"If there are no dogs in heaven, then I want to go where they went"
Will Rogers

Courtesy Of Fellow JRTCA Member - Margaret Byrd/RCJRTN

In Loving Memory Of "Emma" Volk

The call of the squirrel

Our first Jack Russell, tiny Hugo, infected us for a lifetime. So we looked for a female mate to double the joy. Fate and Russell Rescue brought us Carey. As the name did not speak to us we called her Emma, which is kind of a synonym for seagull in our language.

Emma was not only a very strong and incredibly beautiful dog, she had the kindest soul and the most expressive deep brown eyes. She seemed to smile all the time, either with her tail or her snout. When she focused on something, be it a squirrel or an agility obstacle she could frown like an old man - visible thinking!

Her smartness was outstanding and she was really eager to please (whereas Hugo is mostly eager to do what he pleases ;-).

She could run like the wind and loved the lure course. We took her to a dog camp where she was allowed to circle the course as often as she could. The lure got trapped and Emma ran on, following the track, for the pure joy of it.

Hugo and Emma were not the best of friends from the very beginning and we needed professional help to sort things out and establish a hierarchy. Once grown together they built a great team patrolling the fence and keeping the squirrels under control. Oh yeah, the squirrels, they were Emma's passion and desire. She would spent hours watching them, wishing she could fly.

On Monday morning we went to one of Austin's parks, as we did every morning. This time Pease Park because there are pecan trees and Emma loved to toss them around, crack them open and nibble on them. I wanted to get a bag for her and burrow them into their digging patch in the backyard.

It's an off leash area and we had worked a very long time on how to properly meet and greet with other dogs. One of the things we've learned was to never let dogs meet on leash, so I hooked her off - without thinking - when the first dog came in sight. Without thinking of the closeness of traffic at this point of the park.... without thinking of the beloved squirrels all over the place...

The moment she frowned and focused on something I could not see, hindquarter trembling, all muscles tense, I knew we were in trouble. 

And off they went, both dogs, crossing the creek and up the hill that leads to the street. We've been training 'chase recalls' lately, because her independence grew proportional to her self-confidence, and I blew my little whistle and called cheerfully their name, just the way we've learned it, just the way it often had brought them back to me. There came a little white body, but only one and this one had spots. More whistle blowing and calling had no success and I crossed the creek and climbed the hill and found her: still, beautiful, smiling, without any visible injuries, without heartbeat, without breath, the soulful eyes broken. The moment I picked her up she let go and went for the bridge and my heart broke and guilt and shame hit me like a hammer.

I will never forget this wonderful little white dog, I will never forgive myself for letting her go. I am thankful for every second I was allowed to spend with her and for the numerous things she taught me about a Jack Russell's soul.

She will be missed terribly by Ulli and Hugo, who is looking for her in every corner of the house and she will be loved forever.

In Loving Memory of "OPIE"

        In loving memory of Opie. 
                       He will be missed and I only wish I had been able to find his forever home.  
         9/23/2006 (pulled from the shelter) - 12/6/2007
 
                             "If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call - come to
                             you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well remembered
                             path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to
                             heel, they shall not growl at him nor resent his coming, for he belongs
                             there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by
                             his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who may never really have had a
                             dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them,
                             and which is well worth the knowing.
                             The one best place to bury a dog is in the heart of his master."
        -Anonymous-


Phyllis Petersen
Russell Rescue, Inc. 
TX Russell Rescue Agent
www.russellrescue.com
petersenjrt@msn.com

Gone Way Too Soon ~ "SAMANTHA" ~ Janet & Lyle Pfost

HIGH RANGE SAMANTHA

March 20, 2007 to July 29, 2007

Lyle and Janet Pfost

My dear, dear Samantha – what a wonderful little girl!  She was Jack Russell from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail!  It took about 1 day for us to completely bond with her and fall totally in love with her.   She found a coral snake in our yard on July 29, 2007 – we had never seen a coral snake on our property before.  I got to her as quickly as possible but she was bitten before I could get her away from it.

I took off for the emergency clinic which was an hour away – she just didn’t stand a chance.  She was too young, too little.  She died in my arms on the way to the clinic.

She was pure joy – a whirling bundle of energy that kept a smile on our face constantly.  She was especially attached to Lyle who was with her 24/7 from the time she came home with us.  Even though she was with us for such a short time she was loved very much and we are lost without her!  I have a vision in my head of Samantha sitting on my Mom’s lap (I lost my Mom 2 years ago) giving Mom our puppy kisses – my two favorite girls in the whole world!  Take care of her, Mom – just until we get there!

We miss you so much, little girl!   I wish we could have had more time to love you!

In Loving Memory Of "Kramer" Owned By Tina Rosado Of Jackwells

Kramer passed away this year from congstive heart failure, he put up a good long fight and we all know that Tina Rosado and our club members miss him deeply.

