re: jack russell

Question
we just got a jack Russell 5 days ago from a friend..he is 1yr and not fixed.  he is very afraid of us and stays 8 to 9 hrs under our bed and does not eat or drink anything until late in the evening and then it is very little..how can we get him to be happy.  he does not have accidents in the house he is a good puppy but seems very sad. any help would be appreciated

Answer
Hi Mary;
hat is a shame that he wasn't socialized to other people. It makes it very hard on the poor babies.
Just ignore him, and let him have his privacy. Every time you see him, just speak in a soft, loving voice to him.
If you are in the room where he is under the bed, you could talk to him in a soft voice,so he will get used to the voice and will soon be more comfortable with you, and will come out and let you pet him.
Is the friend still in the area?
Could you get them to come and visit him?
If he could see someone he is familiar with and come out, while they are there, you could pet him while he is in their lap, and that would help him get to know you better.
Could you put food under there for him, on something so it wouldn't mess up your floor?
He especially needs water all the time. Without water he can become dehydrated, and that will make him even more wary. As he gets to feeling poorly, he will become more afraid and vulnerable.
/maybe you could offer him small pieces of meat, in your hand, stretched under the bed. That might be too tempting for him to resist, and it would get him close enough to your hand that he can smell it, and get to know you better faster.
He is nervous, so he is not paying as much attention to your scents as he normally would, so getting closer so he can't help getting a good whiff of you would help.
By your scent, he will know what is in your heart and that he can trust you.
If it has only been a couple of days, give it a little longer. He is in a new surrounding and everything is so new to him.
He is also dealing with the feeling of being abandoned.
Good luck to you with this little one.
As soon as you can get his trust, and he will come out and be more comfortable with you, it would be a good idea to have him neutered.
If he is neutered, he will have little chance of Prostate cancer, and some other illnesses that neutering protects them from.
To prevent Prostate cancer completely, it would have been better if they had neutered him before he reaches sexual maturity.
Charlotte