Need help with a JRT

I think I've posted pics of my sisters dog, Jake. The Jack Russel Terrier. Anyway, he has been very aggressive lately. Like, if my sister goes to take something from him he growls and shows his teeth. Also I was talking to her on the phone today and she said she was trying to get him off the couch and he was growling and all that. I could hear it and he sounds really aggressive. (not playful)

I'm not sure what to tell her, Josie growled at me ONCE when I went near her food as a puppy. I got mad at took her food away completely. She never did it again. So I don't really have experience with it..I told her to put him in his kennel until he settles down. I said she had to stop it now seeing it's still young (I dont think he's older then 1 yr) Also I suggested the agression came from her playing tug of war with him when he was younger and suggested she not play that anymore...any thing I can tell her to get him to stop??

Sorry, I can't help you with this one. Maybe tell her to talk to a vet.

This is actually pretty common with Jack Russells. As puppies, they tend to be pretty full of themselves and need some consistent training. Your sister, and every human in the household needs to establish themselves as higher ranking than Jake in the pack. They should make Jake work for everything (ie: he needs to sit before he can go outside, lay down before he's fed, sit before he's pet, etc etc etc). They shouldn't allow him to get up on the furniture at all until this problem is under control. This is really something that your sister should see a behaviorist for. The behaviorist should be able to tell your sister several helpful things with just one session. Then she can decide if she wants to do another session or not.

You might want to show these links to your sister:

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/nilif.htm

http://home.achilles.net/~madigan/Raising2.htm

The second link especially would be good for her to read.

My sis can't afford a behavorist..It's a lot of money here.

Also, she has 3 young kids ( 3, 6 and 11) and she works so she doesn't have a lot of time for training (I know, she shouldn't have gotten the dog which I warned her many times not to) I'll tell her that and hopefully she'll atleast be constant with her training she does. I hope she can get him under controll too cause he is SUPER hyper.

A lot of what a behavorist would tell her is on that second link. Where does the dog sleep at night? Ideally, they should have him sleeping on the floor of the youngest child's room.

you could suggest that your sister buy the book "MINE!" by jean donaldson. it deals with resource guarding -the likely cause of the jrt's outbursts. it is really good about setting up a plan for counter conditioning and desensitization. i don't believe this book is more than about $10US so it might be worth a try!

ps: has he been vet checked lately? in cases like this a necessary first step is to make sure that the pup is healthy and there are no underlying causes for his snappy behavior.

Yeah, I agree Mine! is a great book. Resource guarding is definately the issue, but the underlying cause is most likely dominance/leadership problems.

http://www.husky-petlove.com/husky_alpha_training.html

http://www.k9magazinefree.com/k9_per...iss15p16.shtml

http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/2525/posses.htm

http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm

http://www.amrottclub.org/rrrr.htm

I know it is a lot of reading, but if she's not going to see a behaviorist, then she really should read up a lot. If she reads anything about an alpha roll anywhere, tell her NOT to do it. That is a very old-school train of thought and it does not work. In the wolf world, the subordinates will roll over on their backs themselves, not be forcibly pushed over by the alpha.

IMO, the NILIF program is the best thing since sliced bread. :D I have a JRT mix myself and she's VERY stubborn, and VERY difficult. She's constantly talking back to me and I have to stay on her all the time. She gets nothing at all without sitting, going to down, or rolling over first ( I tell her to, I don't force it, ever). Not water, not on the couch, certainly not chewies, and sometimes I make her wait and follow me into the kitchen (she like to go first).

Also is he getting enough exercise and lots of good, satisfying chewies?

I still can't get Millie to stop jumping and nipping me when I come home.

He sleeps in a kennel. But he broke the door so they push it against the wall till they can afford a new one. (they're getting married next weekend so money is tight for now):(

He is house trained, but she said if they leave him out at night he pees on the floor. He appearintly only does this at night if they leave him out.

I'll have alook at the link sofr my sis I doubt she'd read it -_- Thanks a lot Aly for the links

OH MY GOSH I WAS JUST ABOUT TO POST HTE EXACT SAME THREAD!! WHEN I SAW YOURS I WILL PM U AND WE CAN TALK:) I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT MY JRT X AFTER 2 YRS IS ATTACKING HER SISTER A SIBERAN HUSKY. IT STARTED 2 DAYS AGO THEY GOT IN A HUUUGGE FIGHT (FIRST EVER) OVER A BEANIE BABIE (SNORT):) THE REST OF THE NITE JRT (BARNYARD) WAS STALKING TALIA(HUSKY) ONE EAR UP ONE DOWN AND 1 PAW BENT SHE MANAGED TOG ET TO HER 1 MORE TIME THAT NITE AND SHE HAD TO SLEEP IN MY ARMS SO SHE WOULDNT ATTACK, THE NEXT MORNING TALIA WOULDNT EVEN LOOK AT HER SHE WAS SOOO SCARRED BUT WHEN TALIA LEFT THE ROOM BARN RAN OVER AND SNIFFED HER SPOT THE WAY SHE DOES TO A SPOT IN THE YARD THAT A WILD ANIMAL WAS..IM GETTING VERY NERVOUS THIS IS DAY 3OF NO CHANGE..PLEASE HELP ME WITH ANY SUGGESTIONS