Life Expectancy Of The Jack Russell Dog
Posted: Friday, June 15, 2007
by Colin Pederson
dogobedienceadvice.com
Jack Russells are a vivacious, alert, frisky - almost hyperactive - breed, originally bred and trained to hunt game with the horses and hounds. Because of this physically demanding, energetic lifestyle, the Jack Russell is an incredibly hardy breed which suffers from few genetic complaints and consequently enjoys a long, active life. Rate of Development
This is nonsense. Dogs develop at a completely different rate from humans and it all relates to the age of the dog. Dogs - Jack Russells included - tend to develop much more quickly in the early years than humans would do: a one year old Jack Russell is actually equivalent to about fifteen or sixteen years in human terms. That is to say, the terrier has reached its full size and sexual maturity, but it will be a while longer before its muscles fill out and it attains real adult shape. Jack Russells develop at the rate of approximately ten human years to each dog year for the first two years of its life; and thereafter each human year that passes will count as approximately five dog years. Using this system, a fifteen year old Jack Russell would be eighty-five years old in dog years.
Good Genetics
Jack Russells - like a lot of terriers - suffer from a fortunate lack of genetic ill-health. Other than a slight tendency towards painful kneecaps - which is due to a condition called patellar luxation, meaning the sudden partial dislocation of the kneecap - and a slight disposition towards eye problems, such as corneal irritation and ingrown eyelashes, the Jack Russell is a predominantly healthy dog.
This is most likely due to a consistent lack of inbreeding: because of the lack of a recognized 'breed standard', Jack Russells are a type as opposed to a true breed. This means that quite wide physical variations and markings are reasonably common and accepted within the Jack Russell gene pool: for example, some are rough-coated or 'wire-haired', some are smooth-haired, there's no fixed pattern for the colored patches on the coat, leg length differs remarkably, the size of dog is immensely variable, etc. Correspondingly, these dogs don't suffer from the typical sad and crippling diseases which come from a limited gene pool (such as breeds commonly regarded as 'over bred' - such as giant breeds, pugs, and mastiffs - might do).
Life Expectancy
The average life expectancy for your Jack Russell is about fifteen years. It's incredibly how hardy these little dogs are when considering that larger, 'tougher' breeds such as Mastiffs and Great Danes have a life expectancy of only seven to nine years.
Jack Russells have a light bone structure, undemanding musculoskeletal system (no large rapidly-developing muscles, which put stress on the bones) and well-proportioned body to thank for their rewarding life-span.
The Jack Russell's characteristic small chest - which should be easily spanned by a human hand - may be at least partially responsible for this good fortune in length of life and good health: a small chest in a dog is generally a good sign, as it means the dog's heart is small and in keeping with the size of its frame. A small heart is often more effective at pumping blood for many long years than a large one, as it doesn't get tired from pushing gallons of blood around a huge frame year after year.
Companion for Life
Jack Russells make excellent companions. Vivacious, intelligent, and constantly energetic, they thrive on human companionship and are guaranteed to make you laugh with their unending attempts to gain your approval: back flips and five-foot leaps into the air just to get your attention are frequent sights for the Jack Russell owner. Take good care of your dog. Walk him every day, train him, keep him happy and healthy, and he'll be around well into his teens. This is one of the great blessings of the terrier group, and the Jack Russell is, fortunately, no exception.
For more information and advice visit our Jack Russell Training Pages.
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More commentsExcellent Article, thank you!
Informative and well written. "Tis a gift to be simple."
Thanks for this article; it was very interesting and informative, also well-written. Being an author myself, i would know. However, I own Jack Russel and it is a bit more stocky and has a larger, muscular chest. After reading the section on the chest/heart, does this mean my do Beau( my Jack Russel Terrier) has a shorter life expectancy than a normal or smaller chested Jack Russel ? Thank you. - Jacob Renner age 21 from Memphis, TN.
very enjoyable article! our jack russell missy was especially pleased to hear the part about the long lifespan!..lol!
I made the heart crushing decision to put my almost 16 yr, old Jack 'Russell to sleep 12/31/10 (she would have been 16 on 1/1/11). After reading this article I am writing this through tears. I miss her terribly but know that she is in a better place as she had gotten to the point of not eating and was losing interest in life among having other problems. The years of joy she brought our family cannot be shared here - not enough space. She was the pack leader of our dogs - I was always the HBIC she 2nd in command. As the article states, you have to be the pack leader because these lovable pups can get out of control. I was told Jack Russells couldn't be trained for obedience - WRONG! As for getting the owner's attention - I recall the jumping for treats, "speaking", and the neat "AAAAARRRRRRRLLLLL" she would "say" when we came home. I miss that terribly as you can imagine. As hurt and crushed as I am, I wouldn't trade the time with her for anything in the world. What I won't do (I don't think) is get another Jack Russell because I would unfairly compare the new one to Carmen, and that wouldn't be fair to another dog. What a wonderful breed they are!!!loved you response
Don't deprive a wonderful JRT your love! Get another, and love it like you did the other! The dog world depends on people like us! I have 2 jacks, one 12 the other is 6. I hope to have another in a 2 or 3 years. JRTs are amazing and smart! Easy to train, which is why you see so many on TV. Anyway, I would not be without at least one JRT!
