Jack Russell Story Jack Russell Story
Story Name: You Can Take the Terrier Out of the Country
From: Mark Young
My Jack Russell Story:
You Can Take the Terrier Out of the Country...
We recently adopted our jrt, Addison, to keep our aging pit bull company. We figured we knew what we were getting into, after keeping a very high-stung pitbull in an urban setting. Little did we know...
Our pit bull (who left us this spring, for a place where the cats are all clawless and slow and all the people let doggies pooch at the dinner table), was a handful, but she was no hunter. The Jack Russell Terrier is a HUNTER, born and bred. And it doesn't matter where they are, they HUNT.
Some years ago, the back lot behind our urban row house became available, and was immediately purchased for our back yard and garden. It is a unique situation to have a yard in the city, and it makes for a wonderful fenced area for dogs, especially a jrt. It's pretty, green, and has lots of squirrels, birds, and even a few snakes. Still, it's a city setting, no matter how you slice it.
During a pretty summer evening during Addison's 12th month, we were enjoying a small party on our lower deck, next to the garden. We'd just enjoyed a nice dinner, and some good wine, and it was now rather dark. Of course, Addison was there to guard us from neighborhood cats, dogs, bugs, and shadows, and everyone thought it was cute. "What a hunter" they'd laugh.
Suddenly, Addison became rather interested in something under the deck, and we figured that he was hunting a wild and dangerous cricket. Few moments went by, with him sniffing around the deck just arms reach away from me. Suddenly, there is a ruckus, with snarling and thrashing. The party looked on with interest as I reached down to pull the dog away from what I thought must be a mouse.
I grabbed the scruff of his neck and lifted him onto the deck only to find that he was attached to a 'possum! Not a large one, but quite enough to cause hysteria among our female guests.
Fortunately, 'possums play, well, 'possum. As such, when Addison let his prey go, it just lay there, playing dead (we're pretty sure it wasn't), so we could discretely deposit it on the OTHER side of our fence.
I couldn't possibly express my pride in Addison's horrify display for my guests--guests who had thought of him as a "toy dog" and made fun of his hunting skills. A few of the more squeamish might not be back, but those who do will have a new-found respect for the mighty Jack Russell.
It just goes to show you, you can take the terrier out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the Jack Russell Terrier!