Hi guys,

Well we have made a few changed to out little Rocket! (2 year old jack russell).

He has a kennel in the back garden for the warm days while we are at work and last thursday he had his bits chopped off!! (Recovering very well)

Now i think the hard work starts....training! (FYI we have only had him 6 months, he was a stray, and battered and bruised when we found him).

I need asmuch helpful advice on ways to effectivly train him and hints or tips would be very grateful. He can do the basics (sit, stay) but im hoping to get more from him. i cannot let him off the lead and would really like to do this for him to get more excercise.

Another problem is he really doesnt like cats and chases them (nearly drags me round the street) so any help on this too would be great.


As you can see i need lots of help getting him to be a good boy!!!

Thnkyou in advance

I've always found clicker training to be a fantastic method for training - if you google you'll find plenty of helpful info.

However, for recall - even off a chase (cats) - I used play and rewards. What is his favourite thing in the world? For my dogs that would be high fat treats such as sausage and cheese! It could be a favorite ball if not food orientated. From now on, he only ever gets this reward in response to your recall word/signal. I use a high pitch 'Keemon' and arms outstretched. Starting in the house, use your recall command and signal. Dog might look at you gone out but that is good - at least he is looking at you! And he'll come over. Eventually. At which point you give his favourite treat ever. Once he is recalling reliably in the house, try the garden. Then move to 'outside' be that field, park or beach on a long line and harness. once that is reliable, you can try moving to off lead but recall and treat regularly without putting him on a lead to reinforce the benefit to him of recall - don't just wait until you have to.

Another useful command is 'watch me' - easy to teach too with click or just reward. It is just to get the dog's attention on you (and off cats!) so you can give another command.

The trick with cats or anything that gets him worked up is to be observant and to spot potential trouble. If you can get his attention before the adrenaline takes over - and reward him for acceptable behaviour - you get to reinforce the behaviour you want. So he spots a cat, you whip out a sausage, give him the 'watch me' and reward him for looking at you (if he does!!!). Operand conditioning - eventually he will look at you when he spots a cat is the theory!!

I completely agree with StressMonkey ~ clicker training is a great way to teach a dog & should be fun for both you & your dog. It makes "lesson times" enjoyable & creates a lovely bond with your dog. Perhaps someone runs clicker training classes on your area ~ it may be worth looking into?

Another tip I was given was to plan the training BEFORE you start doing anything with the a dog. Think about what you are trying to achieve & how you want to get there, plus what things are likely to go wrong. Make sure you are in the right frame of mind before starting a training session ~ It's no good expecting to have a successful training session when you're shattereed after a day at work, or it's the morning after the night before.

As for using a toy as a reward in training, I've often found that JRTs are very attracted to a toy with a squeaker!!

Good luck with the training I love the name Rocket BTW ~ sums up a lot of JRTs I know.