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New Pup: Half-BlueHeeler & Quarter JackRussel/RatTerrier

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions-big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other dog owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

  
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Member Since
01/24/2013		 
 
Barked: Thu Jan 24, '13 10:33pm PST 
So, I'm new to being a dog owner.

That being said, I grew up with dogs, cats, and parrots all my life. Now as an adult, I have parrots (which are trained extremly well due to love/patience) and a pet minipig (a juliani, who is also very well trained and lives in an apartment with ease).

So this new addition, a young female, will hopefully fit in nicely. I've read that both breeds are very dominant, aggressive, bitey, and needs exercise and attention etc. etc. I doubt that a puppies bite would be worse than my parrots (macaw who split walnuts in seconds) but I'm still a bit concerned. I used clicker training and positive reinforcement for the parrots and the pig, and it worked out awesomely. I know that dogs respond well to clicker training, but the whole apartment thing is the issue I have.

Do you think that this mix can be successful in an apartment with good training and walks + playtime whenever home? Also, with the ACD's nature, do you think having a pet pig (25lbs and 16" at the hip full grown) is going to cause an issue? shrug
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Jackson Tan

Lad about town		 
 
Barked: Fri Jan 25, '13 4:16am PST 
Well, that's probably a question that should have been asked and answered before you bought the pup home.

That is a pretty full on mix. Heelers just aren't bitey puppies, they remain quite mouthy their entire lives, and can deliver much worse than a parrot ... they are nicknamed landsharks for a reason! They really aren't a dog I would ever recommend to a beginner. They can be dog aggressive and show quite a bit of prey drive. Mixed with 2 terriers, particularly a Jack, and I would be taking care with the rest of your animals in your apartment. A heeler is a breed I would never recommend for an apartment , btw, and I know a lot of rescues will not adopt out to people who live in one. They are an extremely active breed and benefit from either sport, or free running.

Exercise is going to be paramount here. A young heeler mix is going to need a lot of walking, training everyday, and things to do to prevent destructiveness during down time. For comparison, my dog, which is comparable to a heeler, required 3 hours of walking a day as well as games and training to keep him calm when he was younger, and in his early adolescence, worked on a farm all day.

This dog could be quite a handful. Get a lot of toys, a crate, and if you work, consider a dog walker seriously for the future.
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Sabi

When the night- closes in I will- be there		 
 
Barked: Tue Jan 29, '13 8:22am PST 
Wow!!! I would be praying they are wrong on the mix.
Agree with JT, I would never recommend a Heeler as an apartment dog. In fact I don't generally recommend them at all. Heelers have a pretty straight up working personality. If you can't cater to that in some way and provide the abundant exercise and training that they need you will end up living with a nightmare. The jack/rat cross alone would have been a handful.
You need to start doing lots of research on all of these breeds, and ask yourself some tough questions. This is NOT a dog that ought to be in an apartment. Unless you can HONESTLY commit to the needs of this puppy, take it back now while it still has a good shot at being rehomed.
If you decide to keep it, be warned, EVERY Heeler I have ever met likes the taste of drywall, so you better have a great Landlord.
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'Barcoola'- Rogue

Door? What door?		 
 
Barked: Thu Jan 31, '13 2:18pm PST 
I cannot imagine having any sort of heeler indoors - my grandparents were quite avid breeders a number of years ago, however they were on a cattle farm and all the pups if not sold young were trained and worked then usually sold to other farms. They quite strictly were not allowed in the house because of the destructive tendancies when they were bored. They are also extremely territorial and tend to remember things that aggravate them: my parents had a cattle dog on the farm until they moved into town and took it with them. The postman used to run a stick along the fence every day just to stir the poor thing up. Well, one day the dog got out and chased him all over town. After this incident my parents decided it would be better to rehome him than ask him to live in an environment he wasn't comfortable with. He now resides with a truck driver of a cattle truck so it was a win-win situation all round - truck driver gets company and a work/ guard dog and the dog gets to do the work he was bred for. Keeping in mind that he was used to work cattle on the farm until my parents had to move.
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Tyler

Whippy- The- Whipador
 
 
Barked: Fri Feb 1, '13 9:23am PST 
You're gonna have your hands full that's for sure. I agree with most of what's been said about the breed combination, however i'm of the opinion that pretty much ANY dog can live in an apartment provided they receive enough mental stimulation and physical exercise. In my experience, people tend to walk their dogs more when they live in apartments because they have no other choice if they're without a garden. Where as sometimes having a garden can make people lazy. So, on that front i see no issue. Do you plan on taking part in sports when the dog is older? I highly recommend you look into them and seriously consider taking one up!
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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!
 
