Terrier

[ben0777317 0]

Hi,

My mum has a lakeland x jack russel. Its not a bad little dog apart from its obsessed with other dogs. If it sees another dog it'll just run off, completely ignoring everything else. It doesn't give up it'll just keep running after them until someone grabs it! Just wants to play its not aggressive or anything but its becoming a real problem. Any ideas or advice greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[littlefish 586]

What age is it? Has anyone ever attempted to train it? You could take it to dog training classes or keep it on a lead. A dog running out of control is asking for trouble. Good luck.

[skycat 6,173]

MOst young dogs go through this stage: what you need to do is make life more fun and more interesting for the dog: whoever looks after and walks the dog must play with it, interact, train it to do any number of daft things, just to get the dog focussing on them, not other dogs.

 

It is normal for a dog to want to meet and play with other dogs: if the dog doesn't get this dog interaction at home (only dog) then it is bound to want to see other dogs when out walking. Can't you meet up with people who have like minded dogs and let them play for a while? Continually stopping a dog's natural behaviour is not good for the dog and can create problems in the long run.

 

The other thing you need to do is get the dog obsessed with a particular toy:if you take the dog to a good training class they'll show you how to do this. That way you take the toy out with you when you walk the dog, and reward a quick recall with a play with the toy: terriers are good at being obsessed with stuff, its what they were developed to do!

[ben0777317 0]

Brilliant. Thanks for the advice. The dog is about 7 months I think. I walk my two dogs with him every so often and he has a good run and play with them but still goes if he sees another dog on the horizon. i realise its natural for them to want to meet other dogs but I think this could develop into a major problem if its not dealt with. Probably training and socialisation classes are the best thing then. I have two dogs myself so i'm not a complete novice but never had any problems like this with them. Cheers.