A friend of mine has two JRs, one 2 years and the other 5 months. Her OH took them out today and the little one decided to disappear down a couple of rabbit holes. Fortunately, the puppy came back out after a short while, but my friend is very worried that this will happen again.
Obviously, its terrier instinct to do this, but is there anything she can do to deter it as she'd rather not just keep her lead up all the time.
I feel sad for dogs that are bought and then are not allowed to do what comes naturally, these 2 obviously have a high prey/working drive so rather than try and stop them or keeping the dogs on a lead their whole lives why doesn't she encourage them to work and help the farmer keep the rabbit population down (with permission from farmer of course)
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April 7th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Keep them out of fields with rabbits
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April 7th, 2009 at 10:35 am
no, sorry, they are bred to go to ground. in fact, that's the only thing they were bred for.
there's no humane and fair way to stop the dogs from doing this, and more archaic methods (like e-collars) will only heighten their drive and make them want to kill the quarry more.
if they want to walk them off leash then they will need to be prepared for this, otherwise, the two little hunters should be leashed.
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helped m-i-l breed and train JRT's till i got tired of all the energy!
April 7th, 2009 at 10:56 am
tie a stick across the dogs neck that will stop em!
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April 7th, 2009 at 11:42 am
This is a technique that MAY work, if not - then just tell her to try as much as she can to keep them away from rabbit holes.
Take a rod with a flag on the end and place it inthe ground - when the dog nears it you say: "Stop!" Firmly enough so that she backs away -as soon as the dog backs away, give her a treat. Continue to do this until the dog stops nearing the flag, then place these same flags in front of the rabbit holes and the dogs should keep away.
I heard it works - I may be wrong.
Good luck!
Live Long And Prosper
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April 7th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
It is definitely their instinct to explore rabbits holes and to catch and kill small prey.
Keep them on a leash when walking them. Safer for your dogs and the poor rabbit that may end up dead.
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9 dogs
April 7th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
You could get one of them extractable leads. or teach them words like no… he is only a puppy and u knopw what there like bless em. i think the only thing you can do is teach them not to go down them .. x
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April 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Obviously, your friend did absolutely no research on JRT's. That's what their bred to do, if there a rabbit hole, woodchuck hole whatever, the dogs going in. It's their genetic make-up. It's like stopping a lab or golden from retrieving..not gonna happen.
Your friend is going to either:
a) Keep her dogs on leash at all times
b) Get herself a good shovel, she she can dig him out.
Of course it will happen again. No doubts about that.
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April 7th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
hey x
well there is this whistle that you can use for dogs that when your dog does something you don't want them to do, all you do is blow the whistle and the dog will hear the noise and stop what its doing to see what the sound is and were it is coming from.
they get a little spooked so they will relate that when they go down a rabbit hole the whistle goes and he get spooked.
i used it to train my dog and its worked perfectly.
you can buy them from any petshop, there about 8 to 10 pounds
hope this helps
x
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April 7th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I feel sad for dogs that are bought and then are not allowed to do what comes naturally, these 2 obviously have a high prey/working drive so rather than try and stop them or keeping the dogs on a lead their whole lives why doesn't she encourage them to work and help the farmer keep the rabbit population down (with permission from farmer of course)
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April 7th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
fill in the holes before the dog gets to them.
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April 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
The obvious thing to do is keep the dog on a leash. If she's looking into real hunting, then I suggest she learn what to do. Ask an experienced person and whatnot.
There could have possibly been a skunk down that hole. A dog that gets sprayed by a skunk deep underground can suffocate.
Finding a dog underground with a skunk and without a locating collar is a difficult thing to do. Its a situation that she'll probably never want to experience. They obviously have working instinct.
She can teach the dogs to leave it, and teach them a recall. If they're on a leash though, there should be no problem. You don't have to leave the leas taught, just walk them away from any holes. Should they go down one, simply pull them back out. Never let go of the leash.
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I own, show, work, and study Jack Russell Terriers.