<p>We have a Jack Russell who, as opposed to being hyper and good natured, is lazy and surly. He likes to nap in the sun as often as possible and is not warm, cuddly, or friendly at all. Good luck trying to have a conversation with him! He is also extremely territorial and can’t be walked on a leash because he hates everyone except D2, whom he worships. He seems to be a one-girl dog with no room for anyone else. He also growls and snaps a lot.</p>
<p>My question is this: could a dog like this be trained in such a way as another dog could be brought into the house? With both girls going to be gone next year and my son becoming an adolescent, I would desperately love a companion of my own who could take walks and be company.</p>
<p>Hi Z,
I’m going to be honest. He doesn’t sound like a good candidate for another member of the pack. If you can’t train him to not snap, growl or be friendly to the people in his pack (outside of your D), then there is little hope that he will be friendly to another canine. And that’s not really fair for the other dog. Could he go live with your D at some point, opening the home to a new dog for you?</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest assessment. I appreciate it a lot. Well D is going off to college next year, so we’re stuck with Devil Dog for at least five years. Oh well.</p>
<p>zm, he sounds like a perfect candidate for “It’s me or the dog” show. Are they casting in NY? Sorry I have no solutions for you. When I was a kid, we had a dog who worshiped my dad and hated everyone else. He wouldn’t even let us take his empty food dish away to refill it with food! He did not growl at or bite my sister’s dogs, but we had a huge property, and the dogs were well separated in space.</p>
<p>you need to call Cesare Milan…the dog whisperer. Love that show!
Not sure if you’ll be able to get on but why not try? I think he could do something with that devil dog of yours…maybe even help him welcome another dog in the house.</p>
<p>Without knowing a training background, observing interaction between “pack” members (the family), and the dog’s perceived status within, it’s hard to say.</p>
<p>The dog may see D2 as the alpha; the rest of you are “chopped liver”. Most behaviors are correctable, but it might take a professional assessment, concerted directed training, consistency of approach (from all household members), and some time. </p>
<p>From an initial observation, I would be extremely hesitant to introduce a second dog without going through some assessment and social behavior reconditioning.</p>
<p>Hardly an expert, but have had some personal experience with a territorial dog. We have three dogs and the now middle dog has always been territorial–barks if anyone walks in front of the house, etc. When we got our “puppy,” now six, the middle dog, then about 2 or 3, attacked him twice in two days. We were only fostering the puppy for German Shep rescue and felt terrible. The poor puppy ended up at the vet twice and still is missing a tiny piece of his ear. We ended up adopting the dog and they quickly became the best of friends. I think one thing you should do is introduce the dogs in a neutral place. Once you bring the dog in the house, you may need to separate them for some time and make sure there time together is supervised. Also, you should probably bring in a professional trainer for an hour or so to help with the adjustment. Don’t deprive yourself (and family) of the joy of a good family dog. Good luck.</p>
He’s not accepting new patients. (I looked into it.)</p>
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I think, but I’m not sure he sees my husband as the alpha because he pulls no nonsense with him, but it’s D that he loves. He will sit on her lap and let her wiggle his ears, but no one else can touch him. He’s having spa day tomorrow and will be completely compliant and sweet for her attention.</p>
<p>I think your’re probably right about not bringing another innocent dog into the mix.</p>
<p>ZM,
Jack Russell’s are notorious for this kind of stuff. That’s why you often see them at the shelters. A friend has one who she adopted from another friend. First owner could not deal with the dog, Shorty. Shorty would bark and be very destructive when the owner was at work. Couldn’t tolerate other dogs, never bonded with owner one.
Owner two is a friend who has a lot of experience with dogs. They have two other Jacks and one other dog. Live on a big ranch. Shorty is happy there. He can run a lot (which it sounds like yours doesn’t want to). He is very much a one person dog who tolerates others. Years ago I was visiting and threw a ball to him for about three hours. Shorty never got tired although my arm did. Since then I visit about once a year. Shorty loves me. Will let me pick him up, will sit in my lap, etc. Owner was shocked. He is normally not interested and surly with anyone but her. He has bitten the UPS man, fedex man, etc.
