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Jack Russell Terrier Breed Maintenance
When it comes to exercise, you need to be aware that the Jack Russell Terrier needs a great deal. This makes perfect sense — it’s a hunting dog born and bred. This may mean that you aren’t necessarily the ideal pet parent if you live in a small city apartment. You may find that you are more than capable but Jack Russell Terriers need room to run and play, so, if you don’t live somewhere rural or in a sprawling house, make sure you’re giving your dog copious numbers of walks.
As they can jump five feet into the air, they also need a backyard that has no weak links. Jack Russells are trained to dig, which can sometimes cause issues, especially if the dog gets bored.
Now, do Jack Russell Terriers shed? Yes is the short answer. Jack Russell Terriers are not hypoallergenic. The longer answer is that if the dog has shorter hair it may be likely to shed more than if it has longer hair. Whatever length or type of hair your Jack Russell has, brush it a few times a week so that you’re keeping a handle on the shedding.
In order of frequency of monitoring your Jack Russell Terrier, it should be teeth, ears, nails. Ensure you’re brushing the dog’s teeth as often as possible — daily if you can — and cleaning its ears weekly. Like most dogs, nails can be left for a little longer and may only need to be trimmed once every few weeks.
Jack Russell Terrier health risks
The typical Jack Russell Terrier lifespan is 13 to 16 years, with the breed known for having great health. With any luck, you’ll get all those 16 years and more with your furry friend, but no dog has an entirely illness-free life. In Jack Russell Terriers, the following conditions are a little more likely to occur than others, so try your best to keep an eye out for:
Patellar luxation
If you notice that your Jack Russell is limping, or perhaps refusing to exercise or experiencing swelling in the leg, it may have patellar luxation. This is a commonplace disorder that sees the dog’s kneecap dislocated from the knee joint. Normally hereditary, the condition can also be caused by trauma sustained to the knee instead.
You may not know right away if your young Jack Russell has patellar luxation because before around six weeks old the little one could just be interpreted as being a bit clumsy. At approximately this age, however, a vet will be able to diagnose it.
Once a diagnosis has been confirmed (and graded from between 1-4 according to severity), your vet may prescribe medication like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs but it’s more likely that they’ll recommend surgery (if they don’t want to try solutions like leg braces or bandages). The surgeon may want to insert pins into the tibia, shape the bone to add depth to the femur’s groove, or make fascial release incisions on the side of the affected knee.
Cataracts
Cataracts are an extremely common occurrence in dogs. If your dog has cataracts it’s possible they may exhibit one of the following symptoms: their eye may be cloudy in appearance; its eye may reflect light abnormally; and there may be some abnormal coloration of the eye, often of the light blue or gray variety.
This is a condition defined by the clouding of the lens in the eye. As a result of this clouding, the retina struggles to receive light and create an image. With cataracts will come some vision loss, which will be identifiable if you notice your little Jack Russell Terrier bumping into things, being extra-clumsy, or walking around more cautiously than normal. If left unattended to, cataracts can lead to problems like glaucoma (to which the Jack Russell Terrier is also prone) and even blindness.
In order to treat cataracts, a vet will want to perform surgery, which in the case of this condition has a fantastic 90+% success rate.
Legg-Calvé Perthes disease
You might want to contact your vet if you notice that your dog is limping, not putting weight on one leg, or has one leg that looks shorter than the other. It might have Legg-Calvé Perthes disease, an affliction that primarily affects dogs under the age of one.
The causes of the condition remain something of a mystery but it’s a hip joint issue, specifically in the femur bone area of the hind leg. It’s a sad condition to affect a Jack Russell Terrier because it can severely impede a dog’s ability to move at all.
In their efforts to treat it, vets use X-rays as a crucial diagnostic tool. Generally limiting a dog’s activity tends to be prescribed but other options, for more severely affected dogs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are one possibility. A more drastic solution, of course, is surgery. A surgeon might go in and remove the femur bone and femur neck or, in worst-case scenarios, actually replace the entire hip.
Subaortic stenosis
When a dog’s heart has to work extra-hard, it’s often bad news for the animal because the cardiovascular system is put under greater stress. This is precisely what happens with subaortic stenosis, a relatively common condition in Jack Russell Terriers.
The left ventricle of the heart is just under the heart’s aortic valve. With subaortic stenosis, which tends to be present at birth in affected dogs, an obstruction forms in the left ventricle as a result of fibrous tissue developing. Less blood manages to be pumped out by the heart, which causes numerous problems for the dog.
Before your Jack Russell Terrier is diagnosed with subaortic stenosis, look out for things like fainting, an aversion to exercise, and any struggles with breathing.
Once a vet has diagnosed this condition, they have several options open to them. If the case is mild, it may be unnecessary to make any kind of intervention; your dog may need to simply take it easy for a while. If it’s more serious, the vet may prescribe medications like beta blockers. They may also consider surgery, which may involve cutting balloon angioplasty or inserting a soft catheter.
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Feeding a Jack Russell — what’s the best diet?
Experts recommend getting around 500 calories into your Jack Russell Terrier. It ought to go without saying that these calories should be in the form of high-quality, nutrient-rich food full of animal proteins that will keep your dog healthy and full of energy. Adults dogs tend to need about two meals a day but for Jack Russell Terrier puppies the number will be more like four.
Because this breed is prone to allergies, do keep in mind that these may be being caused by certain types of food.
Do your research and avoid harmful ingredients and things like fillers and E numbers. If you can afford it, favor dog food brands that are transparent about how they source their ingredients and what goes into each packet. Try, if possible, to avoid giving it scraps from your plates — food tailored to dogs will always be preferable.
And, if you want comprehensive information about the best dog foods out there, check out our friends at Dog Food Advisor — they have in-depth brand reviews that include ingredient analysis, so you know exactly what you’re feeding your pet.
