Help!

[georgia9012]

Hey, me and my house hold are now at our wits end and wonder if any one has any tips on stopping this horrible behavior. We have four jack russels which are all lovely. (two we dont have to worry about as they belong to my sister and bother) however the problem lies with the oldest male who leads the pack.
Every time we go to leave the house witout him he goes crazy biting barking and just being horrid which makes the others behave in the same way....
He also barks for his food, attention aswell as for no apparent reason every evening if any one could help with any training tips it would be great.
Many thanks George

 

[Brandyb]

Have you done any training at all with these dogs?? JRT's are exceptionally smart, and benefit greatly when having their mind and body worked. Obedience training will surely make a difference in this situation. Especially sit, down and stay. Also, the dog you speak of as "leader" ... if he is showing behaviours such as you have listed, you need to start a NILF (nothing in life is free) program with him. He must work for everythiing - food, attention, toys etc. Even if its small like a down/stay before he is allowed to eat. By following this program the dog learns that you call the shots - not him, you control the resources, not him.
I would recommend enrolling in obdience class - for all of them would be great, but at least the oldest male.
Also, observe carefully what happens when you leave, does anyone else instigate him at all? Are the tussells always started by him, or are they started subtly by another dog?
Hope this helps. As I said, JRTs are VERY smart and usually catch on quickly during training.

 

[Dekka]

Personally I disagree with the comment that he is being 'leader' If you have ever witnessed a true alpha dog, they do not behave that way. LOL think of high school, the top popular kids seem to glide through school never having to work at being popular and in control, they know they are cool and never have to flaunt it. Then think of the ones striving to be in control, they are the ones who are nasty, and need to put down others to maintain their station. LOL this is a loose analogy but I find it useful. Kaiden, my alpha male, never growls, or argues over resources, he knows if he wants something its his. I have seen him fight once. (in a house with 2 stud JRTs and multiple intact girls this is really saying something!) He is the calmest, friendliest, most out going guy. This is the picture of the 'leader' There was a long experiment (the only one ever done) on dog behaviour that Dr Ian Dunbar was part of, and that is also what they found-the alpha dog is not the one growling and posturing, that is for the insecure middlemen.

This dog is unsure of its place. I agree with Brandy obedience training is a must, just so you have some control over the house hold.

But my biggest issue is-never ever ever ever (can't stress this enough) leave same sex JRTs loose together. Same sex aggression is 'normal' in JRTs. Even the JRTCA website stress it. No responsible breeder will ever sell a same sex JRT to a person who already has one-unless they are a dog proffesional. I am on many JRT lists, and a couple of times a year someone comes on and is very upset because the one JRT killed the other one when no one was home. The story is almost always the same-they had gotten along for years.

I would be very concerned with displacement aggression. This is when the dogs get so aroused they will turn on eachother. I have witnessed this and it is scary. So if all the dogs were crated when you leave, all would be so much safer.

As for the demand barking. Walk away *every* time he does it. Make sure he never gets rewarded for it. If it is bad, give him a time out for 3 min in a crate.

good luck!

 

[georgia9012]

Thanks!

Thanks for all the help but he really is the alpha dog. He never fights the others for anything he just walks up to them and they move away from what ever it is. As a puppy he would always ensure that the whole family was together while walking not allowing someone to trail behind, now he is older he hates people leaving him and whips him self and the others up into a frenzy that results in fights and the ragging of any bedding from his box.
He allows other dogs into his house (we have had 6 jack russels sleep before) but hates other dogs when out walking his behavior suggests that he is protecting the family as when he is with us no one can come near including other dogs and even friends he has known for his whole life.
As for barking to get things this is *never* rewarded yet he still carries on, any more tips would be great. Many thanks

 

[georgia9012]

Oh sorry i forgot to say he knows to sit and stay ect and has to carry out these actions before recieving anything such as a toy, food or even fuss.

 

[Dekka]

read your post again. Hmm still not convinced about him being the 'leader' but be that as it may. On leash aggression is very normal in the dog world (dog's aggressive to other dogs when on leash and not aggressive when loose with other dogs.) It is usually seen in NON alpha dogs.

