Mentalist Jack Russell

Chicken_Samosa

Hello,

I've had my Jack Russell now for about 9 months and he's developing a couple of traits that aren't exactly wanted and I was wondering if anyone could give me a few pointers on how to get him out of it?

Biting/Nibbling/Using his mouth in general
Boblet really uses his mouth a lot when playing or getting his treats, mainly with me but he's started doing it more and more with everyone else now too. Playtime is really rough, with him jumping around everywhere and snapping at fingers and hands, there's no malice behind it (yet) and even if you give a stern NO and push him away, it seems like he takes that as a challenge and come back for more. From what I've read its quite common that Jack Russells exhibit this kind of behaviour but with a newborn on the way in 3 months time its not ideal.

Eating and Chewing everything
He seems to take great pleasure in destroying anything and everything he gets his hands on. This includes his bedding, his towel, his bed, all his toys, letters, newspapers, pretty much everything left at a level he can get at is fair game as far as he is concerned. I dont mind him attacking his toys but I'd really appreciate a bit of help on how to wean him off his bedding especially.

Thanks for reading,
Indy

mirrorimage0

he is probably teething and thats why he is chewing everything, we used to get some old socks and tie them in a knot and place them in the freezer (yes they were clean lol) and give them to our dog to chew its nice and cold for thier teeth if its hurting them, as for the other i dont know im sure someone will be along soon with some great advise

sodamnfunky

Ours goes through phases of chewing (he is 4) we bought him one of those indestructable dogs toys, he destoyed it in 1 hour.

He also plays rough, but only with me, and when I tell him to be gentle he stops and licks me.

Chicken_Samosa

95% of the day he is as good as gold, its the other 5% thats the issue lol

The teething thing sounds plausible, when does it usually stop?

mjburton

Pushing him away when he nips will be interpretted as play. Think how puppies play with each other - biting and rolling eah other around!

Have you tried yelping in a high pitch in a dog-like manner then completely ignoring him for a few minutes until he calms down and acts in an acceptable way?

A frozen chew toy is good for teething but beware of using something old that you wouldn't want him chewing when new ie slippers, clothing or kids toys as he won't know the difference between old and new. If you can, get a kong fill it with tasty things and freeze it. It will keep him busy for hours!!

How you react to him will lead him to think his destructive chewing is a game if you chase him or pull it to take it off him. It may also be done for attention and to initiate a game.

I hope this helps. With discipline and encouragement of favourable behaviour he'll mature eventually!!

Chicken_Samosa

mjburton wrote: »

How you react to him will lead him to think his destructive chewing is a game if you chase him or pull it to take it off him. It may also be done for attention and to initiate a game.

This is the part I'm having the most trouble with, trying to find a way for him to give up whats he's grabbed without chasing or trying to take it off him. We've tried putting out all sorts of lures, treats, food, toys, pretty much everything.

We leave him alone, thinking that he'll get bored of the attention and come over and play but he seems to have destruction on the mind, he'll rip apart what he's got and try and eat the contents. Not good as its usually stuff he knows he shouldnt have, last night he picked up a bag of screws and attempted to eat those!

I take on board your point about pushing him away as being interpreted as a game, the yelping thing did work when he was younger but not so much now.

sammy_kaye18

Biting/Nibbling/Using his mouth in general
Playtime is really rough, with him jumping around everywhere and snapping at fingers and hands, there's no malice behind it (yet) and even if you give a stern NO and push him away, it seems like he takes that as a challenge and come back for more.

My jack russell Bruno still does this and he is 7 YEARS OLD. Although we have taught him that No means No. when we first got him he would come back for more if pushed away but our son was only 2.5 years old so would cry so Bruno use to get a stern No then a tap on the bum and put in his bed (his bed is in the hallway) and we would close the door so he was left alone (liek a doggy time out) then if he came back in and did it again he would get the same treatment. It worked and he is now fine - he will rough play with my boyfriend but is soft as a teddy to our son and has never once growled/biting/snarled etc at any of us.

