I want to point this out that this might not be for all children, but it is possible for you to own a Jack Russell and have children under the age of one in the household. It just takes a lot of training for your puppy and your child, but you can make it work.


Jack Russell’s are a dog that maybe tiny in size, but they do have very big hearts. When I got Max I was told by the previous owner that Max would get along with children and he even liked to play with their grandchildren, so I never thought that it would be an issue that I had 4 children in the home I just figured that they would have a new playmate. When getting home I thought that it would be good to do some research about the puppy that I just bought to find out their temperament and all that, something I have to admit I should have done before I even purchased him. I got to reading things online that said that you should never get a Jack Russell if you have children under the age of five in the household. This worried me because at the time I had an 11 month old and a 3 year old in the house. I was afraid that it was not going to work even though Max showed great affection towards my 11 month old when he entered the house. I was afraid that I would have to get rid of a dog that I just purchased because of this because I thought it could be something that I could not control in the dog. I found that I was wrong and that are something’s that I could do for Max and the younger children to be able to stay under one roof.

Max loved to sleep right next to my 11 month old and he would spend his time looking to see were the baby was. I think this was him bonding right away with my son and even today my son Travis is one and they are the best of friends. I started off right away teaching Max what the word down in our house was, which was basically not for him to jump up on anyone. Max learned this right away, and the reason for teaching him this at a young age was mainly because when Travis started to walk I did not want our dog jumping all over him and knocking him down. This is one thing that I noticed Jack Russell’s do to show who is boss in the house and I did not want him doing it to a young child, so I made sure to let him know that I was boss in the house and I would not let him get away with this. I also taught Max the word gentle, so that he would know that when he is doing something that if I said gentle he would calm down and be careful. I pretty much taught him this one when we would be playing around that if was biting down a little too hard for my liking that I would say gentle and he would ease up. This is something that he picked up quickly.

Now Max was not the only one that I had to train in this processes on trying to be able to keep a Jack Russell in my home with my children. I had to teach the children that this is a dog that does not like to be rough house with, that it is ok to pet him and play with him but never to pull on his tail or ears and never to tug on his fur. My kids are not high strung and they actually listened to me very well when I told them this. They would play catch with him and run outside, but they never were rough with him. This worked well and it helped the children to understand that he is still a playful dog you just have to be careful with him. I did not really let Max around Travis except when he wanted to lay down and go to sleep and I think this was a benefit to both Max and Travis. Travis is now one and I do let him go around Max, but I just tell him careful and he will slowly pet Max’s back. Travis also loves to give Max his toys and I think Max likes this as well, Max is not really protective his toys but because I have told him to be gentle when he is around Travis I say this a lot and he understands.

Needless to say it is possible for younger children to live with a Jack Russell, but you have to be vigilant on training this dog as well as the children. If you have children that already show signs that they like to rough house with animals then I would not suggest get a Jack Russell, but both child and dog can be trained.