Suspicious of small dogs - Page 2

My husband was walking Tasha one night when the neighbour's unleashed Jack Russell came pelting down the driveway, heading straight for them. He thought at first the dog just wanted to say hello, then he saw the raised hackles and bared teeth. He told Tasha to sit, which she did.

When the little Terrorist got close enough, he launched himself straight for Tasha's throat. Tasha knocked him down and pinned him with her front paws, and bit him on the bum.

The dog went kiyiying back up his driveway, where his owner was washing his car.

"I'm sorry," Roger apologized, "but your dog attacked mine. Is he hurt?" (Believe me, I wouldn't have been nearly so polite, and I think the Jackie would have got my boot up his rear!)

The owner shrugged. "Nah, only his ego!"

Next morning, the wife was at our front door, wanting to know if Tasha had been vaccinated for rabies. Apparently, her teeth HAD drawn blood!

Score one for Tasha!    The little s*** was kept leashed after that. Lesson learned, thank God, with minimal damage!

I've know small dogs I liked. There was a really sweet Yorkie who came into the vets where I worked  to be boarded frequently. We used to joke about wanting to kidnap her, she was such a sweetheart. However, the yap dogs and ankle biters bring on an almost irresistible urge to either strangle them or drop-kick them through their ignorant owner's front door!

The book  "The Perfect Match" says the Jack Russell will attack anything that moves, and the only suitable companion is a horse!  I blame recent TV series such a Frazier for making the little monsters popular, when they are not at all suitable for your average owner or suburban home.

My daughter owned the only sweet Chi I have ever known but she still left tootsie rolls on the floor. Why are small dogs harder to potty train than large ones? Needless to say I sent it back to live with her father, the one who bought it from a pet store!

>the Jack Russell will attack anything that moves, and the only suitable companion is a horse!  I blame recent TV series such a Frazier for making the little monsters popular, when they are not at all suitable for your average owner or suburban home.

 I think Wishbone had far more to do with the JRT problem than Frazier. The dog playing Wishbone gave many people the wrong idea that all JRTs were like that: perky, wears cute little outfits, is well-behaved, and has almost human-like intellegence and abilities. Kind of like the surge of dalmations after "101" came out a few years back. I've met several dals... none of them had very good temperaments.

I never trust an ankle biter, they are usually the least trained dogs.   Not always but in my experience most are not trained to do anything much less behave.   But they are so cute... Blah !   A sweet little dog on some ladies lap almost took my hand off one day at the vets office.  We were making introductions and trading pats and everything was cool, then like jeckle and hyde the dog exploded on my hand. 

This is a subject near and dear to my heart.  I have a crazy neighbor down the street with 2 chihuahuas.  When this nieghbor is out front  she keeps one  on a long string  tied to her chair, but the other she lets charge everyone and every animal that walks by all the way into the street.  Then she jumps up and starts screaching at the dog (so they are both screaching).  She waddles over and screaches  some more.  Oh I don't know what I want to do more, punt the dog or bitch slap the owner.

The problem is with owners who buy small dogs and, because they look like stuffed toys expect them to act as such.  Yorkies are a great example of this.  They look so cute and sweet, but they are true terriers and were originally bred as ratters.  It takes some real fealless attitude for a (then) 10-15 lb dog to take on a pit of large rats and win! 

I like 4Pack's description of  a JRT as a Jack Russell TERRORIST......when people/family come to my house, they always seem leery of my shepherd before the Jack.  It is the JRT that I have to monitor and stay on top off, not my clear-headed bitch!!

Barb

Some things will never change.My best advice to you newbee and anyone else is to take your dog/pup to another place.Find one that is peaceful for your dog/pup.The important thing to remember here is what your dog is exposed to that he/she will remember..NOT YOU!!!