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Hi Everybody Out There! If you don’t know who I am; I am known as Pat Wilcox’s constant conscience. I have always been allowed to cast my pearls of wisdom into her computer as part of assorted newsletters. Now I have been promoted and here I am on the web! WOW, pretty exciting! I would like you humans to consider the word “cute”. You know, things like, “what a cute baby”, or better yet, “what a cute puppy!” that kind of “cute” is OK, I guess; but, “he’s so cute I couldn’t scold him” is not OK. Basically we PRTs don’t mind if you humans think we are cute, especially if it gets us some perks. I’m honest (my Mom raised me to be) we Terriers are manipulative and self-serving. We are that way from the get-go! We just hide it behind a veneer of “cute”. If you humans want to let us get away with murder; murder of shoes, toys, plants, etc., we are happy to oblige. Personally, I keep my kids well in hand. If they give me any backtalk…wham! I have them on the ground so fast they don’t know what hit them. Remember, give a Parson Russell an inch; he’ll take a foot and soon rule your home! Although I hate to admit it, discipline and consistency are the most important considerations in raising a PRT puppy. Now I don’t mean you have to climb all over the pup for every little misdemeanor. Decide what you expect from your puppy as a companion, working dog, show dog, whatever. Then stick to the rules that will give you what you want. A lot of love, many treats and a healthy measure of discipline will give you the companion you want. We really don’t mind following rules - we just need to understand what is important to you. Consistency is the keyword here! We want to please you because we (ugh mushy!) love you. You are, or should be, our Fearless Leader. Of course, if you don’t lead, we can’t follow. In which case we will make our own rules, ones of which you probably won’t approve. You know, like it really is alright to eat your food off your plate on your table. If these ideas have no appeal to you, then limit your perception of the word “cute” to how we look and start thinking “well-behaved” for our actions. Oh yeah, be prepared to compromise on that “well-behaved” idea a bit; after all, we are Parson Russell Terriers! 
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