Eating and Chewing everything
He seems to take great pleasure in destroying anything and everything he gets his hands on. This includes his bedding, his towel, his bed, all his toys, letters, newspapers, pretty much everything left at a level he can get at is fair game as far as he is concerned. I dont mind him attacking his toys but I'd really appreciate a bit of help on how to wean him off his bedding especially.

Again - our dog still does this. Everythgin has to be put away out of his reach. We brought him an indestructable wilkinsons toy - not 5 minutes and it was shredded - the nobbly spikey toy ring form wilkiinsons was seconds before he'd bit through it - even the bigger rubber rings form wilkos was demolished in about an hour. Even solid rubber balls he can shred bits off of. The only toy hes ever had that he hasnt wrecked in minutes is a giant black kong (ment for a psycho chewing dalmation) which he can barely fit in his mouth. i jsut brought him a Kong Wubba today too - its reinforced material which is like quadruple stitched so its super tough and is more a throw toy for dogs. Maybe he is teething - you can get puppy kongs and you can freeze them to help with teething if it is his teeth - apart from that is he walked enough?? - my jack never seems tired even if i have ran him raggid(spelling?). We were told by the vet that Jacks are naturally busy dogs so liek to chew/chase etc and so need constant stimulation. Also teddys of any size/shape form are a no no for Bruno - he jsut rips the head off and pulls out the stuffing in like 10 seconds.

sammy_kaye18

Chicken_Samosa wrote: »

This is the part I'm having the most trouble with, trying to find a way for him to give up whats he's grabbed without chasing or trying to take it off him.

Ok please dont think me mean to my pooch I can assure you he is very loved. He is a monster for this too - hes got a bleeding vice grip i swear and he will literally hang off somethign if you try to pick it up or take it away form him - so it use to be a challenge of who could last longest - bf holding the toy/object up in the air or the dog hanging off it - guess who won? but then i suppose thats men for you. Logic never was teh bfs strongest point love him.

Well Bruno one day got hold of my sons prized teddy - a goat named Doodles - and Ben screamed blue murder because he thought the dog was going to shred him. So after much gentle persuasive attempts - treats/food/otehr toys etc the dog still wouldnt give up - so i backed up (yes you read that right) to the kitchen and i keep a squirty bottle filled with tap water - for watering seedlings on the window sill but it sort of does a direct spray but not alot - jsut a small amount. So I grabbed it and squirted Bruno with it - just a few squirts - not directed at him but enough to go over him and he let go because he didnt like the water.

Maybe this will work with your pup? It didnt harm him but is enough of a deterent that he knows now if we get teh water bottle that hes doing something the shouldnt be. he only gets squirted if hes on the furniture now (there is good reason for it i assure you) or standing on my table :mad:

Paparika

water gun trick is safe and harmless and should help

Chicken_Samosa

Thanks for all the advice guys, seems to me that he is displaying typical Jack Russell behaviour!

The wather bottle sounds like a good idea, I might try it once we have an empty squirty bottle. The doggie time out is a good idea too, once the building work is completed we can give that a go too!

Raksha

Paparika wrote: »

water gun trick is safe and harmless and should help

The water gun trick (I assume you mean squirting the dog with a water pistol) is most certainly NOT safe and harmless, and shouldn't be used without supervision from a trainer (infact few up to date trainers still use this technique, as it is fraught with problems, from the dog thinking it's another game, to becoming terrified of whatever was in the vacinity at the time, and using agression the next time to prevent the unwanted spray).

Make sure he's getting plenty of opportunity to play the games he wants to play without having to ask (which he is doing by biting you, and up until now this has worked, because you've done alsorts of interesting things, including, as you've discovered, pushing him back - great game for determined dogs that one). Then you can start to ignore him if he doesn't 'ask' the right way - teach him to 'find your toy' so when he wants a game, he can ask you nicely. Be prepared for the biting to get worse before it gets better, as for him, it's worked up until now, so maybe 'more' is now needed is what he is thinking.

It can also help to teach the dog to respect human hands if he is hand fed. You can either just sit with him at meal times and give him his food a piece at a time (or a small handful at a time) or carry his daily ration with you, say in a 'bum bag' and use it to reward all the good things he does in the day, such as sitting in his bed, going to the loo outside, just 'chilling' - the list is endless.