Off the lead

Question
QUESTION: We adopted a 6 year old female tri coloured short JRT,Tilly, 2 weeks ago as her owner
had died and her extended family were unable to keep her. She had had 3 homes in a
space of 6 months through no fault of her own ,but she has come to us and our 10
year old cairn cross,Mickey, and has stolen our hearts! I have never had a JRT
before,but am wondering why it took me so long!
The subject I would like your advice on,is preparing her to be off her lead on her
walks. She is very rabbit and squirrel orientated  and obviously the last thing I want
her to do is take off in hot pursuit of a small furry and forget where she now lives or
go down a rabbit hole! I am working on her recall already,but in honesty can see that
going out the window in her moment of chase! Can you give me any tips on how I
can work towards letting her have some freedom on designated walks and to run
alongside Mickey ?
She is  well behaved  in the home,and walks very well on the lead, is good in the car
and is proving to be a very kind young lady towards Mickey who has accepted her
whole heartedly bless him! She is a real little star, I so love her already!
Thank you for your time.



ANSWER: Hello Deborah,

With Jack Russells you can NEVER really be sure they will not take off. In the U.S., the number one killer of Jack Russells is being hit by cars. You are doing the right thing by training her but I would not trust her completely off the lead for a very long time. She does not yet know that you are keeping her for good and it will take a good year for her to really settle in. I strongly suggest that you have her microchipped at the veterinarians office, so that if she ever does escape and is turned in, they will find you immediately.
Not all folks are kind and will return a beautiful jack russell though, even a microchipped one.  
When I am training a dog out in the field/woods, I tie a very long piece of clothesline to the collar and use it to grab them back if necessary. It still gives them some distance freedom, but gives you a way to pull her back to you if necessary.  It sounds like you have a little gem on your hand, congratulations - and she is a lucky dog to have been adopted and so loved by you.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Carol,
Thank you for your sound advice and will follow through with it . Luckily she is already microchipped and I am in the process of changing address details.Her identity tag also arrived today,so it feels she really is ours now!
I have one more question to ask as I would like to deal with it in the correct way as early as possible.
Out walking she will sometimes when there is an approaching dog,pull for all she is worth on her lead and squeal, screech and bark all at the same time and yet when she has got to the dog she greets it calmly and trotts on as though nothing has happened!She quite obviously isn't being aggressive,but it is a little bit over the top! I guess if she were off the lead she wouldn't be doing it,but as I now know she will need to stay on a lead for some time yet,I would like to help her stop being a "Silly Tilly"!
Any ideas?
Thank you once again, Deborah


Answer
You need to desensitize her to other dogs, and you do that by training her to heel when other dogs are approaching. Have plenty of YUMMY treats so her attention stays on YOU - use the code word "heel" and use it with the treats to reinforce that is a GREAT word. Continue to say the word and give the treat as the other dog is walking by. This takes a lot of practice so do it as often as you can. Eventually, as other dogs approach all you will have to do is say the code word "heel" and she will focus on you and not the approaching dog. Stay totally calm, don't tighten the leash, she can feel when you're uptight and will react to it. The goal is to try to keep the focus on you and the positive reinforcement of the treat as the dog walks by. Of course, after she has learned not to pull and lunge, you can allow her to "visit" with the other dog and then continue your walk. Patience and practice, patience and practice!
Good luck!!