my new jack russell terrier (adult)

Question
I just rescued a Jack Russell Terrier from a shelter and am wondering if all JR's are vicious towards cats? I don't have a cat but I have done some research on the web and it all seems to point to their aggression towards cats and possibly other animals that might be living in the house.
Please advise. So far he seems very well adjusted but I did have to leave him alone for about 25 minutes tonight (my first night with him) and he managed to escape into the neighbors back patio by scratching a couple of lattice wood pieces and crawling underneath. Help?!!!

Answer
Kerry

You may have noticed in my profile that one of my own dogs is a jack russell. I adopted him from a shelter where he had been left for just the reasons you mentioned.  He is a prime escape artist and has a very very strong prey instinct.

Of course not all jacks are doomed to chasing and perhaps killing cats, but a lot of that probably depends on their past. Maybe if they were raised around dog savvy cats they might not want to hunt them.  When they do this it is strictly their natural hunting instincts and not because they are vicious - My setter would go running off hunting birds given a chance.  We made them that way with hundreds of years of breeding, so we need to deal with it.

An important note - you should never ever trust him loose in a back yard.  I have a brand new chain link fence with some of it burying into the ground - and left alone there, Connor would eventually get out.

You need to make sure to leave him in the house, and if need be, crate him.  After Connor pushed the air conditioner out of the window so he could go squirrel hunting, I started crating him.  I always crate my fosters, so I knew he wouldn't mind.  Now he goes into his crate for naps sometimes - Which leaves me panicked because if I can't find him he must have gotten loose, right ??  LOL

Kerry - let me know if there's anything more I can do to help you get ready to be a terrier mommy.  OH - and I want you to read this quick article.  It was written about cairns, but might as well have been written for jacks too!

http://www.cairnrescue.com/general/index.htm#toto

-Beth


Kerry - I read your note and wanted to let you know of a couple of tricks for keeping him busy while you're not home. A great one is to get a kong toy and put peanut butter and cooked spaghetti in it and then freeze it... It will take your dog quite some time to get all of it out of there.

Another suggestion is to take a water bottle and cut holes in it just a tad bigger than the kibble you feed.  Then put some food in it. He will spend quite a bit of time messing with it to get the food out.

Best wishes, and give me a shout if you need any more opinions.

-Beth