A Jack Russell Adventure

By Amy Coward

We’re dog people. Despite the messiness, the expense and the headaches, for the last 20 years or so, we’ve had a dog or two (or three at one point). I know. It’s kind of nuts. Long ago when the kids were little, they begged for a puppy as most kids do. A friend of mine at work had a litter of Jack Russell puppies about that time and that’s how it all began. One puppy became two (so they could be buddies) and we began the adventure of raising Jack Russells. And what an adventure it’s been.

Dan (left) and Dudley (right), as they were named, were a handful, to say the least. Bred to chase prey and hunt, they would run at lightning speed all day long and dig at the slightest hint of a scent. Farewell to the yard. And despite the claims of Jack Russells being smart and quite trainable, we also found them a bit stubborn. Come when they’re called? Yes, IF there is nothing to chase and IF there is not an open gate through which to dart. Stop digging? Yes, IF you come drag me from the targeted hole. Stop shredding my bedding? Yes. Until you stop looking.

They were a bit maddening.

Like your children, it’s a good thing puppies are cute. That way, you put up with their bad behavior and continue to allow them to live with you.

Over the 14 years we’ve had Dan and Dudley, my husband has estimated that at least 3 years of his life and countless tanks of gas have been spent riding around looking for them. Every chance they got, they would race out of the yard and run for their lives (seemingly shouting “Free at Last” as if we were mistreating them somehow) to a nearby neighborhood. We soon learned that dog lovers lived in that neighborhood, too, and treats were offered to the little rascals. With phone numbers readily available on their collars, Dan and Dudley were often hosted for hours by neighbors until we got the call to retrieve them. People LOVED having them around. I think we were on speed dial with a few of them this happened so often.

One night, while visiting a couple about a half mile away, Dan got stuck under a storage unit. The elderly man spent several hours near midnight digging to free him, afraid he would suffocate and die. Aargh. Thank God for dog lovers. That trip cost me several dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies and a mountain of apologies to make amends. But it was really no matter to the man who freed him. He, like all the others, loved Dan and Dudley.

In the last few years, as Dan and Dudley reached their mid-teens, they’ve slowed down a bit. They spend their days while we’re away in their fancy pen (clearly the Taj Mahal of all gated communities by any standards) barking at squirrels and digging in the dirt. Dan would still dart out of the gate if given a chance, but Dudley started limping some time ago and has had to be carried home from walks several times. No more darting for him.

In the last few weeks, Dudley began to decline, hardly eating or moving around. Yesterday, he died curled up next to his brother and buddy, Dan. Sad doesn’t begin to cover it.

The yard is still a wreck. Shreds of bedding are still here and there in their doghouse and around the pen. All the things that aggravate you about having dogs. But when their little presence is gone, none of it matters.

That’s the thing about being dog people. The companionship outweighs the inconvenience.

So enjoy yourself, Dudley, in your new heavenly home. Go chase the squirrels and dig for the moles. I’ll miss your little bad self.

Every. Single. Day.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

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