20171019A Steffen Heinz, WC
Jack Russell terrier. Source: teffen Heinz, Wikimedia Commons

Can a tiny Jack Russell terrier chase away deer ten times his size? A reader from Rawdon, Quebec says he can.

When she bought her property, it was invaded by deer on a regular basis, sometimes up to seven at a time. They ravaged her vegetable patch and nearly destroyed her attempts at putting in flowerbeds.

Then she bought Terri.

The little terrier has access to the yard day and night thanks to a dog door and seems to take great pleasure in keeping other mammals at bay, chasing off squirrels, groundhogs and even deer. He respects the limits of her property and never bothers animals in her neighbors’ yards, but any animal that tries to enter her yard is chased away with a barrage of barking and flashing teeth.

She can now grow beautiful flowerbeds and a great vegetable garden without worrying about deer damage.

Maybe you need a dog in your garden too!

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

2 comments on “A Terrier to Control Deer?

  1. Barry Langille

    There is so much left out here. A terrier is not going to respect property boundaries without a great deal of training, of the proper kind. You can’t just buy a dog turn it loose and problem solved. Recipe for disaster. I won’t go into the experiences of a friend with neighbors with a poorly trained (or possibly badly bred) Jack Russell, or all the other people who have been attacked, but let’s just say this breed is not for everyone.

    • No, a terrier is certainly not for everyone, nor necessarily the best breed. I’m just sharing an experience. My own dog is a wanderer: I have to keep her tied up at all times, so she would be useless at keeping deer away. But in a properly fenced yard, which mine isn’t, she’d be great. She never shows agression to people (no risk of her biting) or even cats (she’s used to them), but she chases any other animal she sees.

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