Terriers

Posted on June 25, 2007
Filed Under Dogs |

Terriers are merciless. We have three Jack Russells, one now going on thirteen years old, & the two younger dogs, after they have wolfed their dinners, try to push her off her bowl. When the succeed, the spill the bowl & then there is a snarling free-for-all. Almost never any blood, just grade-schoolers fighting by windmilling their arms. The old one eats more slowly because she’s lost a few teeth, but she still snaps at the young dogs. Still, I have taken to standing over them with a spray bottle & giving the youngsters a squirt when they get too pushy. JRTs are pretty fearless, but they do not like being squirted in the face with a bit of water. Lovely dogs — playful, loving, funny, tough — but merciless. You wouldn’t want to live in a country ruled by JRTs. It would be a lot of fun & hijinks, but no place to get old. Fortunately for the old girl Penny, I am here to enforce a little morality. Penny, by the way, would do the same thing the young dogs do to her if the roles were reversed. There may be a moral here somewhere, but this is not a beast fable, let alone a parable, both degenerate literary forms.

Comments

One Response to “Terriers”

  1. Paul Lamble on June 28th, 2007 5:41 am

    I’ve read that the world belongs to terriers and they simply allow us to live in it with them. The house down the street seems to have some Jack Daniels Terriers. A different breed altogether.