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Am I trying to be like Murf
Some time ago I posted a verse that went:
Before they bury me 'neith the turf
if I could be just half a Murf.
It looks like I've taken one more step toward that by getting a Jack Russell terrier pup. There's a pic of her on #2. What a wonderful smart dog. She's almost 3 months old now. I don't think I'll get two of them though. Hey that fits the half a Murf theme. 
Dave
The reason we have a new dog is that not long ago we lost our West Highland terrier to a fungal disease called blastomycosis (link below). It's a fungal disease that dogs (and humans) get from spores in the dust. She went off her food and five days later she was dead. We started her on the expensive medicine but it was just too late. There were plenty of tears in the house that day.
Link:
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Dave, thank you so much for the kindest of words.
My condolences, both on the loss of your Westie, and on your getting a Jack, your life will never be the same again.
All kidding aside, I know how tough the loss of a beloved pet is. Those damned little buggers really get to your heart don't they?
If you don't already know a JRT, or PRT (mine are actually Parson Russells BTW) is actually the only pure-mutt there is, and as anyone who has ever had a cross-breed probably knows, they're as smart as a whip!
Teach that little cutey early, and teach it well, they will learn anything and everything you care to teach them.
Do it and yourself a favour though, don't feed it strictly commercial food. To a JRT or PRT, commercial food is like feeding a kid at Mickey D's 3 meals a day, that pup will run around like a wild banshee, high as a kite.
I've had & bred them for over 20 years now, if you have any questions PLEASE feel free to shoot me a line or two.
Best of luck, you'll need it.
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Dave, as a big time dog lover I'm always saddened when I hear about the loss of a beloved dog. We cried around here for weeks when we lost ours. I read an interesting (if poorly written) book entitled "Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates" that explored the question of whether we'd see our dogs in heaven or not. The authors conclusion was that we would. I like to think so since that is a comforting thought after the loss of a pet.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Thanks for the condolences guys. We still miss the little girl. She was just in her prime and was a great dog, only 5 years old.
Thanks Murf for the offer of advice. Our new JR is definately a handfull. I'm constantly telling my wife that she's got to make the dog come when she calls now or she will never listen to her. When she (the dog) ignores me I just run her down and make her come to the spot I called from. When she was 7 weeks old I could actually run her down. Now I don't think she realizes she's 3 times faster than I am and just sits there. Almost all the time she comes on a dead run but sometimes there is something that is just too interesting...
Last week at dusk the dog and I we were sitting on the deck of our place in northern Wisconsin watching four deer out in my deer plot. Suddenly I noticed the dog's hair rise up. About 40 yards away was a gray wolf looking back at us. I really had to scramble and grab the dog because I knew she was about to TRY to destroy that wolf. I grabbed the dog and got her inside. It's obvious they have no fear of humans, it was in no rush to get away from me. As it trotted off a second one that was coming in at about a 90 degree angle joined it. I'm sure they were hunting the deer, not us.
Dave
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Dave, you will find that there is a very powerful connecting link between a JR's ears and their stomach.
Try, while she's young, giving her 'practice' commands, somewhere quiet, inside, where there are few distractions. Start with the basics, sit, stay, come, etc., but reward each positive response with a tiny bit of food. In very short order she will be VERY obedient, then slowly start to change it so that she only gets a treat every other time, then every third time, and so on until she is doing ti for nothing but praise, and lots of it.
As you already figured out, control is absolutely EVERYTHING.
They have some sort of eye problem that they are ALL born with, they look at another animal and no matter what we see it as, they see it as a mere fraction of their own size. It could be a 200 pound bear, but to a JRT it would look like a mouse.
We had a little episode of this here just this past weekend. My wife and I went for a little walk at the lake, the dogs caught the scent of something under the dock and away they went, suddenly there was the most horrendous noises coming out from underneath. They had found and cornered a racoon, and a big one at that. By the time I was able to call them off of it, poor Rocky was missing several clumps of fur and one of them came out with about 2" of it's tail in her mouth.
To make matters worse, when we got home sunday night, my wife let them out for a pee and they surprised a chipmunk, the poor creature made the last wrong turn of it's life, it ran in the open door of the sunroom. Before my wife new what was happening the Chippie was dead.
If it's any consolation, JRT's are so fast, as you probably have already discovered, that they seldom get into any serious trouble. My two have had several run-ins with coyotes and such here, it always ends up the same, nothing can run fast enough to get them. There was one close call with a Red Tail hawk, but the dog saw it swooping in when I yelled, she laid real low and at the last moment she went straight up and snapped at the poor bird. I dont think that hawk will ever look at another animal the same way ever again. It shocked the bird so bad it flew into a tree trying to get away.
If time allows, try spending an hour a day, three days a week working on obedience. It doesn't ahve to be all at once, it can be 15 minutes 4 times a day or something.
BTW, I updated my pictures and now you can see both the little buggers, it is my new picture # 4.
Best of luck.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Dave
Me too, sorry to hear your loss! Our lab is on her last few months herself. Been trying to prepair the kids and wife but they seem to zone out when I want to discuss it. The endless love the dogs bring into our lives is priceless.
Once again sorry too hear that.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Brokenarrow, thanks for the thoughts. I was down close to your area a couple of times looking for some acreage to buy. There was a nice 40 east of Winter but that's getting a little too far away from Hayward for me. One other piece was only 10 miles or so from Ladysmith. Land is getting pricey up north too.
Dave
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Shortmagnum, it's my understanding the spore problem your dog got is common up there in the northeastern Wisconsin. I have an uncle up there that my parents go and visit. My folks refuse to take their two goldens up there because of the spores. The loss of the dogs would be really hard on them. Those two meatheads are their kids now.
Sorry for your loss. I know it's hard.
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Am I trying to be like Murf
Shortmagnum, just wanted to add my condolences. I'm also a dog lover, partial to Labs. When I lose one of the guys I don't even want to talk to anyone for a few days. It takes me long time to get over it and I hesitate to use that terminology because I never REALLY DO. For a few years I worked with a Golden Retriever as part of my job. Like a lot of people would, a few of the people I worked with would refer to the dog as "The Mutt." I would always say, "He has papers to prove his lineage, I doubt you could say the same." That usually shut them up.
Again, my condolences. Steve
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Sounds like some knowledgable dog folks here that may be able to answer a question. Around here, Rat Terriers are quite common and we have a pair ourselves. I have heard that this breed and the Jack Russell are pretty closely related. Is this true?
The Rats make great farm dogs and have the built in desire and ability to keep the place free of vermin. (I wish they would leave the skunks alone, though.) They are bit high strung sometimes, but I think that having two sort of lets them get each other wound up. Certainly no shortage of energy. Fortunately, it is not the kind of energy we need to worry about when people come to our house. Their bark is far worse than their bite. If you are a person, that is. If you are a member of the rodent family, you had better keep your distance.
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