Would you say he has separation anxiety?

Still seriously don't let your dogs be a statistic..don't ever leave them unattended together. All the people on the lists that had dogs die, had been told. They all said 'oh they are always fine together' etc. Their dogs still killed eachother.

 

[Tommysmom]

There is a big difference between his barking 'never being rewarded' and completely ignoring him and walking away when he does it. My 9 month old jack started the whole barking-for-attention-or-to-get-what-he-wants-NOW thing about a month ago, and we thought we weren't rewarding it either... but every time you so much as looked at him, he was getting attention even if he wasn't getting the toy/cookie/water bottle/slipper/insert whatever he decided was his, lol. We started turning our backs and walking away from him entirely - no eye contact, if he followed us and tried to get our attention we just ignored it and carried on as if he did not exist for a few minutes. It got worse before it got better, he just tried to bark louder and longer, but now it's stopped. He doesn't bother anymore, he knows it won't get him a darn thing. It was a loud few weeks, hahahaha... but we are almost as stubborn as he is.

On a side note... all the jacks in the pictures and avatars here are just gorgeous! Beautiful little dogs .

 

[MysticRealm]

How much exercise do you give your dogs? And I don't mean walking the dog on leash I mean running around, chasing a ball, playing (things that use the whole body).
I wholeheartedly agree to to do actually obedience classes. And training everyday even when not in class
A bored, hyper dog is not a good thing. Obedience training will give the dog both mental exercise as well as some physical exercise and actuall exercise will give the dog pysical exercise and some mental exercise.
You'll end up with a dog that just want to lie around the house till you pull out his leash and play.

 

[mjb]

I had a trainer/behaviorist come help with our dog at one time. He suggested, and I can't remember the time-frame now, that we have no eye contact or interaction of any type for a certain matter of time. Well, actually, he didn't have us do that, because he determined his behavior wasn't an attention-seeking behavior. He did come with that in mind, though. I think if we had done that exercise, it was going to be until he came to our house for our next session. We were having issues with him jumping all over us and nipping at us as we walked along, but it was puppy behavior....he was very young.

 

[georgia9012]

Thanks for your help we will try not to look at him when he is barking! lol. Might be a few loud nights.....
He plays with the other dogs for hours, they run around the house, garden all day they run for hours on top of the time we spend playing with them, chasing the ball running round and round the table ect.
Separation anxiety maybe a reason for his barking when we leave, does any one have any ideas how to help him with this.
Thankyou

 

[adojrts]

With dogs that show SA its best to never make *events* of you coming home or going away. Ignore ALL dogs for at least 20 mins before leaving and the same upon coming home. No eye contact, no speaking to them, nothing.
And you may need to do this for longer than 20 mins if the dog/s don't stop trying to get your attention (barking etc).
Of course that is almost impossible to do if the dog/s is not crated. You have not commented on whether the dogs are crated or not while you are gone or not supervised. I am assuming from what I have read that they are not............NOT SMART NOR WISE with JRTS.
The Nothing in life is Free method works great for jrts. Also if when feeding your dog/s sits BEFORE you ask for the behaviour, the dog is in control not you. So ask him for a down, a trick etc before rewarding with dinner.
I totally agree with Dekka, myself having been a JRT rescue rep and a breeder who also has successfully competed with JRTs for years KNOW that you are borrowing trouble by leaving same sex jrts loose together while not home or supervised.
The stories and comments are always the same. It never changes except for the names and places it happens.


Good luck
Lynn

 

[georgia9012]

Ok thanks for you help we will try to ignore him before we leave and see if that helps. I hear you warnings about leaving them together and i am worried however i have very little control over my family or my borhter and sister who own 2 of the dogs. I have told them about ur warning and i hope they choose to take some form of action as i will be trying to when ever possible but thankfully they are very rarly left alone for a long time; one of the five people who live here is normally with them, i no its not good enough but until i can bang the message home a little more there is nothing i can do.
Thanks once again i will see how we get on and let you know.