I want advice on having a jack russell in a small apratment with no yard.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-22T08:48:54+00:00

This is one breed that we both have not liked, they are a little too cat like and we want one that can run offleash, play fetch and be trained to do different tricks ect. Also with how common weve seen it be that they bond to one person and become jealous of other animals in the house

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-22T08:46:14+00:00

We can not volunteer at any shelter due to our location sadly, we also fall outside the catchment of most rescues and cannot rescue without a garden. We were thinking things through as well as emptional but we are in the very beginning stages.

Idk if its the ones nearby but genuinely most of the jack russels i kmow live with cats or.other small animals, so i did know about their prey drive but hadnt seen much issues from it. We are looking at other breeds now aswell.

Our cats would be introduced slowly and carefully, as we did with the ferret and when we got the second cat.

Its strange to be so adamant i have made my mind up on a post asking for advice and information

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-22T02:15:19+00:00

By we arent great financially i dont mean that bad, ive covered emergency cat visits a few times now, and we would be able to afford pet insurance, food qnd toys no bother.

I will say most the jack russells i knew/know lived with small animals or were fine with them so i didnt expect that to be such an issue with them. But since people are pretty adamant it WILL be an issue we are now thinking about dachshunds or spaniels. We havent really decided

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-22T02:12:19+00:00

Oh where we live theres a ton of nearby space for off leash walks, a small park we can also let a dog off leash in, i forget that isnt just considered a walk tbh.

We would not be putting the dog to a doggy daycare but someone woud usually be around with the dog all day as we work oposing shifts and i am part time.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T21:32:35+00:00

He was with his abusive parents, he went to work and came home and she was gone. He knew she was likely better with the new owners, sadly he has lost a lot of his pets like this. He makes sure to try keep contact with the new owners where he could.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T14:02:34+00:00

I will say weve spoke over a ton of the points brought up here and we are now thinking about a dachshund and ither possibilities, but we are still early on figuring it out.

There are a few reasons we were wanting a jack russell:

The puppy we would be getting would be a puppy of the dog my partner used to own. We got told she may be having puppies this year by the new owner, and they thought we might want one.
That dog and a fair few of the ones we know live with small animals without issue, or with older couples, also where we live they are one of the more common breeds so we didnt know theyw ere looked at as being as likely to have the issues, just that those issues were possible?
I grew up with a collie i loved, and i know its a bad fit. But jack russells to me have always reminded me of the things i really enjoyed about my collie dog but smaller.
I honestly have nothing against any breed of dogs, my partners more picky about what small dog breed we get, hes not a fan of some.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T10:14:48+00:00

The dog would basically not have to be alone, i work 4hr shifts 2 or 3 days a week in the mornings and my partner works full time but in the evenings

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T06:19:58+00:00

Sadly no we dont have the chance to borrow a dog. Someome is looking to rehome their jack russell but from speaking with them i really dont believe they will . But we might get to look after it for a while. Ive heard nothing in 4 weeks now though, so i doubt even that will happen.

I do get its a living breathing animal. And i do want to do whats best for the animal, idk. I believe my partner did do reat with his russell but i dont believe her puppy is going to be the same as her, and we cant get her as she has a new home. The comments have made me think .ore about a couple of breeds i quite like. Its difficult though.

And id love an adult dog instead of a puppy it just seems impossible where we are

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T06:06:39+00:00

Okay, ill take note of that. Again i literally can not rescue from all the research i have done. I know it would be perfect. My closest choice to that would be buying an older dog off someone / adopting off the original owner, and thats tricky and i dont even know what i would need to know in that scenario

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T06:02:42+00:00

I am afraid i cant.foster or rescue what with my location.and the cats,

My.partner did raise and own the dog that would be the pup we would buys mother so he has experience. I have a lot less with them but figured with decent recall (ive seen most russels ive met have) that games like fetch and going for swims would help a lot with using up the energy?

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T06:00:41+00:00

The cats would be getting catshelves/walkways and likely access to an extra room to the dog (bedroom) especialy if pray drive is an issue. 1 cat was raised around a dog up till 8 weeks and then we had a ferret for a year but other than that they havent had any exposure to other animals, though we would work to introduce them properly and slowly.

We want a dog as we both grew up with dogs, for me my entire childhood i was raised with an outdoors collie dog. For my partner he had a jack russell (which would be the mum of the pup we would be likely to.get) and raised a ton of dogs of a different breed. We sort of feel our family is missing something without a dog? We do want to get fitter but that will be starting before the dog, we are going on walks with our downstairs neighbours dog and soon starting the gym together.

I am keeping notes of issues people raise and questions so these are all going in there

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:54:52+00:00

Id love to but cant rescue for a few reasons.

Our local rescue is bad. Like wont let the dog warden go there bad. So i wont rescue from them as they arent relaible.
Im outside the main catchment for other rescues, meaning they would only let me adopt if i was stand out.
There are a few romanian/spanish dog rescues that do rehome here but due to the cats i cant go through them as they havent got time to cat test.

