's more of a generic name given to small, short-legged terriers. They are popularly used for ratting, so most have retained the 'sharpness' required for the job. Some are delightful little dogs - others will take on all comers!