SAEDIE'S TALES / ADVENTURES

Those of you who have not shared your life with a Jack Russell Terrier will no doubt have a definite preformed idea of this breed as being a 'yappy' 'snappy', aggressive, hyper active untrainable little horror.

Well, I am a JRT, I am none of those things and I want you to know that with good guidance you too could fall in love with a perfect JRT just like ME!

My name is 'Saedie'. I have a long tail, am now 11 months old and am fortunate to have a happy country home which I share with a Lurcher named 'Rees' who came from the Charity 2 years ago. Of course he is ten times my size but we play together all the time and he is my best friend.

Daily walks are great fun and as I'm a very sociable little girl it's fun to meet other dogs when I'm out. The only thing I cannot resist is the sight of a rabbit and this has got me into more trouble than anything else – so far!

My very first adventure or mis adventure was when I was taken to visit a family friend who also lives in the country. We arrived, the tail gate of the car opened and I immediately realised that this was going to be a great place to explore.

I quickly greeted all the 'Humans' with my usual enthusiasm and promptly headed to one particular corner where there was an enormous woodpile with giant nettles growing through it. Once inside, it was Amazing! Endless narrow tunnels leading to the unknown and lots of 'evidence' that this was indeed a favourite place of many a bunny. I have to admit, I was being asked to come out of there, but I knew we had been invited for lunch so really there was no hurry, but eventually, I decided to make my way back. It was as if I was in the middle of a Maze and try as I may,as much as I loved my new adventure playground I could not get to where I wanted to go . By this time the lunch guests had begun to battle their way in led by the Hostess who, armed with her saw etc, was attacking the pile as if she were in the Amazon jungle. Glowing with perspiration, covered in green moss, she paused briefly and shouted 'would somebody take the spuds off please'! I wander if we will be invited back!!

My second adventure was at home when I disappeared down a rabbit's burrow out of sight. There was a tunnel to the left and right and both had to be explored. I was aware of the humans jumping up and down above me thinking that would flush me out. I did surface at one point to find I was being offered cold roast beef, mince morsels and my favourite squeaky toy. I said a quick 'thanks' and went back down to accomplish my mission. When I surfaced for the second time, before I had a chance to go again, somebody grabbed my tail and pulled me out. Bring back 'docking'! What a fuss! Okay, it was getting dark, but Puleeeeze!

Something that happens to be frequently and I find it really humiliating is that when I'm running really fast and I hit long grass, I loose my footing and end up doing summersaults. On one of these occasions, I was tearing down this hill having been called, but forgot that at the bottom was a very large very muddy puddle. Well, I was going too fast to ease up, hit the water, did three summersaults and came out the other side looking like I'd been dunked in a vat of Cadbury's chocolate! But even so,I returned to heel, sat, and was rewarded with extra treats. No, not chocky drops!

I could ramble on and on about my interesting and happy life. Who knows, you might get an update in the next issue. Meantime, for all you none JRT folks, just remember, your dog is what you make it, be it a Pedigree or a 'Rescued Runt', a Doberman or Jack Russell.