She could be trying to establish herself as the Alpha dog, but is frustrated by her disability, so lashes out immediately. She may need to be an "only" dog. There are some dogs that just do not get along with others in close proximity. Either get a trainer in who can help her establish "her place", or see about finding her a home where she can be the only child.

I have an agressive female Jack Russel, and a min-pin. They are both 6-7 years old. I have had several incidences where the Jack attacked the min-pin. It was always in high stress times for them. Be it a vacation, or a move, or my DH had been out of town for a week or more. Also, she has gotten into a few fights at dog parks, mostly with other Jack's. I think it is just their nature. She challenges me, still. You need to make yourself the Alpha, she could be struggling with humans, as well. Walk through the door first, make sure she sits before going out, sits to receive food, etc. I find mine is a sneak, too. They're pretty smart, I've learned her triggers. Good luck :) Christy

Jack's are by nature aggressive dogs. You need to be stern with her and show her that YOU ARE THE BOSS. You need to discipline her when she attacks the other dogs to let her know that is not acceptable behavior. Jack's need strong guidance or they will take control. She doesn't hate your other dogs, she just wants to show htem that she is the boss. When you show her that she is not the boss,(you are), then she is less likely to keep trying to assert herself on the other dogs.

Jack's also need alot of excercise. Even a three legged jack, my mom has one - needs to run and chase...

Ilovepoco - so sorry to hear about your harrowing experience! I couldn't imagine living through that. Thankfully, you managed to resolve the situation. Did you ever hear about how the dog did being the only dog with the rescue family?

tariner- you mentioned that you also have 2 mini schnauzers and a lab and I'm wondering how they all get along. Perhaps it's difficult to tell while your Jack Russell is standing out as the aggressor. I have a female lab now and will be getting a female mini schnauzer pup in a few weeks. Do you have any advice to share?

Good luck on resolving your issues with the Jack Russell.

I am sooo glad to hear, Susan, that you were able to find a home for your trouble maker and you did not have to put your dog down. Unfortunately Susan's story usually has a much sadder ending.

JRT's are one of my favorite breeds and I love them. Though the females that I have had, have been aggressive, its never been to that danger zone level for our pack.

I hope you can find an "only dog" home for your terrier;

I picked up a stray "terrier mutt" one time & had to find her a home.

She was the cutest dog in the universe, but she was just too much dog for me & for my mellow old dogs;
we were all nervous wrecks.

I was lucky enough to find a lady whose ancient Fox Terrier had died, so she understood what kind of dog she was getting, she knew how to live with the terrier personality, & she liked terriers.

The PBS special on dogs had an interesting segment about terriers.

Before the Victorian era, dogs had jobs.

Leisure time, disposable income, & the appearance of Pekinese dogs, captured from the Imperial Household in China, changed all that.

The Victorians were so smitten with the Pekinese that they started breeding for looks alone, but they started with existing dogs, who had been bred for their jobs (to hunt, to herd, to guard, etc.)

Terriers were bred to kill:
Their job was to eradicate barn rats, as many as possible, as quickly as possible, before the rodents could hide or escape.

It showed a farmer letting his terriers into a barn where they chased & killed rats at dizzying speed;
when a rat dived into a pile of hay, the dog would dig it out & kill it.

(gave me a whole new vision of the sweet little domesticated pet dogs I live with!)

Today, terriers still have the same hard wiring, but they have no job & no socially acceptable way to do what they were bred to do.

So lots of them become aggressive, & their owners, unable to cope, put them down or send them to the shelter.

Terriers haven't changed;
the world has changed.

(I think Border Collies are in pretty much the same boat:
they're too smart & too hyper to sit still, & they become "destructive" when they're bored;
they're not content, they really *can't manage*, to sit at your feet when you don't feel like going outside;
they need a job.)

Thank you to everyone that has responded. Ilovepoco - my goodness!!! that is almost exactly where we are now. Baby gates at key locations, but now the baby lab, Zander, can climb over them so now that's no good. Stomach in knots ALL the time and constant watchfullness. We haven't had blood inducing fights yet (unless you count MY hands!!) but we're getting there. I completely agree with you that my JRT, Lacey, would be my dream companion - IF she could get along with the others. Zander is only 9 weeks old and is already as big as my min schnauzers and the only reason she attacked him is because he wanted to eat some food. You can bet he stears clear of her now!! The only problem there is he's a baby and his paws are HUGE! I consider it a miracle if he can walk ten steps without tripping over them, and if he happens to fall into her she's getting ready for war. She's extremely protective of food and toys toward the other dogs.

tantadoodles - my youngest f min schnauzer and zander play like there's no tomorrow. He even cries if he doesn't see her when he wakes up. Although she does make sure he knows that she gets to eat first and that it's not ok to hurt me and if i say no to him she tries to reinforce it with him.
joepyeweed - Lacey tends to walk circles around everyone to show that she is the boss and my oldest shnauzer just flat out freezes everytime they're in the same room. When fights break out she is immediately picked up and told no in an extremely stern voice. Now, lets say it takes just 1 min to get from the site of the fight to her kennel. You can bet she's fighting to get down and growling and snarling and I'm saying no to her the whole way. Then we get to the kennel. She's put in, still trying to get away from me and kill, continuously told no, and she then tries to come THROUGH the kennel, growling and snarling, by now just to attack ANYONE!!