"KRAMER"

“KELLY”

Owned And Dearly Loved By Janet Rose & Van Shaw

Crossed Over The Rainbow Bridge

Kelly Is Sorely Missed By The GCJRTN

Article Submitted By Lisa Dernick - Buddy

Nope, our Buddy was not perfect by a long shot; she was a pet-shop dog bought in 2000 (Lisa hangs head in shame), no doubt a backyard breeder looking to make a buck - we were smitten though.  I had researched the breed and decided that it was NOT one for our household - go figure that out now (!), but she was just too appealing to pass up when we saw her, plus we just wanted her out of her less than desirable conditions.  My goodness, what a lovely dog she was!!! 

She basically taught herself "obedience,"could walk (unleashed) in a busy subdivision with cars driving by, kids playing, and stop, sit and stay on Dave's command.  All he would have to do was say "Mam!", and Buddy immediately sat and looked to him for direction.  She was daddy's little girl and lived for Dave to come home from work to walk, play and jostle with her. 

When she was around 9 months old, she was taking a nap with me and I felt the bed shake.  I looked over and she was having a seizure.  I had never experienced this before and had no clue what to do but wait it out, making sure she was safe.  It was short, but it's forever etched in my mind.  I immediately took her to the vet and had a plethora of tests run...diagnosis was "idiopathic epilepsy,"  Ok...Phenobarbital.  The meds worked very well for awhile although every now and then she would have a break-through seizure.  However, on August 5, 2002, just a couple of months shy of her second birthday, Buddy went into a major seizure, the likes I had never seen before (grand-mal) and could not come out of it.  We rushed her to the vet, injected her with enough valium to knock a person out - to no avail.  She was down for the count.

Our loving and trusted vet just hung his head in sorrow.  Buddy would not stop convulsing and we made the decision to put her to sleep; it was too painful to watch her suffer.  We held her and comforted her; it was over quickly.  It was Dave's birthday.  We brought her home and Dave spent a couple of hours digging a hole to bury her in.  I left him alone, as he was too grieved to communicate.  When the hole was ready, and Dave was stable, we wrapped her in her favorite blanket (toys included), and buried her.  I vowed I would never own another Jack - there wasn't another on the face of the earth that could surpass Buddy's charm, compliance, willingness to please, obedience and love.  Then...there was...Romeo - The Psycho Dog, lol!  The story is still playing itself out!  We now have River Oaks Romeo, River Oaks Divot and a wee rescue red terrier-mix - Eppie (our mutant dark terrier).  Life...without Jacks is not a possibility!  As a foot-note, we later learned that our Buddy had an inoperable brain tumor.

Thank you Evita!                                      Submitted By Jerrilyn Cloud - 1/5/07

Thank you for teaching me so much about terriers and thank you for having such a special spirit that helped teach me about love and admiration. We miss you dearly and our hearts will always feel empty without having you in our lives.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Evita, it was at the 2000 JRTCA National trial …boy was she beautiful! My Dad fell in love with her and pointed her out to me. We tried to buy her, but Jose Rico was not ready to sell her. I often thought about that beautiful terrier I saw at Nationals and I would look at the trial results to see how she was doing. A year later I went on a hunting trip to New York and after a long day in the field I finally convinced Jose that Evita needed to come live in Texas…and my dream came true. We owned Evita!

When Evita first came to Texas, she was not the easiest dog to live with. In fact, at times she could be a real pain. She was always trying to find a way to escape, (This is how she got the nicknames Evil Evita & Voodoos). As the years passed, Evita no longer tried or wanted to escape and she became very loving and affectionate. Evita loved to hunt squirrels and after a long day of chasing them from tree to tree she would love to sit in my parents lap while they were in their rocking chairs.

People say that there is not a perfect terrier, but to me, Evita was. She won us our first Championship and only a few months before her death, she won back to back Championships at a two-trial weekend!  I will always hold that memory dear to my heart. When she was alive, I thought about her being a beautiful bitch - well put together, but now that she has gone to hunt at Rainbow Bridge, I think of her as being a beautiful bitch because of her kind spirit.

Evita would always give 110% in everything she did. If she was trying to escape, hunting, loving or showing, she always did it with everything in her.  It was a pleasure to know her and an honor to have owned her. This beautiful terrier left us too early. Her last day was spent hanging out with my Dad and running errands with him. Evita got into some ant poison…the 800 number said it was not harmful and they were wrong as it took our girl’s life.

Fortunately for us, she left behind some very beautiful children, one of which is still here with us. Hopefully, through him, Evita’s wonderful spirit will live on. 

We love you...Bye Veeders

With broken hearts,
Jerry, Lynn & Jerrilyn Cloud