Never Say Never
A few years ago during a casual conversation with a group of fellow dog trainers, I made the mistake of saying that I would never have a Jack Russell Terrier. What was I thinking?! I know how these things work… the minute those words passed my lips I knew I was destined to share my home with a JRT. I didn’t know when, but I knew a rowdy little terrier would grace my doorstep.
At the time I’d said those fateful words, I had never lived with a terrier. I had worked with many terriers and found them to be fun to train, but I just didn’t feel that they would fit well into my rather laid back but occasionally active lifestyle.
Flash forward a few years and I was newly married with a husband that was resistant to my request for a third dog. It isn’t that I actually wanted to be a three dog household, I tried to explain to him, but both my dogs were now 12 years old and I wanted to bring some younger energy into the group and perhaps re-enter the wonderful world of dog agility. Buy my husband insisted that we would never have more than two dogs. Hah! Just like me, he should have known better than to say never!
I dropped the subject of a new dog, but kept my eyes and ears open for the right opportunity. One day my husband saw a TV commercial with a Border Terrier in it and started telling me about the wonderful little BT that used to hang out in a local furniture store. “Our next dog should be a Border Terrier”, said my poor, naïve husband. Okay, I replied, well aware that my husband didn’t know that I knew a local BT Rescue person. Two weeks later I was showing him a picture of an adorable 1 ½ year old Border Terrier that had been found running the streets of Los Angeles, and a week later we were driving to LA and bringing Edgar home to join our family. We were now a three-dog household!
We never discussed it, but it went without saying that neither my husband nor I had any intention of bringing any more pets into our home. However, sometimes these decisions just aren’t left up to us.
In April, I offered to take care of a young Jack Russell Terrier until a suitable home could be found. He belonged to a friend whose wonderful husband had unexpectedly passed away, and five dogs were just too many for her to care for on her own. I had known this dog since he was a pup and had often declared him to be the best JRT I’d ever met. In fact, I had once said that I wouldn’t mind living with a JRT if I could find one just like him! If only we were looking for a dog…. but our house was already full. But we could at least take care of him until the perfect home came along.
Well, this little guy walked in the door of our house and declared it his own. He made himself right at home and after a month we just couldn’t imagine uprooting his life again. He had settled right in with the other dogs and wasn’t being too obnoxious to the cats. And, as my husband so aptly put it, we had been adopted! So, now we are a four dog household AND are discovering the joys of life with a JRT. Fergus is a welcome addition to our home…. and although our small home truly is at capacity with 4 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 parakeets, I know better than to say that we absolutely won’t be adding any other critters to the mix! That’s a statement that I just can’t afford to make!