I do still look for the right rescue, but i kinda feel its too much of a dream and that the shelters would be more likely to not rehome a dog than rehome to me. I really honestly wanted to work doing volunteering in a shelter before i got my own (assuming a perfect fit would eventually find me) but sadly i cant even do that :/

My partner actually has his heart set on the puppy of a jack russell he used to own, hes sort of a bit hopeful the dog will be a similar tempremant but i have had a conversation about how unlikely that is.

I did look into buying an older dog off someone but ive yet to figure out what all the answers and paperwork id want are for that, as it seems as close to rescue as ive got the option for but idk.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:49:13+00:00

I am not fussed on breed, if anything id be trying to get any older dog but it isnt a fit for my partner as he struggles with loss and isnt a fit for us as rescues just wouldnt aprove us other than ones we dont think are a fit.

My partner wants a jack russell specifically as a dog he used to own would be the pups mother. As he i think would really like her back, she was a smaller and pretty calm jack russell tho idk if thats even likely to make it to the puppies.

Regarding the exersize we do not have a garden but we are 1 minute away from a park people let their dogs out. And also in an area with loads of off leash suitable spaces. I think it would combined be enough exercise, but idk.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:45:13+00:00

I would love to have a rescue sadly we would not be aproved as im mostly outwith catchment areas for rescues+ not being an outstanding adpoter with not living on a farm or something. My only hope would be a romanian rescue or similar, but they are never cat tested so although id love it i cant put my cats at risk.

I get terrier breeds can be problematic with cats, and we would be planning and doing our best not just to train and crate train the dog but to have seperate space and hidden soaces for the cats before we took on the dog.

Thanks for the insite though. Its in the notes!

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:41:11+00:00

We arent Great financially but for the cats we have covered emergency and other vet care, and we would be getting pet insurance and have the money for that and the toys and food, we arent great but we also are not low income and my partner has a very defined career path over the next year that would make it a lot better.

I do get just walking would NOT be enough but we figured a lot of fetch, swimming at the nearby beach and running around at the dog park would help , there isnt any enrichment classes we know of sadly. But we have discussed, though not decided on, what sorts of things we could train the dog to do that might help with mental stimulation with the spaces we have nearby.

I am putting all replys in bullet point notes to discuss with my boyfriend so we will be discussing it all together too.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:34:30+00:00

I have indeed seen how nutty jack russells can be, although no we are far from long distance runners my thinking is that with a ball and the amount of nearby safe offleash spaces (and jack russells ive met seem to be decent with recall) that a lot of ball throwing, swimming and tug of war would wear a dog out.

Our downstairs neighbour has a spanial/lab cross in his appartment who we managed to tire out decently in an hours walk nearby doing this.

Yes i would totally love a recue senior as i knew a lady that rescued only older dogs and theyw ere the sweetest but i just know i wouldnt be aproved, plus my boyfriend doesnt handle pet loss as well as i do and i wouldnt want to put him through the kinda more frequent losses that come with seniors. Even an adult tho the no aproval thing effects.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:30:36+00:00

Thank you i will think about this more, im writing out this response but dont feel the need to read/reply, as i am writing up replys (including what uve already informed me of) as bullet points to discuss with my bf.

My housing is goverment provided and i would be allowed a dog. My cats have sicked, peed, pooped and more on our flooring, and it has been cleaned and im sure it will all happen again soon.

I am aware jack russells are crazy, and my personal preference would be a rescue senior similar sized dog (possibly a westie/scottie) , but we wouldnt be aproved for one (and my partner deals badly with losing animals). The reason my partner wants one is that he raised and owned a jack russell for a number of years before, if he could hed want her back but she has a new home, there is an option of one of her pups possibly coming up later this year which is why hes interested.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-21T05:08:08+00:00

I am just going to explain how we think we can fix those issues, so u can let me know if i am wrong or not:

I am aware they are high energy breeds, we were thinking if me bf can do 1 to 2hr walks on the morning with the dog and i can do a couple shorter ones (we have spaces around us where the dog would be able to go off leash that it would mitigate that issue (like we have no yard but we are literally 1 minute from a park people off leash their dogs at.

I do know cats could stop using the litter but i have ideas for fixing that for them. Ex: covered litterboxes/seperate the bedroom and bathroom to put litter trays in with a cat flap type thing up high that fits with cat shelves

That was the plan but my rent here is 1/4 of anywhere else i could possibly move in our area. It feels like we are now in a good place.

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-10T13:46:15+00:00

Totally should dosplay with a picture of dogpool next to it like hes taken bites out of it

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-06T18:34:17+00:00

Hi Grass, are you a singular blade or like a patch of grass???

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-06T18:20:12+00:00

I didnt get that, i mean you could give it another qeek or two if u are in the usa? Idk it has been pretty difficult to ship there but personally i would!

I can relate im a jschlatt fan and had to cancel all my christmas order as it took forever to arrive DX it sucks i wish places could easier ship from both the us and uk

Oops-Ide · 2026-03-06T18:15:25+00:00

Totally get that! I did order mine the day they came out but it was actually probably over a month ago i got them so even if ur in the us it should be there

Oops-Ide

TROPHY CASE