Jack Russell Terrier
Description:
A Jack Russell Terrier is a very active work dog. It has a medium body size and a lot of strength and resistance. Its height is around thirty to thirty-five centimeters. Its head is well balanced, is moderately wide and narrows towards the eyes. Its cheeks should not be prominent. It has almond shaped small eyes that are dark but should not bulge out. Its ears are small and have a v shape and should have a moderate thickness. The nose of this dog is completely black; it should not look brown, white or liver color. The neck should be clean looking and sufficiently long to give balance to the dog. Its shoulders are long and inclined. The chest should be narrow and moderate in height; the back is straight and strong. Its tail is moderately highly inserted and should look strong, make sure it's not curled. The front legs are straight and strong, the hind legs should be softly molded and have a good angle. The coat of this dog can be short or wiry; short hair is straight but strong; the wiry haired ones have a double coat and the under coat is thick; the outer coat should feel wiry. The color of this dog should be white or it's the color that should predominate the dog's body. The ideal height for males is thirty-five centimeters and for females thirty-three centimeters.
Ideal owner:
Strong and adaptable, the Jack Russell Terrier is a happy family dog that gets along well with children as well as with adults. Its not a biter and is not nervous, however it does need a firm hand to stick to the house rules. This dog is as fast as a lightning and has a lot of energy, does not get into bad habits and likes people, horses and other dogs. Keep in mind though that some can be dominating with other dominating dogs. The Jack Russell Terrier is a natural digger, is very curious and can be quite a tramp. If you live in the city be very careful with the traffic; this little devil might speed off in a moments notice to go after a scent it picks up.
Growth:
A Jack Russell Terrier weighs around one and a half kilograms at seven or eight weeks of age. It reaches its full height around a year of age, but it takes around eighteen months for it to reach its full mental and physical maturity. If you want to get one of these dogs make sure to choose one that has a healthy aspect, is content and has a balanced body structure. Avoid getting one that is too reckless or too shy. The characteristics that you will want to avoid when choosing one are very raised ears, bent legs, incorrect closure of its mouth, and an excessive amount of hair on its coat. The adolescence of this dog can be quite the challenge. However in general its character should not change; but it will be necessary for the owner to train it correctly and teach it to socialize. The smooth coated ones often grow big mustaches during adolescence and the color of its coat might change.
General health:
The Jack Russell Terrier is in general a very healthy dog and is very resistant, if it is well raised. It doesn't require of any special type of diet but it is suggested to follow what the breeder or veterinarian say about its diet. What this dog does need is a lot of exercise and training to keep it happy and healthy. Thankfully breeders have put a lot of emphasis on keeping the lineage of this dog very pure and this dog conserves its natural hunting instinct and does not have serious hereditary problems. Breeders have informed that there have been incidences of loosening of the retina and hereditary cataracts but these are not very common. Its suggested the future owner asks the breeder for the ocular certificates to confirm its eyes function correctly. The life span of the Jack Russell Terrier is twelve to fourteen years or more.
