About Theo

Looking to rehome Theo, a 1-year old, neutered, male Jack Russell Terrier (JRT). He is incredibly sweet, intelligent, and fun. Theo's story: We adopted him a month ago from a wonderful rescue group in New Orleans. We previously had another Jack Russell who passed in February, and we adopted Theo thinking he would work well with our remaining dog, a 13 year-old, 7-pound chihuahua. Unfortunately Theo's energy and size is too much for our older dog. Theo deserves a house he can be himself in, as does our elderly chihuahua. This is what has led us to the decision to rehome Theo. What we LOVE about Theo: 1. Theo is 17 pounds of fun and energy. Incredibly handsome tri-color coat, including a heart-shaped spot on his side that gets lots of compliments. Front-folded puppy ears and the cutest, constantly wagging tail. 2. He is the sweetest, snuggliest boy. He loves to sleep RIGHT next to his people, and he gets comfortable by plopping down in a hurried and very endearing manner. 3. He is incredibly intelligent, and very food/treat/toy motivated. He loves to learn and does so quickly. He recognizes most commands after 1-2 sessions. Consistency is all it takes with him! He is fully potty trained. Knows all the basics. We've made sit-for-please a rule in our household and he has fully adopted it. Getting better at 'go to your bed' and 'go to your room (crate)' and 'off'. 4. Extremely social. He does really well with all people, including kids. But we say all of this without him actually living in a house with kids. Every time he sees or spends time with kids though, he wags and wants to say hi. 5. Walks well on leash unless he sees other dogs. He is a bit leash reactive. We believe with some patience he might be able to get better with this. Sometimes, he ignores other dogs entirely. Most of the time, he doesn't. It is a gamble which he will bark at and which he won't. He isn't trying to attack them by any means. He often has his tail wagging while he's barking, and the barking subsides quickly once he's been able to 'meet' the other dog. 6. He is really good at the dog park and enjoys going. He would LOVE his own yard to play in (we don't have one). He gets really excited when we arrive at the park. He loves all toys and plays fetch well at the dog park. He loves to have his tennis ball thrown over and over again. If another dog is playing fetch, he will chase with them. Some dogs he doesn't enjoy / avoids, but he is overall well-behaved and has fun at the dog park. 7. Great running / walking partner. Loves his exercise but is also quite content being at home and sleeping on the couch. Being a Jack Russell, he does require daily exercise for him to be his best-behaved self. He has loved going on runs with us (both trail and sidewalk/road). 8. Rides well in the car. In fact, he loves it. When you walk him past a line of cars he walks up to every single one in hopes that you're going to open the door for him. He loves sitting in the backseat, on the center console and will (try to) come up to the front seat. Things about Theo to be aware of and/or cautious with: 1. Leash reactivity to other dogs. It is very hard to redirect and distract him once he is over threshold. Tugging, lunging, barking. Again, this isn't with all dogs. And once he is off leash, he takes a minute to get to know them, but then is mostly fine. He isn't a dangerous dog at all. We've just begun using a spray bottle to get him to shift his focus and it seems to be working. We have not used a shock collar with him, but we're sure he would be responsive to it (as is the experience of many terrier owners). 2. Resource guarding: Hhe has displayed some of this behavior around food, toys, and our couch when we are sitting with him on it. Since we recognized this issue, we have been managing it by not keeping his toys out around our other dog, and by keeping him off the couch (in general, but especially while we're eating or there is food out). This has been working well so far. His former foster said resource guarding was not an issue at all in their house with the other male dog. She says this behavior was not something she witnessed at all. 3. We would not advise a house with cats. Although his former foster home did have cats, we would caution that he seems likely to bother and/or react to cats. 4. Separation anxiety: he doesn't love to be left alone. And really does not like to be left inside of his crate. We are working on it and he will go in willingly/quite excitedly because we have played lots of crate games with him, but he does not like being alone when we have to leave him. His former foster left him in the crate for 8 hours while she was at work, and he learned to get used to it. He has been getting better with it.

Summit County
Park City, Utah