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Both Jack Russells and Pitbulls are dogs that have a high prey drive, muscular stature and strong jaws. Both are intelligent and love people.
As this is a Jack Russell site, I’m going to assume you know a bit about Jack Russells, so I’ll begin by giving a rundown of the Pitbull.
Pitbull is a generic term to cover the bull group of dogs in the USA. The name covers the American Pit Bull Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Bully, and the American Bulldog. The term also tends to incorporate cross breeds or those of uncertain parentage who exhibit the visual characteristics of the Pitbull type in USA.
Pitbulls are a type of dog who have suffered a bad reputation due to bad owners, lack of training and breeding programmes specifically for breeding aggression for fighting and baiting. However, despite their poor press, many Pitbulls love people, have lovely temperaments and are great family pets. Fortunately there are also people who advocate for them and breed for temperament, health and intelligence. Good Pitbulls are loving and loyal family pets – just like Jack Russells.
As you probably know Jack Russells too have suffered certain notoriety due to their hunting and fighting instincts. So putting the two together may not seem a natural progression for either. However, people do cross them and the results vary.
Appearance
Regarding appearance as with other cross breeds it’s impossible to have any certainty how the pups will look. The sensible anticipation is for some of the litter to taking after each parent and some being part way between the two. The average result is a medium sized dog with this cross.
Temperament
The Jack Pit as the cross is affectionately known has developed a reputation for its loving, friendly temperament, they love everyone!
Just as with other terriers considerate socialisation is required regarding other dogs and other animals. Once the training is done, they are just like any other socialised dog unless a fight kicks off at which stage they are likely to wade in and get involved.
Because they are intelligent they love training and learning new things. Regular training helps to exercise them mentally and physically. However, it is fair to say that they are a mix that easily “forget” what recall means.
Exercise
Pitbulls and Jack Russells are both known for their stamina. Consequently, your Jack Pit will need plenty of exercise and they thrive on activities such as cani-cross and running and swimming with their owners. Expect to give an adult Jack Pit at least two x thirty minutes of exercise per day and they will need plenty of outdoor space to roam around.
Take a look at the pictures and there are some really cute Jack Russell x Pitbulls out there and I guess that in America they see the cross as a way of cutifying Pitbulls to help their reputation. Generally, as long as you are very experienced with high prey drive, high training needs dogs and if you want a medium sized dog that needs a lot of exercise then you may want to consider a Jack Pit. Otherwise, stick to a Jack Russell at least you can pick them up!
If you enjoyed this article you might also like to read about Jack Russell Border Collie Cross
