Terriers and anything that moves quickly!

For Terriers a jogger can prove too much of a temptation to chase after!

That is a rather sweeping generalization but worth keeping in mind that many Terriers have a strong prey instinct - genetically bred to chase, catch and kill vermin they just love their work but when this instinct is miss-directed it can transfer to anything from bikes to joggers! - Rarely though is this anything more than the thrill of the chase - as this is a diluted instinct to chase moving things, though can prove risky for the dog especially if it‘s a motorbike or similar. Unlike with the real thing say a rat which drives prey instinct via their senses which will end in doom for said rat!

3 of my Terriers Eddie, Mickey and Timmy have very strong prey drives, they are pure bred Jack Russells and from a breeder with the appropriately named “Ruff n Tuff Terriers” and they sure are both! Small furry animals and birds beware - that’s anything from cats to pigeons or if they think they’re up for it then best is the pheasant chase! Though these birds usually fly off leaving the Terriers looking a tad bemused!

So when I happen upon joggers and I have the Terrier Pack with me it’s "leads on" in record time else they’ll be off on the chase! They wouldn’t do anything if they caught up they are all very people friendly dogs - again the reward is in the chasing not the catching here! This is when I prefer a jogger to stop and give me a breathing space to regain control. By this I mean stop running - walking confidently past is fine always ignoring the dogs though.

So I have to be extra vigilant on behalf of anything that moves with speed when out with these Terriers else they would “Terrierize” the beaches and lanes! Don’t be miss-led by size - they maybe small but they are “rough and tough” dogs and more likely to miss-behave than all my others put together!

Interesting though that I did not mention Peter hey?! That is for once he has no problems with chase drive either real or miss-directed - with people even if they are jogging he is not inspired to chase, he is a Fox T mixed breed with less prey instinct, though my cat Socks would probably not agree here!

All Terriers walked for the day so cats, birds, rabbits, cyclists, joggers etc you are all clear to go forth with speed on the beach!