This article had to be written specifically for our little Callie. If you have an active lifestyle and want your dog to be part of your family, you cannot go wrong with a Jack Russell. Thank you Colin for this great piece.
Just put my Austin to rest 8/12/11 one month short of his 16th birthday, this article is right on. He was a wonderful companion constantly making my wife and I laugh, the running joke in my house hold was the chain of command. He recognize that I was the head of the house then he was 2nd in charge and last my wife, My wife would tell him wait to daddy gets home and he would attempt to talk back to her, very funny sight. When I was given the bad news of his condition and I had to put him to rest I brought him home had everyone he dealt with on a daily basis come to my house and say their last goodbyes, Austin was very weak but whenever a face he knew
entered the room he would wag his tale and attempt to walk to them. I truly believed he knew it was his time, as I cried he would not stop kissing me and finally died in my arms. Austin you will be missed, daddy, mommy and all of your family and friends will always love you. RIP my DUKE
My jack russell terrier is now 17 years old and it seems he will pass away soon. Still, quite an impressive age especially if you consider that he's always had health problems. A vet once predicted that he wouldn't make it past 8.
Our Jack Russell (short hair) was chosen when my son was four. He is now nearly 20 and we've had 16 years of perfect health. Our dog has got up to enormous mischief involving cats, he's been hit by a car, impaled on a fence, ran off once after a kangaroo, he even busted in the coop and ate our chickens. But love him we do, and sadly he has developed bone cancer in his leg so we will probably share our last xmas with him. The greatest breed of dog and companion ever. There will only ever be one dog for us. the magnificant, naughty, charming loving Jack Russell. He always howls along with my son's saxaphone, and runs around in big circles when people he loves comes to visit, and yes, he howls hello. Thanks for summing up exactly, our dog.
I lost my best buddy last night. He was 11. I am writing because I wondered whether his death and that of his twin brother a year ago should give me and my family cause for worry about something being wrong in our environment.
These dogs were bred by a local family. My wife bought them, so I don't know anything more about their breeding. The dogs were male. The one that died last year was overweight apparently right out of the womb as the owners had named him Roley as in roley-poly. He was an excellent hunter type dog as we had raccoons and possum on our property that Roley and his brother Wishbone would easily dispatch. I tried to make sure they didn't get that opportunity much, but it happened.
Roley died of a kidney disease that our vet said was common in Jack Russells. Last week WIshbone became very lethargic and would barely eat or drink. But yet his eyes were clear and bright. His nose was cold and wet. Tail wagging.
I got him to eat some peanut butter off my fingers and was able to get him to start drinking by dipping a paper towel in water and then squeezing the towel to get water to his tongue. He lapped that up and then was ready for his bowl. We took him to an animal hospital that our vet is associated with (Sunday night, so we couldn't get him seen otherwise).
They did some testing on him-- x rays, blood work and an abdominal tap. They found blood in the abdomen and blurry areas around his spleen. He was anemic. The hospital advised us to leave him there (they did offer to take his spleen out for 5000 dollars...geeze) as abdominal bleeding was probably due to some sort of cancerous tumor that had ruptured. Such bleeding would be very painful and best to let them put him to sleep there and not subject him to pain.
I asked to see him. When he came out, he was again wagging his tail and seemed bright eyed, although clearly tired. I said we'd take him home. They wanted to give him morphine etc. I advised them that I could take him to a closer animal hospital if he was in any pain, but that I thought he should not be drugged at the moment.
The next day our vet came to see him and did look at the xrays and lab work. He generally concurred with the diagnosis, but would do the surgery for 800 in two days if the dog were strong enough.
The vet left us with some IV b-12 and other fluids to give. Additionally we gave the dog co q 10 (ubiquinol) and curcumin. The dog made dramatic improvements. By Wednesday he was out in the yard romping around and looking much better. He was eating and drinking regularly. No problem with bowels or urination.
Yesterday (Sunday) our dog was the best I'd seen him since his initial incident. But in the late afternoon he went outside for awhile and then laid underneath a tree. I went to get him and when I picked him up he was limp and not very responsive. He wouldn't take water--even with the paper towel method. He died about an hour later.
The vet said this morning that he was not distended and thought that it wasn't a bleed, but rather a heart attack that did him in.
Given what I am reading about Jack Russells living about 15 years, I am really worried that there is something wrong in our environment that contributed to this...
any thoughts?
thanks
tim
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