This is the true story about an "little dog" who came into our lives on a fall day, in the year of our Lord-help-me, 2003. She was three only just months old. I was forty-nine (and should have known better.) I can't imagine what possessed me to buy a puppy just as the kids were leaving home, but picture this....there I was in the middle of my front yard at 11:00 o'clock on a cold and drizzly September night coaxing the little dog to, "Come on..Go potty!" "Go potty!"
Now if our neighbors perhaps thought I was the one who'd gone potty, how could anyone blame them? I made a decision that all Jack Russells should come with warning stickers pasted to their rumps: "Caution! Do not remove this label until sold. This dog is a dynamo of perpetual movement and bred with a persistence that could oblige you to seek serious professional help. Keep this canine a safe distance away from naive older women looking for a lap dog."
Alas, the only thing I could see at the time, was a tiny tan and white puppy having her afternoon siesta. When I picked her up and held her, she leaned into me and with a warm, velvety tongue brushed against my chin several times. Then she simply laid her sleepy head on my chest and resumed her nap. It seems that I`d been chosen, so we took her home. The rest is history. I called her "Christie" after Agatha Christie, one of my favorite authors. From the first, my husband, John, always referred to her only as "The Little Dog."
Jack Russells have their own unique set of peculiarities. When excited, the breed becomes small bolts of furred lightening. For no apparent reason they will race back and forth as fast as they can, bouncing off of furniture, walls and the occasional leg they encounter.This is called turboing and Christie could turbo with the best of them.
That particular trait still amuses me. A few other Jack peculiarities include chewing rocks or other indigestible objects. Once, while we were both in the yard, I retrieved what I thought was a small stick that Christie had been chewing on. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that the "stick" wasn`t splintering. So it turns out for good reason because on closer examination it was a large rusted nail.
Of course all puppies chew. They chew because they`re teething or bored and Christie was most certainly no exception. Soon after we brought her home, she chewed the insoles in John's new dress shoes. Then I discovered that she`d gnawed the tips of the wooden rockers on a high back chair until they were ragged. When she finally reduced a book about Jack the Ripper to tatters, the irony of it was not lost on me. For a time we called her Jack the Ripper Russell.
Potty training was a year-long horror story. It really was not the dog`s fault; I simply failed to recognize her signal. I mean, every dog pokes its head under a piece of furniture when they have to pee, don`t they?
Even as I grew to love Christie, soiled carpets, mangled furniture and all, "The Little Dog" grew on John, too. One day, after he had been exuberantly welcomed home from a business trip, as usual, he admitted that he had actually missed Christie. From that day forward he no longer referred to her as the invasive "Little Dog."
With enough time, Christie charms her way into most people's hearts. At first, they are rattled by her bouncy high energy welcome, but then they are charmed by the obvious affection that she has for them and inevitably I hear, "But she is cute."
Looking back, I'm not sure how she managed, during those first hectic
months, to find a place in my heart, but there is no question now that
she is firmly entrenched there. And every night, whether I'm watching
TV or reading a book, Christie makes herself comfortable on my lap.
Now if our neighbors perhaps thought I was the one who'd gone potty, how could anyone blame them? I made a decision that all Jack Russells should come with warning stickers pasted to their rumps: "Caution! Do not remove this label until sold. This dog is a dynamo of perpetual movement and bred with a persistence that could oblige you to seek serious professional help. Keep this canine a safe distance away from naive older women looking for a lap dog."
Alas, the only thing I could see at the time, was a tiny tan and white puppy having her afternoon siesta. When I picked her up and held her, she leaned into me and with a warm, velvety tongue brushed against my chin several times. Then she simply laid her sleepy head on my chest and resumed her nap. It seems that I`d been chosen, so we took her home. The rest is history. I called her "Christie" after Agatha Christie, one of my favorite authors. From the first, my husband, John, always referred to her only as "The Little Dog."
Jack Russells have their own unique set of peculiarities. When excited, the breed becomes small bolts of furred lightening. For no apparent reason they will race back and forth as fast as they can, bouncing off of furniture, walls and the occasional leg they encounter.This is called turboing and Christie could turbo with the best of them.
That particular trait still amuses me. A few other Jack peculiarities include chewing rocks or other indigestible objects. Once, while we were both in the yard, I retrieved what I thought was a small stick that Christie had been chewing on. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that the "stick" wasn`t splintering. So it turns out for good reason because on closer examination it was a large rusted nail.
Of course all puppies chew. They chew because they`re teething or bored and Christie was most certainly no exception. Soon after we brought her home, she chewed the insoles in John's new dress shoes. Then I discovered that she`d gnawed the tips of the wooden rockers on a high back chair until they were ragged. When she finally reduced a book about Jack the Ripper to tatters, the irony of it was not lost on me. For a time we called her Jack the Ripper Russell.
Potty training was a year-long horror story. It really was not the dog`s fault; I simply failed to recognize her signal. I mean, every dog pokes its head under a piece of furniture when they have to pee, don`t they?
Even as I grew to love Christie, soiled carpets, mangled furniture and all, "The Little Dog" grew on John, too. One day, after he had been exuberantly welcomed home from a business trip, as usual, he admitted that he had actually missed Christie. From that day forward he no longer referred to her as the invasive "Little Dog."
With enough time, Christie charms her way into most people's hearts. At first, they are rattled by her bouncy high energy welcome, but then they are charmed by the obvious affection that she has for them and inevitably I hear, "But she is cute."
Looking back, I'm not sure how she managed, during those first hectic
months, to find a place in my heart, but there is no question now that
she is firmly entrenched there. And every night, whether I'm watching
TV or reading a book, Christie makes herself comfortable on my lap.
About the Author:
Learn more about Jack Russell Terriers. Stop by Marlene Alexander's site where you can find out all about Jack Russells and other amazing traits of this dog.
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