Showing posts with label dog training. Show all posts
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.
Well time has finally arrived and Max has started his way on learning technical training, instead of what I have taught him at home. I have been training him the basic commands like sit, stay, wait, and lay down since he was 8 weeks old. My husband and I thought it was best for both of our sanity if we put Max in some really training classes and get him out and socializing with other dogs that are around the same age as him. He has most of the commands down like sit, wait, and lay down but when it comes to the call back he does terrible he only returns when he wants to and this is just not working for us. I thought also it would be best if he could learn his in home manors since this is something that he sometimes does poorly with. So Each week I will be reporting back on how he did in his class for that week and what we learned, in hopes that it might help some other Jack Russell owners out. There are 8 weeks to the classes so I am hoping to see some improvement in Max.
Week 1:
Ok well here is the first start on trying to get Max to be a well behaved dog. We went to the class and another dog was graduating. I hope to see Max there at the end of it all, but do not know if we are going to have to do some extended training past the 8 weeks.
We went in to the circle that they have for all the dogs, which is pretty much like a pin to keep them in a specific area. Max saw the Pit Bull that was in the class and right away started barking uncontrollably. The trainer just told me to keep covering his eyes and that if he could not see the other dogs then he would know that he needed to stop barking to do so. I found this to be quite an ordeal because he would not even stop when I did this, instead would stop barking when I had his eyes covered and then start barking again and soon as I let him see the other dogs. The barking was bad and I am not quite sure why these dogs got a rise out of him, but my mom’s dog he could be around and he would never bark. The trainer after seeing what a hard time I was having told me to turn Max around and have him face away from the other dogs kind of like a time out. This seemed to work a lot better for him then the covering his eyes thing did.
The trainer then instructed us that we were going to be taking the dogs for a walk around the store on a loose leash. In my head I was thinking this not going to work because I can see Max nipping at some of the other dogs, so instead the whole time was on a tight leash, and pretty much running in place. I was a little disappointed because I had never seen him act this way, but I knew that this is a new place with new dogs and so I could not expect for him to act perfect otherwise I would have never needed the training classes.
Clickers and treats were then handed out and she showed us how she wanted us to load the clicker to give our dogs a better understanding that when we clicked the clicker they would get a reward. Everyone else’s dogs were clam and doing exactly what the owners were wanting them to do, but Max was still barking away. The trainer told me not to worry and that next time he will be use to this and less barking will be going on.
So this week is mainly loading the clicker and teaching Max when I click the clicker he will be getting rewarded for whatever he is doing at that time. So far he is doing a lot better at home.
When your Jack Russell is a pup you will not be able to get them into dog training classes until they are at least 8 weeks old and are up to date on their shots. Also there is the factor of price when it comes to dog training. It is always a good idea with this breed of dog to get started on training the first day that they arrive in your home. You cannot coddle this breed of dog because they will learn that it is easy to manipulate you to do what they want. Training these dogs does not have to be a harsh form like swatting them with a newspaper or even yelling NO at them all day, instead there is a kinder gentler way to train these dog when they are puppies.
First rule never yell at your dog by name, if you say their name in a angry tone they will associate their name with angry and then when it comes time for you to train them the call back or getting them to return to you by their name they will refuse and instead do the opposite of what you want them to do.
Also never hit your dog in any way this will only have a negative response. In time after you do this to much to them you will in turn have an angry dog that will destroy anything that resembles something that you might have hit them this, or even worse them attacking you.
Jack Russell’s are a show dog; they love training and do not mind doing it one bit if you show them love when they have done something that you have asked of them. It mainly comes down to how you would like to be treated would you like someone to swat at you and scream at you all day for something you have done wrong, doubtful.
Potty Training- When bringing you pup home for the first time, the thing that you should have planned out is where you want them to potty outside. You need to before even stepping one foot in the door take the puppy to the spot that you want them to use as their own personal restroom. This will give your puppy the idea of where they need to go every time they are outside. Jack Russell has a high sense of smell and they use their nose for everything. Once they go potty in the spot that you allowed them to they can smell this and will continue to do this over and over again without too much trouble. You must make sure that you always take them to this spot because if you do not them they might make a restroom out of your whole yard. This is also why it is very important to use pet cleaner on the rugs if the dog has an accident because they can pick up on were that spot is and continue to do this in your home. (I will explain more later in the blog.)
Dog Treats And A Clicker- Clicker training is a great way to get these dogs a good start. Clicks are a plastic box with a bendable piece of metal inside, when you press down on this metal it will make a clicking noise. I do want to warn you that clicker training only works if you are willing to do the training part. You cannot press on the clicker and have the dog do exactly what you want it to; they do not know what a clicker is you have to show them. When you click the clicker make sure that you have plenty of treats. You will click the clicker and then give them a treat and keep doing this until they recognize that you clicker give you good things to eat, this is called loading the clicker. Some people get worried about this because they think that if you use this method that you will have to constantly give your dog treats, but this is not true. Once the dog gets the idea of what you want them to do, you can slowly wean away the clicker and then the treats and they will still follow your commands. Dogs are like humans they need rewards to make whatever you want them to do worth it. Say for instance if you work you probley would not want to work for free instead you do it to get a paycheck that is your reward, a dog feels the same way. You can practice loading the clicker and then once they know what you are going to do click the clicker and wait awhile before giving them the treat, this teaches them to be more patient in the long run, but also teaches them even when they have to wait a reward will come. Also some things that you can teach your Jack right away are sitting, you will tell them to sit and once they do you can click the clicker and reward them with a treat. I found some other ones that Max really responded to were sit, lay down, down, and up which is jumping up for a treat. He started doing these when he was 8 weeks old and so as you can see they are very intelligent dogs, but they need your guidance. Use the same words for everything you train them because if you go off of that, you Jack Russell might get confused. So say you use the word down to get them off the couch, and then you must use that every time because if you even say get down they may become confused as to what you are telling them.
Proper Training MUST start when they are puppies.
