Are you overprotective with your puppy? My husband and I are, especially after the breeder warned us that we needed to be extra careful if we have hawks in our neighborhood. We had no idea when we picked him up at 8 weeks' old that our puppy was in danger of being swept away out of our own backyard! To prevent this, we have an X-Pen in our backyard that we cover with lathwork where he can do his business. What would dog owners do without X-Pens?
We both understand that Jack Russell Terriers need a lot of room to breathe in. They can't be cooped up all day inside of your house. They need to stretch their legs; otherwise, they will drive you crazy.
He is now 7 pounds and 3 months, 3 weeks' old. We've decided it's time to cut the apron strings and see what he's capable of getting into in our backyard.
After six weeks of keeping him in our kitchen, we decided that we need to let him leave the nest today and run with the wolves--come what may. We were turning him loose in our huge backyard--the yard that our former JR loved and ruled over.
Besides the hawks, we are worried about his potential for digging. I had heard that they have been bred to "go to ground" and retreive foxes. I am afraid that he might dig a hole and end up in a tunnel that a gopher had dug and we won't be able to get him out of the tunnel. My husband said, "Maybe we need to get a tracker collar."
We turned him loose and watched his every move. "What did he do?" you might ask. Much to our horror, we found out that he is really a digger! Much more than our other Jack Russell ever was. And we're talking big, deep holes that he can create in mere minutes. Those little claws can really dig. He is quite an excavator! Maybe in his former life, he was an archealogist? Indiana Jones, Gumbo's ready for his time on the big screen.
