Lessons from Man's Best Friend

A year ago, we lost our faithful companion Bingo to cancer.  He managed to survive two shelter stays, luckily being saved by a rescue the second time, but he couldn't beat his illness.  We only had about two years with Bingo, but I know that I will never forget him.  Bingo didn't have the same zest for life that Jack has, and we didn't get to know him as a puppy. So sometimes he didn't seem like as much "fun" as Jack because his two favorite pastimes were eating and napping.  But Bingo loved to be around us, even just next to us doing absolutely nothing, as many dogs do.  Bingo's legacy, for me, is a reminder to value simplicity and just being, without taking anything for granted.

Bingo also inspired me to action in support of animal rescue.  I am grateful that, unlike the millions of pets who don't make it out of the shelters alive, Bingo was spared and lived long enough to have a warm, safe home with us for a time.  He gave us so much more in return. 

We will always love you, Bingo.

The Legend of the Rainbow Bridge 

Help Save Lives: Foster a Homeless Dog! (Calling All JRT Enthusiasts)

If you have never fostered before, please take some time to consider being the lifeline of rescue by temporarily housing a rescue dog. There are an infinite number of rescue groups out there needing help, and even more dogs facing euthanasia in kill shelters every day. When I fell in love with my precious boy Jack, my first Jack Russell Terrier, I had no idea that nearly 4 million pets are killed in shelters in the U.S. every year.  You can check with the Humane Society of the United States if you think this statistic sounds unbelievable...and you will see it put another way: about one pet every eight seconds is put to death!


Almost Home Dog Rescue, a Tampa Bay, Florida, area non-profit organization, is overwhelmed with beautiful, pure bred Jack Russells awaiting forever homes, and there are still many more to be saved. Unfortunately, at a time when more and more dogs are being abandoned, foster homes seem to be hard to find but they are needed more than ever. I have fostered several dogs for Almost Home, and it has been an amazingly rewarding experience. The rescue pays for all of the expenses...we just need host families for dogs awaiting forever homes...so that we can save more dogs who are on the shelter "death row."  


Check out the video I put together last year, The Lucky Ones, to see why I got involved with rescue.  If you have any experience with dogs, it may be a lot easier than you think. Please message me for more information, or contact Almost Home Dog Rescue at 941-704-4765. You can see some of the many dogs awaiting homes at the Almost Home Dog Rescue website.

Enzo, a super sweet playful JRT who just wants a human to call his own!

Jack and "His Cat Skip"

Jack at 6 months old, with Skip

There are so many reasons why Jack is special.  Yes, I am partial, but this is proof right here.  Jack is special because he can call a cat his buddy.  Sure, there are other breeds of dogs that get along famously with their feline cohabitants, but Jack Russell Terriers infamously do NOT.  The Jack Russell Terrier Club of America on their website warns that JRTs, "are commonly known to harass, injure, or kill other small pets, such as cats, birds, rabbits, mice, rats, etc., simply due to their strong natural hunting instinct. Raising a puppy with a cat does not guarantee the cat's life-long safety!" So even in Jack's case, although he has shown the ability to play gently and be sweet with Skip, the two will never be allowed to play unsupervised. And he won't allow Chloe or Clifford to get near his feline BFF. I realize that this is not because he is being protective; rather he sees Skip as his "subject." But it's still cute and Jack's higher level of intelligence and reasoning never ceases to amaze me. 

Watch them play in "A Jack Russell Terrier and His Cat" 

BEWARE OF DOG (the breed you choose, that is)

Clifford and the Chlomanian Devil

Cigarettes, plastic bags, energy drinks...these days everything comes with a warning label.  Well, everything except kids and pets. If humans were required to do their research or think their decisions through responsibly before becoming pet parents, there would be far fewer dogs in shelters facing the likelihood of euthanasia.  I, for one, advocate warning labels for dogs.  Since they can't be born with labels attached, all breeders and anyone who "offers" dogs for either sale or adoption should provide a breed advisory (as I know Almost Home Rescue and most rescue organizations dealing with Jack Russell Terriers do). But JRTs are not the only high-energy breed out there.

To be considered for inclusion in this warning is the fact that you may end up hiring a sitter for your JRT(s).  Yes, our dogs now have a nanny, and no, not every JRT will require one.  But anyone who will possibly have the task of caring for a JRT, and especially someone considering ownership of this breed, should be shown a video of some kind, perhaps similar to this one I used in making sure our nanny was up for the challenge. 

Watch the video: M.I. 2.5 (Babysitting 2 1/2 Jack Russells)

Learn more about Jack Russells by reading the JRTCA's "Bad Dog Talk."

Non-Verbal Negotiation, Jack Russell Style

Pretty much every day is a negotiation of some sort when it comes to our dogs.  Once again, I guess Cesar Millan is right, as much as I hate to admit it.  Surely he is not the first person to note that dogs sense what people are feeling, but he stresses how important it is to emanate a certain confidence; no amount of commands or volume can overcome your command presence (or lack there of).  And here is an example of how this works as dogs communicate with each other, although I must say the ending in this scenario is not typical of what occurs on a regular basis in our house.  But I guess the pack leader is willing to give in once in a while.


Watch Jack and Chloe in "Canine Negotiation"

The Little Things

Dogs are so easy to please.  One of the few things in life they apparently need is something soft to lay down on.  We bought a crib mattress because I was tired of the regular dog beds being "nested" to death, bunched up in spots and totally flat in others, so that only one dog at a time would actually use the bed after a while. 

Dog beds are not cheap, especially if you find yourself replacing them all the time and they must be large enough for 3 Jack Russells (or one regular sized dog).  I thought this crib mattress purchase would be applauded by them because it is just like a people mattress, and they treat our bed like it's some mysterious island paradise they can see in the distance just out of reach. Oh boy, was I ever wrong. They can't nest anymore! And I figured something else out...crib sheets are just plain scratchy.

Let's face it, there are not many choices out there when it comes to shopping for crib sheets. I'm sure there are more fashionable designs these days, compared to blue, pink, or ducky yellow when I was a kid.  But new parents have so many other things to buy, and your kid is probably going to soil the crib sheet many times before it's time to move on to bigger and better bedroom furniture.  And then there is that pesky suffocation hazard, which I assume is why I can't for the life of me locate a down feather bed to go under the sheets on this thing! So softness of crib sheets seems to have little priority among the typical consumer of such goods. 

Yesterday at Target, though, I was delighted to find jersey knit crib sheets, and although the color selection of the knit sheets is greatly lacking (in contrast to the vast color array found in the cat bed department at Petsmart, for example), this may have been a great discovery.  I washed the new sheet and put it on today.  Now even Jack seems to approve of the softness. I guess we can all rest easy now.  Pansies.

An Open Letter to Roger Goodell

So I'm taking a break from Jack Russell topics to post my thoughts about a controversy brewing now that the Saints have actually gotten to the "big game." I don't want to use the actual name that this game is known by as I may receive a cease and desist order from the NFL for promoting something from which they profit. It's nonsense. For background info, read the story about Fleurty Girl, a New Orleans-based business being harrassed by the NFL.