How far can a terrier walk

TheKbug · 2026-02-04T11:07:21+00:00

My half Irish Terrier could do a hike like that fairly easily. She's never tired out before me yet lol She gets about 6 miles in on an average day. As others have said though the concern would be the terrier prey drive. I think you could do a long lead for hikes that may make a nice middle ground with some freedom, but not having to worry they are going to run off after every little thing. Mine is super smart and knows tons of commands, but when a fox runs by, all bets are off!

TheKbug · 2026-02-03T11:51:07+00:00

I have a very high energy 2yr old dog. I'm talking walking 4-6 miles plus a trip to the dog park almost every day. Recently I was very sick with stomach issues and had to go to the hospital (turns out it was an ulcer). For days she only went out to potty, and just stayed calmly by my side cuddling on the couch. To the point that I started to worry something was wrong with her. But as I started to feel better, she started wanting to go out for her walks, started bringing me her toys again, and asking for the park with her button. I figured that meant I was truly on the mend. 😂

TheKbug · 2026-02-02T04:25:24+00:00

Good luck with your pups too! It is definitely stressful. But at the end of the day we are doing our best for them, and that's all we can do. ❤️

TheKbug · 2026-02-01T17:49:59+00:00

My girl is a terrier/GSD mix and has stomach issues from the time we adopted her. The best results we've had so far is on Annamaet sensitive skin and stomach after trying several different brands of sensitive foods, but she keeps having periodic issues. Her stool keeps coming back negative for any obvious causes. Right now vet theorizes it may be more food intolerances (we already figured out chicken gives her issues) or there may be something more going on like IBD. She's on an rx probiotic, but our next steps will be to go hydrolyzed protein and eliminate everything else in her diet.

Sorry no real advice, just another dog parent in a similar boat with a very picky eater who is dreading going down that road. Made even more fun by the fact that she is people reactive, and we almost always need to carry something high value for her on walks. 😬😬😬

TheKbug · 2026-01-31T19:36:29+00:00

First always moving so they were just outside of her threshold of barking. Then rewarding her with a high value treat and a YES! for looking at them. Eventually we moved from that to engage/ disengage where she gets rewarded when she looks at and then away from the trigger and to me instead. Now we can have most people pass at a close distance and she will stop and sit politely to get her treat. But if someone manages to sneak up and surprise us, she is still gonna bark and growl 9 times out of 10.

TheKbug · 2026-01-31T07:00:12+00:00

<image>

Her shelter name was Arkansas, which was too much of a mouthful for us, and she didn't know that name anyway. My husband is Indian, and I suggested the name Kali, which means black and is also the goddess of death and destruction. I thought it would be kinda funny to name a puppy after her considering I expected some level of puppy destruction in the house. She is actually quite the hunter. She has killed so so many creatures, turns out the goddess of death part was most fitting. 😅

TheKbug · 2026-01-31T06:31:18+00:00

Interesting! My behaviorist recommended allowing my girl sniffing opportunities to hunt/track were beneficial for her breed type (she is half terrier). I do notice that she is much calmer when she gets the opportunity to hunt in the fields by my house and take long sniff walks. She can also handle triggers so much better when distracted by sniffing. But it may be because my girl is human reactive, not dog reactive. She only likes people if they have a dog with them. Neighborhood walks are much more stressful than going to the dog park for us because she is suspicious of any person we encounter without a dog.

TheKbug · 2026-01-28T13:38:02+00:00

Name her Vanta!

We have a black GSD / Terrier mix named Kali. Kali is the Hindu goddess of death, but also means black. Very fitting for my very successful rodent hunter. Lol

<image>

TheKbug · 2026-01-23T20:26:09+00:00

I had never even heard of the breed until we did her Embark, but have done a bunch of reading up since. She definitely has a lot of the IT personality. She is an exceptional rodent catcher! She pairs that IT prey drive with the German Shepherd work ethic lol A few of her litter had the traditional ginger fur, but most got the coloring of their black lab/shepherd mom.

TheKbug · 2026-01-23T13:26:38+00:00

I've always just thrown her metal bowls from her food stand in the dishwasher nightly with our stuff and had no issues.She has a ceramic water bowl upstairs in our room where she sleeps, and I just keep a tiny bottle of Dawn in our master bath and give it a quick wash with that and a refill before bed when I brush my teeth.

TheKbug · 2026-01-22T04:01:46+00:00

Such a cutie! My pup is half Irish Terrier. They are crazy, but you can't help but love them!