 
Barked: Fri Feb 1, '13 11:28am PST 
Dog. You have a handful there. I'd love to see a picture of it, I'll bet it is adorable. But you will need to find plenty of activities for it and make sure it gets a LOT of exercise as it (if that mix) will have a LOT of energy.
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Member Since
01/24/2013		 
 
Barked: Tue Feb 5, '13 11:17am PST 
Well....


I appreciate all the responses guys. I'm a huge fan of forums and personal advice. I used to do the same thing when I was new with my parrots and my minipig.

That being said, so far she has such a cool and relaxed personality. She's energetic when it's playtime, and just likes to hangout in her pen area when she's learning to play by herself with her millions of toys (obviously kept to about 5 or 6 when in the pen). She is already crate trained now, which took maybe... 1 day. She is also house trained already in about 3 days. I think this blue heeler background is to thank for her amazing learning prowess.

I've taught her the "Leave it", "Sit", "Bring it", and "Crate" (she will go to her crate) commands already in a matter of minutes each. I train her about 3 times a day for 10mins or so each session. She prefers the all natural Wellness for Puppy treats.

What's interesting enough about the Blue Heeler is that there are 4 of them in my building. I live in Chicago. Every single one of them has proved to be paitient, loving, well socialized, and non destructive. In fact, one of them warmed up to little Kuma instantly. So, it's really hard for me to believe all the negativity related to Blue Heelers in apartments now after first hand experience. I only hope that maybe the stories and rumors about them are what's being regurgitated here to me, because 5 out of 5 dogs now are proving otherwise.

Maybe it's just that a garden/yard does in-fact make people lazy, and give them an easy answer... which is zero stimulation for a dog. Maybe it is, in-fact, that the city life provides better socialization and more walks/activity since we must do it multiple times a day regardless of weather or if we want to be lazy. party

Either way, I will keep everyone posted as I begin to enjoy this community fully. Thanks for all the answers and responses. I love my little JackRussell-BlueHeeler.
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Savannah- Blue Belle

A Heart of Gold!
 
 
Barked: Tue Feb 5, '13 11:34am PST 
So happy for you...but believe me the typical Blue Heeler is much much more intense. I love them too and had one for years. I lived on an island where the residents didn't have to worry about fencing or containing their dogs, so she was free and happy.

The worst thing she ever did was she WOULD not stay off the sofa. But in the end, it didn't really matter. Good luck and post some pics, okay?
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Sabi

When the night- closes in I will- be there		 
 
Barked: Tue Feb 5, '13 12:06pm PST 
Glad she is doing well and yes they are smart.
You didn't say how old she is, so hopefully she is through the pup stage.
As a breed heelers are intense, sometimes you get lucky I guess.
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Shiver Me- Timbers- "Charlie"

My Little Dog, a- heartbeat at my- feet.<3		 
 
Barked: Tue Feb 5, '13 12:23pm PST 
Guest, I'm going to point out that MANY of the dog owners here are very vigilant when it comes to people potentially getting a breed/mix more than they can handle. It's certainly not a breed mix, or even breeds that I would ever recommend to a first time dog owner. I am glad to hear that you're having so much success training her, though.

That said, many of the people here WILL point out the negative aspects of a breed. You have to prepare for the worst, and hope(and work at getting) for the best, especially in poorly bred dogs and mix breeds. The reason we do this? To ensure whether or not owners are not just committed to their dogs, but PREPARED to take on the attributes that can make the breed/mix wholly difficult.

I never tell people all the amazing and good attributes about my Beagle. They look at him and assume because he's quiet and well mannered, and listens so well that ALL Beagles are that way. Not true. My dog happens to be a well socialized, VERY well trained Beagle who I WORKED at getting this way for the past four and a half years. So I tell people the hard parts of the breed instead. Essentially, "You want a happy, well mannered dog? You HAVE to work at it and give the breed the necessarily mental/physical stimulation and proper outlets."

I would like to note however, that while your puppy might be crate trained on going INTO the crate on command in a day, I can GUARANTEE it'll be something you have to CONTINUE to train for and make a positive thing each and every single day to ensure that she continues to LIKE her crate. The ultimate goal of crate training is to train a dog to LIKE their crate and view it as their safe haven, their escape, their bedroom so to speak.

I do think the dog can be successful in an apartment. However, only with the right mental and physical stimulation. I would seriously look into classes(Obedience and sport) to help ensure the dog is happy and has the proper outlets. Herding and/or things like agility can help. In fact, with herding, you can teach the Heeler in her that sheep are OKAY to herd in classes, but your pig is not. I would really, really focus on making sure that she views the pig as a positive thing too, and if any herding or prey drive kicks in, I would nip it in the bud - FAST while she's still young and new to your home. I would also NEVER leave her unsupervised with your pig, EVER, just for safety sake.

Good luck. Please make an account and let us see pictures of the cutie. smile

Oh, btw, do you have a Kong? If not, I totally recommend getting one!
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