That's the point to be taken Francis,
less tedious supervision isn't going to happen.

It'll get less tedious because you'll become more atuned to the dog, not the other way around.
We are talking about a Jack Russell after all! Tude and all.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

 Quote: francis daigle

Thanks to everyone who dropped their 2 pennies worth.

Bob, your stories are always as helpful as they are entertaining.

I've yet to witness in my JRT the gladiator temperament you're describing. I've met several dogs with him and there were only two in the lot to which he showed dominance signs (but never agressively).

When I was at my beginnings with him, he used to rip my arm off to go meet other dogs, then promptly crawl down as soon as he had smelled their butt. A local behaviorist illustrated him as a punk wearing leather, studs and whatnot to look intimidating but takes off any time someone shows any sign of not being impressed.

Now I actually got some sort of control over him but it's nowhere near 100% bullet-proof. And no, I never ever thought of leaving both dogs together unattended. He's over 2years old and I still crate him when I leave him alone at home. I was looking for advices in making supervision less tedious.

Francis,
Your comment about "two in the lot to which he showed dominance signs (but never aggressively)".
You have to keep one thing always at the back of your mind. With many terriers you wont see a lot of threat display and posturing. They can have a very short fuse and the on and off switch.
This is what I commented about when I said I could leave the yard for just a few hours and some would pounce when I came back in.
Most dog people would get upset and raise hell when this sort of thing happens. You MUST be able to read your dogs.
Under different circumstances I would interupt if there was nothing more then eye contact. Other time I would ignore a little scuffle, or at most, give a firm "quit".
Supervision suggestions.
Know your dogs! Be alert!
Wish I could offer more but reading a dog either comes natural or is learned over time.
Ed has some great dvds, reading, etc out there that definately well worth getting into but all that knowledge and explination doesn't mean everyone will "get it".

My dog can indeed be an interesting one to read.

I remember one day, a couple months after acquiring him, I was at my parents cottage and I figured I could let him roam around unleashed as this is a very vast terrain. A very territorial cat showed up. My JRT obviously took off to "greet" him.

Just like I was helplessly running after him, expecting the worst to happen, it turned out he only attempted to trigger a "catch me if you can" with the cat. That is: he ran straight to the cat, stopped at around 2 feet of it, then took off and ran back several yards then charged back, etc. I can only imagine how it would've ended if the cat had bounced at him or if he had tried to flee instead of sitting there, holding his ground relatively unimpressed.

I can read between your lines that your "bassids" would've probably had attacked the animal and had ended out being defigured or something. It seems my dog's prey games doesn't involve close quarters for some reasons. His "rules" seem to be more along "tag, now it's your turn!" than trying to kill anything he manages to catch. And I'm really thankful of that because he would probably be wearing two glass eyeballs today if it wasn't the case and it would've totally been my fault.

 Quote: bob scott

Know your dogs! Be alert!
Wish I could offer more but reading a dog either comes natural or is learned over time.
Ed has some great dvds, reading, etc out there that definately well worth getting into but all that knowledge and explination doesn't mean everyone will "get it".

And meanwhile, as Randy points out, containment is critical. And anxiety-reducing!