A: I grew up with cross-bred terriers which, being longer on the leg than the Jack Russell terrier, were more like hunt terriers. They were trained to work as gundogs by my father as well as working with the ferrets for rabbits. They would go to ground and bring out rabbits, always dead but still good enough for the pot. They would also hunt up wild pheasants in sugar beet and would retrieve them with no harm. If my father shot a hare, it was coming back to hand no matter how far it had run after the shot. There was always a chase if the shot missed its target but after a short distance they would turn off unwounded game and come back ready for more action.
They were never worked on formal shoots but I have seen other Jack Russell terriers working well in the beating line to flush birds, though some have a failing for catching and killing game. That may be down to a lack of training.
Get your Jack Russel retrieving dummies covered in a rabbit skin at home first and perhaps the same with pheasant wings so that you can see what his reaction is going to be, then progress to cold fresh game. If all goes well, you may just have found a great shooting companion for the future.
Gun dog training: I am thinking of getting a terrier – probably a Border – as a pet but I…
Most, if not all of the terrier breeds bring a smile to our faces, whether the smug condescension of the…
There are many different terrier types. There’s the ever-popular Jack Russell and then there’s the little seen Sealyham terrier. What’s…
How did 20th-century gundog trainers manage without a training vest? Practical clothing is a boon for the modern dog trainer, says Felix Petit