Good news here - all the dogs were locked up but lacey, and the new neighbors came over. She was so loving to them they flat out couldn't believe she would EVER do that so she is good with humans just not female dogs!

May I guess, that you have pampered Lacey and you feel sorry for her because she was hit by a car and only has three legs. Well in Lacy's world that was yesterday's problem. You need to stop feeling sorry for Lacy and start treating her like an aggressive dog. You cannot be stressed, you need to be calm.

You may have to find a new home for Lacy. If you are stressed, Lacy will pick up on that and use it to her advantage. You need to be calm and in control.

Lacy needs to stop the circling behavior. You need to be in charge of the pack. She is circling to control position and that is dominance. Anything Lacy does a look, a posture, an ear position, a movement that affects you or the other dogs needs to be stopped. It should be stopped quietly and calmly by redirecting her attention with a noise or a touch... I use a gruff eh, eh, (I've heard alot of people using a shush, shush, a psst, psst, or a tss tss) and then ignore her.

If you are waiting until a fight has broken out, to make a correction, you have waited too long. There is moment before the incident happens that needs to corrected. The correction should be a simple noise or a touch that changes the dogs focus then ignore her ... picking Lacy up gives her "more" attention, feeding the adreline charged situation and and may actually be rewarding the behavior. And the definite growling and snarling is feeding off of you not being in control of the situation.

Never pet Lacy unless she is sitting calmly and quietly. Does she get tons of exercise? Do you have a fenced in yard so can run to her hearts content? Does she offer her belly to you for rubbing?

Can you practice having all dogs in a sit, on a stay together at the same time? That is not easy, but its a definite reinforcement of who is control of the situation.

Oh I wanted to reference sylvia's post about certain dogs needing a job. I totally agree with her post.

Did anyone see that PBS show about two dogs? One was a bloodhound and the other a bearded collie that were problem dogs that had been sent to the pound or to rescue.

Two trainers took them on, gave them a job and turned them into working animals. Its those troublesome dogs who turn out to be great workers.

So its not only terriers who suffer from a lack of a job. Many breeds, herding dogs, hunting dogs, guarding dogs can have similar problems.

So if you can find Lacey a job to do, that might help too.

Seperating your dogs wont solve anything, you need to teach your dog not to be aggressive, and this can take up to 3 years in some cases. Keep at it. If you must keep the aggressive dog tied to someone by leash or put an eye bolt someplace in the house while you are super busy, to keep her contained - do it. You need to make certain she is ALWAYS the last to eat and get affection last. If you need to muzzle her while she is in the house - do it. In my place, I would muzzle her first, get her fixed ASAP, and have a leash on her while she is walking around so I could correct any unwanted behavior with a quick tug on a choke chain. If you are serious about keeping her and correcting her behavior it is going to take dedication and you need to intervene the second she even reacts in a aggressive way, prickig her ears up when another dog comes close, focusing on the other dog by staring, a quick snap of the collar to remind her you are boss should go along way - but it has to happen consistently. Also take her for some good long walks. This will help her with releasing some extra energy. Be sure you have her sit and wait until you go out the door first, and whatever you do dont let her pull on the leash during the walk. I am very interested in cases like this, please post again to let us know if there are problems or questions. You can do this, remeber be consistant even though you might feel tired of correcting her. PS - she will resist you at first and things might get a bit worse before they get better, but if you are consistant, and get on her for the slightest sign, you will get results

I didn't have the really nasty edge of aggression, but our dog was a complete dink when we adopted him; not well socialized. And he's big, so there weren't many dogs that would "call his bluff", let alone owners willing to let their dogs "play" with him. A true, "catch 22". :/

We used the total obedience approach that mazer outlined for you, "Paris Island for dogs". EVERYTHING belongs to me, you (the dog) get what I say you may have and you'll get it when I say you may. And not one moment before.

It was hard to adopt at first; mostly because other people don't fully understand how basic and important it is. On lookers, visitors to your home react with human emotions... they think it's "mean" or that you're "trying to prove something" (which, of course, you are!), but they aren't able to appreciate the basic necessity that you "win", that every aspect of your interaction with your dog is actually a contest to find out who comes out on top. That's KEY! you must be willing to enforce every command you give immediately. You must insist that it be obeyed on the first command. No second, third chances for compliance. I command it, YOU do it! It's hard work.

Our dog has been with us for nearly 3 years now. He's still a "bully" but he does have a "friend" next door who isn't intimidated by him (American Staffordshire Terrier, lol), and they romp and wrestle until they're tuckered out. Both are neutered so there is no viciousness, but they play rough and they play hard. Interestingly, our dog is the more obedient of the two. When I call him to me, he responds first and comes to me. His buddy has never had the benefit of obedience work and wears one of those zap collars, they call him and if he doesn't come he gets a zap. He's a great dog, but it makes me sad he's not been trained. He loves his owner and is certainly smart enough to "lap it right up".

Don't be afraid of heavy duty obedience work. Your dog will respond, but it will be a lifelong commitment. Embrace it and it will change your life with your dog.