1 Chapter 1
He was the only puppy in the litter to walk straight up to us.
“Could you please get me out of here?”
It was easy to understand why he wanted to leave.
A few feet away in an outside pen, his long-legged dad was leaping up and down, barking frantically. His short-legged mum was racing around the perimeter of her enclosure like a rabid squirrel. And loud traffic was providing the not-so-background noise for his seven canine siblings, as they ran amok on the lawn like directionally-challenged mice.
The weanlings were excited, and a little scared, to be out of the shed where they’d been living since their birth eight weeks ago.
But this pup had a handle on things. He knew we intended to take a dog home with us and was Determined It Be Him.
However, his coat was—to put it politely—unconventional for a Jack. This was in the days before the breed name was changed to ‘Parson Russell.’
American Kennel Club standards require predominantly white coloring. They don’t accept a mostly black back, or a black face, brown eyebrows, and splashes of brown and white on the snout. The pup’s throat, chest, and legs were the only acceptably white parts.
But we didn’t care. My husband and I had come to find a pet, not a show dog.
Since his dad was wire-haired and his mum had a smooth coat—not to mention the difference in their leg lengths—we asked the breeder what this puppy would look like when he grew up. His coat was currently soft and smooth.
“You never know with Jacks,” he told us. “You can have two short-legged parents with smooth hair, and they’ll produce long legs and a rough coat in some of their babies. Puppies can start out with a smooth coat yet be rough coated when they get older.”
In other words, who the heck knew whatthis little chap would morph into?
Meanwhile he had followed us over to the breeder, and was looking up hopefully during this conversation.
“I promise I’ll be a terrific dog, no matter what I look like!”
While I struggled to ignore that cute face, my husband declared, “We need to think about it.” 2: Should We Russell Up This Puppy?
Over lunch in a nearby restaurant, a tough discussion ensued. Glen had long wanted either a Jack Russell or a Border Collie—not both—and we had an appointment to see a litter of the latter breed in two days.
We debated back and forth, until finally he said, “That Jack Russell is really sweet. But you know us, as soon as we see the other puppies, we’ll want a Border Collie, too.”
He was right. It was hard to turn down the calico dumpling we’d just seen, especially since he so obviously wanted to come home with us. And the Collie puppies would tug at our heartstrings, too.
You might argue that we could have saved ourselves a lot of aggravation by simply not going to check out the next litter. And you would be right. But unfortunately we weren’t strong enough or smart enough to cancel our appointment.
A happy thought crossed my mind. “Both breeds have high energy levels and need tonsof exercise. Wouldn’t it make sense to get one of each? They can play with each other and leave the older dogs alone.”
We already had an adult Great Dane female and an older male Boxer. Both would be relieved at not having to babysit a couple of canine whippersnappers.
My argument appeared to be working, so I continued, “The two puppies will wear themselves out and have much more fun than one lonely pup that’s constantly trying to get the older dogs to play with him.”
Glen said brusquely, “Finish your lunch. We’re getting that puppy.” 3: Just Slip Out the Back, Jack…
On our return, the breeder let the litter out again and the same pup bounded over to greet us, his tail expressing total ecstasy. “I just knew you’d come back!”
We rubbed his wriggly body all over and tickled his ears.
“Can we go home now?” his face plainly said.
He stood close to us while we paid for him and were given the breeder’s absoluteassurance that we’d get our AKC registration papers very soon (which never happened).
When I bent down to lift up our new puppy, he licked my face three times.
“Hurray! I’m going home!”
He lay quietly in my arms as I carried him away from that over-crowded existence. He didn’t look back once or whimper good-bye to his family. I think he sensed we could offer him a home with kindness, masses of attention, and many acres to run around.
Perhaps he also liked us!
According to a certain Robert Benchley, one of the things a dog teaches a boy is “to turn around three times before lying down.” This puppy did exactly that before curling up quietly in the soft dog bed now resting on my lap in our SUV.
