By We've received enough responses to this post that I am posting it again. The message is important.
PLEASE don't own a Jack Russell Terrier unless you are totally familiar with them. They are not for everyone. They are not even for most people. Their instincts and nature will drive many people to neglect or abuse them.
I am not saying they aren't great dogs. They are. We love our two. We also discourage anybody and everybody from owning any.
The first problem is their cuteness. People can't resist them. They look like puppies. You can see the thoughts whirling around in the person's brain pan, 'Oh, look at the happy, jumping little doggie! I just want to hug him and play with him and call him my own!'
Don't do it. Resist. If you proceed you will likely regret your decision. You may even end up getting rid of the dog, which will be horrible for the animal and terrible for you.
The second problem is the dogs' instincts. They were bred specifically to seek out and kill vermin. They are big on killing. Ours have killed mice, shrews, chipmunks, moles, squirrels, rabbits (awful, awful), snakes and a huge muskrat. They have maimed skunks, a woodchuck and 'possums. I have had to apply the coup de grace to several victims, and it is always unpleasant.
We've gone to the vet's because of squirrel bites. We've had the very unfunny experience, more than once, of living with skunked dogs. We've manually removed many, many fleas from the dogs immediately after they've caught a rabbit. You wouldn't believe how full of fleas rabbits are.
Oh, and they like to dig. Naw, it's worse than that...they are compelled by their instincts to dig after critters, and if you are unlucky enough to have one of your dogs go down a burrow, you will likely have to get a shovel, then dig and pull it's bloodied, reluctant butt out. You see, they don't give up. They will stay underground for days, and will keep at whatever is in the burrow until one of them is dead.
The third problem is their nature. They are happiest when busy, and they need to be busy a lot because of their energy and endurance. The saying, "A tired Jack is a happy Jack," is entirely accurate. Jacks that aren't busy or tired get bored, which leads to bad, often damaging, behavior.
Part of their nature includes a sense of justice. I've never seen this in other dogs. Jacks actually resent improper behavior on your part. They'll take a little rebuke, but you'll lose credibility if you correct them overmuch. I am not kidding.
How can we love these dogs? We work at it. We live in the country, which is really helpful. We have the inner-fenced backyard, which we keep mowed, and the outer-fenced backyard, which is their playground. They can go out in the playground and dig as much as they want. Or tear down trees. Again, I'm not kidding. The girl dog has learned how to grip a ¾ inch sapling, score it with her molars, and then jerk rhythmically on it with her twenty pound body until it snaps off. Does it all time.
We kick soccer balls, which they retrieve, until they are tired.
We take them for walks.
We put the stuttering, circulating sprinkler out for them to play in. After the boy dog has puked twice from ingesting too much water, we turn it off. He piddles like a miniature race horse every fifteen minutes for an hour after that.
We give them little stuffed toys all winter long, to keep them occupied. No toy is tough enough. The dogs pull off the eyes, pull open the seams, eviscerate the stuffing, then remove the squeaker bladder and delicately pull the tiny reed out of the squeaker's neck. We have large baskets full of stuffed animal carcasses.
We also give them daily rawhide chews, and bits of dog biscuit, and high quality food, and canine glucosamine pills, and monthly parasite tablets.
It's all worth it for us. They are affectionate, companionable, smart, protective, and very funny.
Would we do it again?
NO!
Yep, matey, they are all yours!
Makes Frank look like a real pussycat!!
He is by the way.......
Your dogs are so lucky! It makes me want to go to the shelters, pull of the Jacks out of them, and ship them off to you! Of course, you'd kill me, but it might be worth it to put the pups in a loving home where they are understood and appreciated.
However, I am curious... who talked you into getting two Jacks? Did you know what you were getting into?
Oh, and thanks for the heads up. We will add that breed to the avoidance list :).
Tiffany, we started with the boy dog, who developed separation anxiety after a few years....so we wanted to get a companion dog. I wanted a bull terrier. Michele wanted another Jack...so we got Jackie, who was kinda-sorta a rescue dog. Her previous owner was a single grandmother raising grandchildren, with no time for, or understanding of, dogs. Jackie had been confined to small areas so much that she didn't even know how to run properly. She had also developed an alpha complex from fending for herself. She still has the alpha complex.
The upside to getting Jackie is that we almost certainly saved her life. She was/is a handful, and would have been dumped somewhere eventually. Another upside is that she can be a sweet and demonstrative friend. (She sleeps on the edge of our bed, snuggled next to me.)
Of course I have to reply to this one, too. Don had wanted a Jack ever since I don't know when. We got Buzz from a very responsible breeder, who gave us the inside info on all things Jack, whether you would like them or not. Don was not to be talked out of the dog, and I loved him, too. We have "puppy" albums for both dogs, Buzz being the true baby brought home at 9 weeks, Jackie at 7 months. Jackie I felt would be a good choice, because what I knew of Bull Terriers was that they are bull-headed. I didn't want to have to learn idiosycracies of another breed. Jackie changed Buzz, because she is so dominating, but we are pretty sure she would have been too much with someone unsuspecting of a Jack Russell.