I have been involved with the JRT breed for over ten years, and have operated a small non profit JRT rescue for a little over five years. I am active with my Russells in sporting events, but mainly in sanctioned Terrier Trials and Flyball tournaments. Here are a few suggestions which I hope you will find helpful.
- Never call Milo for anything he will see as a negative. An example of this would be: You want to trim his toenails. Don?t call him and then trim his nails. Instead go to where he is at and pick him up and take him to where you are going to do his nails.
- NEVER chase him. Instead turn and go the opposite direction. While in the opposite direction make high pitched noises that will make him curious as to what the noise is.
- If he stands there looking at you turn your back to him and squat down and act like you are playing with a really interesting toy. He will be curious and come to investigate.
- NEVER scold him when you get your hands on him. When you get your hands on him praise him.
- Until you have a reliable recall on Milo ALWAYS have some treats of high value to reward him with for coming when called.
- In an environment he is used to that is fully fenced have someone (preferably someone he is familiar with and likes) help you and do some ?restrained recalls?. At first you can attach a long line to him to reinforce if needed. Each of you give Milo a couple of high value treats so he understands what you have to offer. The two humans stand about ten feet apart, one of you call Milo in a happy higher than normal tone of voice and clap your hands or whatever it takes to make him excited to come to you. The other person is to lightly restrain Milo until he is pulling to get away. Then release him. When he reaches the ?caller? praise him and give him a treat. Then reverse the rolls and have the other person be the caller. You can increase the distance between the two people after he is successful.
- If you have increased the distance and he cant perform the exercise correctly, then you increased it to much. Shorten the distance and try again.
- Any training exercise he is successful at ALWAYS quit while he still wants to play the game.
As with any training keep it fun for both you and your dog. Make sure that you are in a good mood when training your dog. If you are in a bad mood you may think you can fool your dog, but they read our body language better than we do. Keep training sessions short, fun and productive. Several short sessions a day are better than one long session.
I hope these suggestions will benefit you. And welcome to life with a Jack Russell Terrier your life will be enriched with your new addition! Milo is sure a cutie, and thank you for rescuing rather than buying. Remember to spay or neuter Milo for his/her own health benefits as well as helping to cut down on the number of unwanted pets in the United States.
Thank you so much for your quick response and how to deal with Milo on the "come" basis. Starting tomorrow Milo is in for a treat. I do mean that as I will have treats to reward him for good behavior. I do have another dog on the other side of the fence so I can kind of use him to lure Milo and then call him in. I'm sure (I hope) that my little guy will soon get the command understood. I know JRT can sometimes have a mind of their own however this one is quite quick to train othe than this one. I just don't want to lose him to traffic as happens to so many of them.
He certainly is our baby!
Thanks again,
Feb 09, 2010 Rating
Milo's Runaway Problem by: Tom
Hi there,
Your best option for dealing with the problem of Milo running away is to attach a long lead and let it drag behind him. Use a long, fifteen foot lead - if you don't have one, you can just tie some rope or nylon thread to a short lead and this will do the trick.
Let the lead drag behind him as he roams around, and every now and then try to call him to you. If he refuses to come or tries to run away, step on the lead to keep him in check. Let him know he's not going anywhere - you've got control. Call him to come again and offer him a treat.
If he still doesn't come when he sees you've got him like this, you might have to walk over and take him by the collar and lead him over to the spot where you were standing. This will let him know that when you say "Come," he has to come.
Apart from that, just keep drilling on that "Come" command and get it as consistent as you can. Start introducing some distractions when you're training - this will help make it more consistent when it really counts.
Try this for a few days and see if the behavior improves. Just don't leave the long leash on when you're not there to supervise - he might get himself tangled up. Hope this helps. :)
