Hiking with a JRT--Commands?

[Minty]

I want to start taking my Jack Russell hiking with me for a couple long weekends this summer. She never goes off leash during day hikes and I don't plan on letting her off leash during overnight hikes. I have her under total voice control for basic commands (sit, stay, come, off, and leave it). My question for y'all who hike more often with dogs: are there any commands you find a must-know for your dogs during a hike? Possibly camp etiquette she needs to be taught? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[johnnybgood]

Not a dog owner but I'd include "No" as a command to express authority when wanting a different and positive behavior.

Proper camp etiquette would include; but not limited to;1) keeping your dog from walking on the sleeping platforms--other hikers will appreciate this. 2) Keep him/her away from other hiker's dogs--until talking with that dogs owner about a mutual introduction of the two dogs. 3) When your dog defecates, bury it 6" deep off the trail or away from the vicinity of the shelter.

When meeting other on the trail , give the oncoming hikers common courtesy by stepping your dog off the trail.

Have a great trip and take time to care of your canine friends' paws.

[Ginger Snap]

We have a jrt who is on an electronic collar when we are remote enough not to be running into ppl very often. She does great on the trail, the e-collar is an effective tool. I would watch out for your jack's prey drive- therefore " leave it" is a useful command- can apply to anything that you want her/him to leave alone. Also, for us "wait" and "walk-on"- pretty obvious but that way if she goes too far ahead we can have her wait without a full recall, and we can tell her to keep going when desired. Also we've tried to teach ( with limited success) "go get -----" ie go get Kristen, or whomever you are hiking with. This way she specifically follows one of us as needed.

[Ewok11]

We have a jrt who is on an electronic collar when we are remote enough not to be running into ppl very often. She does great on the trail, the e-collar is an effective tool. I would watch out for your jack's prey drive- therefore " leave it" is a useful command- can apply to anything that you want her/him to leave alone. Also, for us "wait" and "walk-on"- pretty obvious but that way if she goes too far ahead we can have her wait without a full recall, and we can tell her to keep going when desired. Also we've tried to teach ( with limited success) "go get -----" ie go get Kristen, or whomever you are hiking with. This way she specifically follows one of us as needed.

I don't take my JRT in the woods very often but wanted to reiterate "wait" and "leave it". Those are both commands I believe are imperative for the breed. As Ginger Snap mentioned, their prey drive is HIGH. It's what they were bred for. They are also at times barely contained bundles of energy who don't seem to understand why you don't want to move as fast as they do. Mine has slowed down some, now that he's 10 but he still GOES when he's in the zone, so telling him to "wait" and have him understand is necessary.

[clickchik]

A good leave it is invaluable. If you are uncertain how to teach it google "puppy zen".
I imagine a JRT would be a good match for some of those infamous shelter mice.

[Ginger Snap]

My jacks prefer snakes. . . have always failed in the mice department!

[Ewok11]

Mine has downgraded from opossums to lizards in recent years.

[Swordpen]

I'd say COME, closely followed by LEAVE IT.

1. E collars help, but only first if the dog has been taught these commands first for 3 weeks (at least 5 times a week for 15 min).

2. How I teach LEAVE IT (or my command is DONT TOUCH). I start with a treat, the first time is only 15 seconds. I make the dog sit, put the treat 1 foot from their front paws, & say stay, dont touch (over & over in those 15 sec if necessary). I actually time this with a watch with a second hand. I work up to 1 min of this. The dog is off leash from the getgo.

this works. I will upload a video to you tube for you in 1-2 days & post here.

3. Come is hard, the e collar helps, but I had my best 100% results over 2-3 months using a private trainer. We got to the point of doing down stays too, from 60 feet away with the trainer. This trainer taught me how to do this stuff, not just the dog. We went for a 2 hour lesson every week, supplemented by me training every day, 3 x a day, for 5 min. It cost $40 a session.

Why did I goto all this trouble? Because 1 of my Jacks has a high high prey drive & will not leave rattlesnakes alone. He has been bit twice before all this, & it cost me $6000 for treatment. The snake training you see works on some dogs, but not all. My other Jack did well with snake training, but not the 2nd one (he was abused & a rescue).

HTH

[Longfan]

You state the dog is never off lead so I think you have the needed coomands with stay, off, leave it, sit and recall. As someone else said a NO command may be useful; leave it may work just as well. With My lab mix I use "come on' more as an encouragement to keep moving. I use "NO" and leave it; No, when I can see he is getting into something I would rather he did not (he like to clean up after other dogs for one use); leave it is when he gets interested in a smell or is just working something I can not see. He also "understands" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" kind of a if you do not do what I say you are in DEEP TROUBLE! If your JRT puls when you stop to say pick up poop; "wait" is a command; also good if you need to stop for any other reason and you do not need the dog to sit. "Down" as in lay down may also be good; give a bit more control of the dog.

Also as another has said; be careful as you and you dog approach other dogs and their people; not every one has a) dog as well behaved as yours b) wants to interact with you and your dog c) some dogs are not friendly to other people or other dogs/animals (yes, these should not be on the trail but some people are well STUPID!)

[Lou Lou Brown]

Off the top of my head I can think of two things that made my 2013 hike easier. One was training Easy, my 4 year old JRT to walk behind me when she was on leash. I used a bungee leash and attached it to my pack in the same place every single day. I think being consistent is KEY. She always knew where I expected her to be. Ofcourse she is a JRT and is on high alert. She stopped being interested in wanting to chase everything off but every once in awhile if there was something she couldn't resist and she tried to run off I would say "BACK" and hold out my trekking pole and she (usually) listened. Point being I think it is good to figure out what works and then STICK TO IT! The second thing that I did was instead of carrying treats in my side pocket, I tried to always have a small squeaky toy that I could use to call her back. For me it is the only thing that has worked for disrupting that "adorable" JRT glazed over "there is nothing else in the world but this squirrel" instinctual behavior.