Are Jack Russell's A Bit Mad?

by Joyce
(Somerset, England UK)

MY LITTLE TERRORIST

by J.B.B

If you want loyalty and intelligence, get a collie. If you want to be driven mad by obstinacy, get a Springer Spaniel. But if what you want is exasperation, endless fun, and possess unlimited patience, then by all means get a Jack Russell terrier. Deafness would be a bonus too.

These feisty little dogs are a law unto themselves, as I discovered the day I allowed Dolly into my life. I knew, even as I made the phone call to view the litter, that I was making the mistake of my life. However, the urge to have another dog to love and cherish has been with me all my life. I told myself that it is a well known fact that owning a dog keeps it owner young, and by golly, I had reached an age when something was needed to perform that miracle.

I think my reasoning went something like this: Tillie (last dog but one) had been a bit of a handful, yet we had never really regretted bringing her home from the R.S.P.C.A. Kennels. Tillie, you see, though a fairly large dog, must have had a lot of J.R. Genes in her make-up, judging from her appearance and her liveliness. In any case, the vet who gave her her certificate for inoculations at the kennels, had entered J,R. Terrier under breed. Accordingly, my reasoning must have been, a standard J.R, with of course the statuary short legs, will be merely a scaled down model of my previous pet.

Big mistake. Dolly, whilst being about four sizes smaller, is easily four times more voluble, four times more excitable, and 100% more a handful than any other dog I have owned, and that's saying quite a lot if you have ever owned a springer spaniel.

You can almost forgive anything, when a little bundle of fun snuggles up beside you and gazes up at you with liquid eyes expressing adoration.

Read Dolly's Diaries

See Dolly on YouTube

Mad Jack Russell's A page about JR's a work in progress!