Just Jessie

Jessie's 13th birthday was yesterday; amazing. I can't even tell you how great celebrating her 13th is; we never thought we'd make it this far. When we added Jessie to our family almost 13 years ago I had no idea about all the "bad terrier" stuff there was surrounding the breed. They were not the in dog at the time but it was happening quickly as the show Wishbone was picking up speed. I researched the breed and found out how dominant and aggressive the little buggers can be so the first line of action was obedience class.

She excelled in class and loved all the dogs, a big plus for a JRT. I started Jessie on clicker training and she was a real little circus dog, in fact a big show came to town and they were looking for local talent to add. At the audition (like we needed an audition) Jessie stood out from the crowd. All the dogs could do cute little tricks but Jessie was amazing; she had a whole routine and went through her paces without a hitch. We performed at the big show that night to much applause for this little white munchkin.

It wasn't long before we learned all about Jack Russells; they are a fiery breed, tough as nails and up for anything. On one of our daily walks through the woods Jessie dove down a groundhog hole; and it was only at the last seccond that I grabbed that little tail and pulled her out. She was sprayed by skunks several times, hit by a porcupine, caught a bird mid-air and swallowed it whole, has eaten several rodents that were small enough to eat in one bite, tackled a groundhog 3 times her size and fell 30 feet from a tree she had sprinted up after a squirrel.

Jack russells are runners, they are triggered by movement and can be off before you even know what happened. Infact the number one cause of death for Jack Russells is being hit by cars so she did not have free reign around the property. And that she has made it to 13 is truly amazing. Our little Jessie was near death over 7 years ago and we thought that our 6 years with her was all we would have. This is the whole story if you are interested in reading it (you'll need a box of tissues; you've been warned!!)

Jessie

Jessie has always been the boss of the other dog members of the family. When she was young she quickly intimidated our male at the time Clyde who was a 5 five year old brown standard poodle; it was very easy for her. And when Jessie was only 10 months old we added Tilley to the pack, it was a perfect match and there was never a squabble for hierarchy, Tilley just doesn't care.

So here we are and Jessie is 13; I have had lots of 13 year old dogs but Jessie is our first small one and to be completely honest she looks amazing. No one would ever guess her age; she looks like a 2 year old. So here's to many, many more happy years with the little beast.