So…long story short no other dog yet I would say. You would have to work with him and a good trainer to get him to relearn another owner. You would have to pick one of you and it sounds like DH might be best. When he gets it that DH is the boss he will probably tolerate another dog.</p>
<p>Was your dog raised by you? Many individual animals, not just dogs, have difficulty bonding to more than 1 person or other animal. That tends to happen more if they’re raised in difficult environments.</p>
<p>I suggest talking to a trainer who works with Russells. They can tend to be oriented toward specific places or areas and will display behaviors by area as well as by which person they’re around. It may be possible, for example, to find a new place to go with the dog, one where it isn’t wired now for a kind of behavior. You can then build a relationship there. This is often easier than changing existing behaviors because the dog makes a new behavior and then extends it - especially when your daughter leaves. (Like go to a different park or go for a car ride and then a walk. Give him something to enjoy.)</p>
<p>I doubt this is an alpha situation. I think it’s more that he’s bonded as a friend with your daughter and he has a limited capacity for friendship. He trusts her. He likes her. Like I said, a trainer is a good idea but you could consider basic things like taking some of the stuff he associates by smell with your daughter and wearing it around him, letting him smell it. Have her wear your stuff. Put some of her things or favorite things of his where you want him to go so he gets used to them there. He sees the world largely through his nose, so help him identify with you and where you want him to be.</p>
<p>Does she have a way of scratching or petting him? Have her do that with you and see if you can transfer to doing it, together at first and then alone. You can train him to respond to feeling good from the touch of your hand. Go with her into spaces where he’s comfortable and just be there with him for a while. He’ll get used to you. </p>
<p>You can try to attract him to you as well. If he likes warm spots, put a heated bed out. You can put it where you want at first and see what happens or you can move it closer over time. </p>
<p>I’ve dealt with a number of feral / wild animals and some difficult farm animals and that’s how you make friends. People tend to expect dogs to fit because they’re usually social. This can be a project to see how he thinks and how you can reach out to him.</p>
<p>Oh, and make sure you feed him. Every animal learns quickly where the food comes from. You can combine behaviors with treats so you go somewhere new, he has fun, you give him a treat - like taking out a little kid - and he wants to do it again.</p>
<p>We have an English Setter, the Mr Rogers of dogs. He loves everyone and everyone loves him. We also have a Papillon that lives for my wife. She is the ultimate one person dog. She also growls if we keep her away from my wife however if my wife is not around and she hears a noise well then were okay.
zmom - does your Jack Russell pine away waiting for your D to come home?</p>
<p>zmom- I do not find it abusive to walk a dog with a muzzle on.</p>
<p>I see I may be in the minority here, but I would try with a puppy. It may be good for the JRT actually. And it is a very rare dog (even a cranky one!) that will not begrudgingly accept a puppy, and then get to like the company. Puppies instinctively (MOST puppies) behave in a submissive way around strange or older dogs. There may be a lot of noise though, as they are working everything out…my various combinations (at various times, never had more than 2 at a time) have always worked themselves out.</p>
No he’s healthy. This has always been his personality. He’s energetic and gleeful with D. He’s also very smart in a superior, disdainful sort of way.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I’m going to check it out.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, we had two bulldogs who fought like the two cats of Kilkenny. Though we did cut down on the battles tremendously, we still had to watch for signs of tempers flaring all of the time, as their fights were epic. We lost one of the dogs (not due to the fighting), and now the one that is left is as sweet and docile as could be. Loves the cats, kids and other dogs. But he could not tolerated having a “sibling” dog around. He loved him–they would play together, sleep together, lick each other, but resentment would build up regarding hierarchy and attention, and they would fight. We were foolish enough to get two male dogs that were less than 2 years apart in age. Perhaps if we had gotten a female, it would have been different.</p>
<p>That said, I am not risking a repeat of this scenario by getting another dog. He will be the only dog until he dies. It was nerve racking having that potential for a fight always in the air. </p>
<p>We tried everything, everything, everything. Didn’t work. Sometimes it just does not. We never dreamed this situation would occur as they were such great buddies (and remained great buddies except when the fought) as puppies. It’s just when the younger dog reached puberty, he wanted to challenge the older one for the alpha position, which the older one would not give up. Had either of them deferred to the other, it would have been resolved, but in our case it did not happen.</p>
<p>zoosermom~ OT, but is his name really Devil Dog? My D had a riding instructor several years ago that had a black and white JRT named Devil Dog. I wasn’t sure if he was named that because of his color or his personality, but I think it was his personality! He was fine to us, but if the one vet who saved his life showed up on the farm, he would go after her. We had to put him away somewhere if we knew she was coming and then listen to him bark while she was there!</p>