Jack Russell Story Jack Russell Story
Story Name: Checkers' First Hunt
From: Laura Reid Cormier
My Jack Russell Story:
I adopted Checkers from a local breeder not totally understanding JRTs capacity for trouble! I had heard that these dogs were bred for hunting, but Checkers seemed to be quite content to be a "house-mouse" in a suburban setting. That was until I visited my mother in Alexandria, Virginia, when I went to my first JRTCA National Terrier Trial. I pulled up at her house and tossed Checkers over the fence into the back yard while I unloaded the car. He immediately started barking but that wasn't unusual for him. But then the barking got very urgent and strangely muffled. I ran into the back yard and couldn't see him anywhere, but I could hear him! He had gone to ground under the utility building and no amount of threats or coaxing would bring him out. He stayed under there and bayed for over one and a half hours! It was when I stopped hearing him I worried! To make a long story short we ended up having to cut a hole in the floor of the building to retrieve him. He was filthy, covered with fleas, and exhausted, but he had the biggest goofy grin on his face (all you people with working terriers know that look!), and he has never been quite the same since then. But come to think about it, neither have I!!!