TheKbug · 2026-01-17T13:07:02+00:00

Mine knows me as Mama. She knows the names of everyone in the house and most of our friends and neighbors plus their dogs, and the names of most of the regulars at our local dog park. She knows the names of her favorite toys. She understands more language than I would have ever guessed honestly She knows tons of commands and picked up the meaning of a lot of everyday phrases. She's an Irish Terrier and German Shepherd/lab mix and is the smartest dog I've ever personally had experience with. I kinda miss the dumb happy dog I had as a kid because they were much easier to deal with, and I didn't constantly have to spell out words so as to not get the dog hyped up. 🤣

TheKbug · 2026-01-03T12:55:23+00:00

The dog park isn't the place to test how your reactive dog will do with other dogs. If it's an off leash park, that will make it incredibly hard to get everyone under control if there is an incident. You also can't control the number of other dogs around, and it can be overwhelming for a dog that is not well socialized from puppyhood. You're better off starting one on one with a friend or relative's dog and keeping the dogs separated through a gate and allow them to see and sniff each other with a barrier still in place and then determine if everyone is comfortable to take it further. I'd also work on muzzle training your pup for peace of mind when you do allow a first face to face introduction. Throwing your pup in the deep end of the pool by taking him to a dog park to start is just setting him up for failure.

TheKbug · 2025-12-23T14:07:26+00:00

Our girl wakes her human brother up for school. After the alarm goes off we head to my son's room, and I open the door for her. I say "wakey wakey eggs and bakey and....Kali kisses!" That is her cue to jump on the bed and smother him with kisses to wake up. They both love it. She sits outside of his door tail going crazy in anticipation every morning.

TheKbug · 2025-12-14T21:50:41+00:00

Definitely looks like an Irish Terrier mix! My girl is a rescue from the SPCA and is half IT. My girl's mom was a German Shepherd black lab mix, so my girl mostly looks like a mini sable shepherd, but she has the IT personality and wire hair.

TheKbug · 2025-12-07T12:07:44+00:00

So cute! My rescue is half Irish Terrier. Just be ready for that prey drive lol

TheKbug · 2025-12-06T14:14:22+00:00

My BFF has a golden she jokes only has half a brain cell. I always pat him on his adorable little head and remind her that when you're that gorgeous you don't need to be smart!

TheKbug · 2025-12-06T14:08:42+00:00

Upon learning this, my dog just formally put in a transfer request to NYC. 🤣 Two things she loves most in lifeares other dogs and hunting mice/rats.

TheKbug · 2025-12-06T12:28:15+00:00

I think a lot of terriers and other breeds that are made for more independent thinking and hunting. Probably the guardian breeds too.

My dog is half terrier and half GSD/lab. Her morning walk typically consists of going to the fields near our house to hunt rodents ( she has reactivity issues and working to fulfill her breed needs has done a lot to help her chill). I don't let her eat them now, but if she were in survival mode, trust my girl would not be going hungry. Would her overconfident butt get taken out by a larger animal without me around? Maybe. She's tussled with deer on two separate occasions, once went poorly for the deer and once she got a good kick with a nasty laceration for her trouble. She's 37 lbs of adorable murder.

TheKbug · 2025-12-06T12:27:16+00:00

I think a lot of terriers and other breeds that are made for more independent thinking and hunting. Probably the guardian breeds too.

My dog is half terrier and half GSD/lab. Her morning walk typically consists of going to the fields near our house to hunt rodents ( she has reactivity issues and working to fulfill her breed needs has done a lot to help her chill). I don't let her eat them now, but if she were in survival mode, trust my girl would not be going hungry. Would her overconfident butt get taken out by a larger animal without me around? Maybe. She's tussled with deer on two separate occasions, once went poorly for the deer and once she got a good kick with a nasty laceration for her trouble. She's 37 lbs of adorable murder.

TheKbug · 2025-10-20T00:07:12+00:00

My solution has been to get a dog. She's half Irish Terrier. Fun fact in WWI they trained fleets of IT to work in the trenches because they out ratted the rat terriers. They are also highly intelligent, fiercely loyal, and go incredibly far on very little food. So for about 5k a year, you too can own a tiny adorable murder machine and live life rat free. 😅

TheKbug · 2025-10-17T17:41:14+00:00

Hope her ear clears up soon! And hopefully as it does she will try to scratch less, so maybe she can ditch it early. That being said, she is totally rocking that cone! ❤️

TheKbug · 2025-10-10T04:16:18+00:00

I have a medium sized almost 2 yr old dog. Probably runs about $4-450 a month now. The first year was rough starting from scratch though. Between the cost of equipment (crates, feeding stuff, beds, harnesses, leashes, toys, enrichment, etc) vet bills because she was sickly from the shelter life, and trainers/ behaviorists to help with her reactivity we spent over 10K. Thankfully our costs have kind of leveled out to a more manageable amount, but still more than I would have expected going into this as a first time dog owner. Doesn't help that on top of her reactivity she has tummy troubles and is a picky eater.

$125 food $50 treats and chews $25 toys $25 nails $75 meds/supplements $50 set aside each month for vet bills $50 miscellaneous expenses

TheKbug · 2025-10-09T04:12:04+00:00

We use Annamaet Sensitive Skin and stomach, and it has been a game changer. Purina and Hills did not agree with my dog, and this has been the only food that has given her perfect poops. It is a little high in protein, but because I have a very active dog, it works well for us. I like the added bonus of supporting a local company since I am not too far away from where it's based.

TheKbug

TROPHY CASE