Re: Is a JRT the right dog for me?

In Reply to: Is a JRT the right dog for me?
Category:   Other
Posted by:  Erika
Posted on:  March 25, 2003 at 17:33:30

: Hi, I took the online profiler to find out if a JRT is the right dog for my family and I, and it gave me a 70%, but this did not help me very much. I live on a 14 acre small farm with my husband and 16 yr old daughter. My daughter has always wanted a JRT, and the only thing that has held us back is the fact that we have another small male dog and 2 cats. I have read the horror stories about JRT's killing/hurting small animals and I was wondering if it was ALL JRT's that were like this..even when they are seemingly unagressive puppy females? I feel confident that my daughter is active enough to take her JRT running with her every day or do some sort of other activity and she understands how demandingly energetic JRT's are... but I would like some reassurance as to whether we might be making a mistake in purchasing this kind of dog.. please help..

Response:

Hi Erica,

Thanks for asking before committing to this breed. In general, this is still very much a working terrier whether they get to do the work they were bred for or not. Those instincts are still very much intact.

I have two terriers, one with extremely high prey drive and one that doesn't appear to have much. BOTH kill small animals, one just is more driven and motivated actively seeking prey, the other will if opportunity arises.

We don't own small animals or cats mainly for that very reason. It's just not fair to these animals and we respect the heritage of our terriers.

Are there JRTs out there that will leave small animals alone? Possibly, but I personally wouldn't want to take the chance.

Keeping a JRT well exercised is an important part of owning them, but even being well exercised will not dull their instincts to hunt small game.