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| Betony |
I have a problem with Jack Russells. Other breeds take no notice of me, but JR's I have known all follow a similar pattern.
A few years ago I was on my own reading in the dining room of a house I'd just moved into. Looking up for a moment I saw a Jack Russell standing in the middle of the room. I did a double take and a blink, wondering for a moment if I was hallucinating. However, not only was the dog really there, but as our eyes met it promptly peed on my carpet.
We had a bit of a chat and a cuddle and then I checked her collar and found that she lived next door, so put her out in my garden where she disappeared through the fence. All my outer doors were closed. The only way she could have got in was through the catflap.
A daily pattern developed. At ten o'clock on the dot every day she would appear in my house, spend the day with me and at four o'clock she would get up and leave. Every morning she would pee when she saw me, so I got into the habit of waiting for her in the kitchen rather than a room where there was a carpet. I realised she was coming in to me during the hours her owners were at work. I didn't tell them because I liked her company. I never gave her anything to eat because she belonged to someone else.
Her visits carried on for months until one day she didn't turn up. I missed her. For a few weeks there was no sign of her, then suddenly there she was. Ten o'clock on the dot and a pee on the floor. It was as if she'd never been away. She didn't stay as long as she used to, but I didn't mind.
I rarely saw my neighbours, but the following day I saw them in passing and they asked me if I'd like a puppy. I feigned interest and they took me into their house to see them. There was my visitor with her offspring. The reason she hadn't been coming round was she'd been too big to get through the catflap for a while, but she'd been leaving her puppies to come and see me when she was thin enough to get back in. Strangely, in her owners house she gave no hint of ever having seen me before. I respected her decision to keep me a secret and took no notice of her either.
There came a time I had to move away from that particular city. I was happy I was leaving because I hated it there, but it broke my heart to leave the dog. She'd been my little companion for a long time. I wondered how she'd feel when she came in through the catflap one day to find an empty house or different people. We were moving a very long way away and in a moment of heartbroken madness I suggested to my husband that we take her with us. It would be so easy to wait until 10 o'clock, pop her in the car and disappear wouldn't it. I knew she wouldn't have minded and I would have been ecstatic.
Funnily enough he wasn't too keen on the idea of becoming a dognapper.
Edited Thu 2 Jun 11, 11:08 AM by Betony
| 2 Jun 11, 11:35 AM Ima_Kant UK(PO), 3 yrs  |
The reason you only have problems with Jack Russells is because the other breeds are too big to get through a catflap  Seriously... a nice little tale (or should that be tail) and sad that you had to leave her... sooo if you had your life again which would you have taken and which would you have left? Dog or Husband? Edited 2 Jun 11, 11:36 AM by Ima_Kant | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 11:51 AM cheekyandtrouble UK(SL), 2 yrs      |
Such a sweet story. Thanks for sharing. "There are no gains without pains" ~Benjamin Franklin | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 11:58 AM Ama_Sidero UK(GU), 7 yrs      |
^^^^^^^^ @Play_Space - Next party is Friday, June 17 from 930 - 3 am. Info found here: http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/posts/301137/0/... Road Trip to the Sea!!! Next tentatively planned in October.....Just elapsed...More info here:http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/posts/305429/0/... | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 12:04 PM tallulahme UK, 2 yrs |
Ah thank you it has reminded me about Gertie, I hope I don't hi-jack your blog... When my ex-husband decided to stop farming his working collie was beside itself with boredom, my lurcher was too old to play with him so we set about looking for a Jack Russell. I went to the dogs home and found the most divine little thing with the most horrific mange, but she was part of a cruelty case and they wouldn't release her to me until the case was closed which could have been up to 8 months, unfortunately we had to make another plan... In our local feed merchant there was a notice: "Gertrude, adorable 18 month old Jack Russell, needs a new home with lots of exercise, we have a small child and another on the way and she is not getting the attention she deserves" I called them and they said we sounded perfect, our children were 11, we lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere (they had turned down an elderly retired couple as they said she was too much of a livewire) they would bring her to meet us the next day. Gertie arrived, leapt out of their car, roared around the garden with the collie for an hour and we adored her. I said "ok well I guess you need to go away and think about whether we are suitable, and hopefully we will hear from you very soon". "Oh no, we think you are great, have her now"... I was quite shocked that someone would leave their dog with strangers but they had bought everything that she owned with them cage, bed, toys, food, lead,microchipping details and thus they left her with us. Basically she was traumatised, for the first 2 days she sat in the window looking for them, every time a car went down our lane (infrequently) for about 6 months she rushed to see if it was them, it was v sad, but gradually she settled, although always seemed to live on her nerves, and never ever relaxed, I never knew if she was missing them or whether this was why they had found a new home for her. Unfortunately Gertie met a tragic end, possibly caused by stress. I left my husband and the dogs had to stay with him in the short term, as I moved into a town and they had the run of the farm, it was kinder (the lurcher had by this time died, as I would never have left him). My ex went away on holiday, and took the dogs to stay with his new girlfriends parents, on the first morning of the stay Gertie ran away and has never been seen since despite a big search, poster campaign, lost dogs network etc, so somewhere in Devon there is possibly a very cute little white, rough coated Jack Russell, with a big brown blob over one eye, I hope she has ended up with someone that loves her! T x
Do you have to be the ice queen intellectual or the slut whore? Isn't there some way to be both? - Susan Saranden Edited 2 Jun 11, 12:30 PM by tallulahme | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 8:17 PM Betony UK, 7 yrs |
Thanks, glad you liked it. 'I'm somewhat contemptuously convinced that sentimentality is the refuge of those without genuine emotions' Nigella Lawson | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 8:20 PM Betony UK, 7 yrs |
That's sad. Hope she ended up ok somewhere. 'I'm somewhat contemptuously convinced that sentimentality is the refuge of those without genuine emotions' Nigella Lawson | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 8:21 PM Betony UK, 7 yrs |
You decide. 'I'm somewhat contemptuously convinced that sentimentality is the refuge of those without genuine emotions' Nigella Lawson Edited 2 Jun 11, 8:22 PM by Betony | ||
| 2 Jun 11, 10:36 PM geoff917 UK(CO), 3 yrs |
awwwwwwww big lump in the throat..... "In order to finish first, you must first finish".....Roger Penske | ||
| 3 Jun 11, 12:41 AM Trickky UK(LS), 10 yrs |
That story reminded me of a JRT that I once knew, of all the breeds I've ever come across I've never found one to match a JRT for character, charm and sheer cheek. I'd have jumped at the chance of a puppy Tricky | ||
| 3 Jun 11, 8:12 AM Betony UK, 7 yrs |
Husband wouldn't agree to the puppy either. Anyway, I was in love with their mum 'I'm somewhat contemptuously convinced that sentimentality is the refuge of those without genuine emotions' Nigella Lawson |
