FAQs
Q. Are JRTs good with children?
A. Yes and No...JRTs are excellent with well behaved children over the age of about 5 or 6. With all children, especially the younger parents must be vigilent and teach children how to act around animals, and to treat them with respect. JRTs or any dog for that matter may place a well deserved nip for rough handling whether the rough handling is intentional or not.
Q. Are JRTs good with other animals?
A. They are not generally good with small animals. Never rodents! However a JRT and a cat can co-exsist piecefully, but they should never be left unattended, the JRT's prey drive might kick in for any reason and that would be the end of the cat. I have found that 2 JRTs will feed off each other's prey drive and things will esculate very quickly, I don't recomend multiple JRTs living in homes with small animals.
Q. Are JRTs yappy?
A. Yes they can be yappy! They were bred to go underground and bark relentlessly at their quarry. I don't recomment them for appartment or high density housing.
Q. I already have a dog, should I be looking for a male or female JRT puppy?
A. JRTs tend to be same sex aggressive, you should never leave more then 2 dogs unattended. And those should be of the opposite sex.
Q. How high should my fence be?
A. At least 5' high. most JRTs can easily clear a fence lower then that.
Q. Were JRTs bred to hunt rats?
A. No...JRTs are specifically a fox hunting terrier. However they will quite happily take care of your rodent problems!
Q. Is that all white puppy an albino? Will it get spots later?
A. No, if it has a black nose and brown eyes, it is not albino, and no it will not get spots later. All white is perfectly acceptable and well within the JRTCC/JRTCA breed standards. A JRT must be at least 51% white...Colours can include tan and black spots which would be considered a "TRI" and tan spots which is "T/W" or black spots which is a "B/W" JRTs cannot have brindle markings.
Q. What is BAER and CERF testing? Why is it important to me? I only want a companion.
A. Baer testing is a one time only test that is used to test for normal hearing. JRTs have the factor thats causes them to be primarily white, unfortunely this also causes a higher chance of deafness. Reputable breeders will have their breeding stock tested and only breed 2 normal hearing dogs together. Dogs can be deaf in only one ear (Unilateraly deaf) and that will be nearly impossible to tell without the baer test, they still can make great pets, but never should be bred.
CERF testing is a eye test that should be preformed on all current and past breeding animals, it checks for cateracts, primary lens luxation and other eye problems which can affect JRTs.
Q. What is luxating patallars?
A. Luxating patellars is a painfull knee problem where the knee cap will move out of place. It is primarily found in small breed dogs. Expensive surgery is often needed to repair the knee and once one knee goes, the second is almost sure to follow. Breeding dogs should be free of this problem.
Q. Can I use my JRT puppy for breeding when he/she or old enough?
A. I sell all my pet puppies on a spay/neuter contract. Breeding is not a endever to take lightly, it can be heart breaking and also can break the bank! There are many puppies in rescue and we don't want to add to this problem! If you still want to breed be up-front with me. I sometimes will consider placing a breeding quality puppy to a responcible home.
