Lesson Learned Options

[Dusty Moonrise]

As an avid squirrel hunter (sorry, PETA!) I had the brilliant idea of training my Jack Russell to tree squirrels. This is not as far fetched as it sounds, as JR's are born hunters. I tied a squirrel tail to a string, and pulled it across the yard, where I pulled it up into a tree. Fancy was all for it, jumping and trying to climb the tree.

Now, the first day in the woods. Fancy ran, nose to the ground, so I thought "success!". Yes, until she discovered some small animal's burrow! It was then that her heritage came into play. Jack Russell Terriers were bred to go after foxes in their dens! JR's are VERY single-minded when it comes to digging in holes! I repeat, VERY SINGLE-MINDED! After several hours of unsuccessful hunting, I pulled a very resistant Fancy out of the now extremely excavated burrow, and literally had to carry her back to the house. Right back out the pet door she went, straight into the woods, directly back to her diggings! Have I mentioned that Jack Russells, despite their small size, can move at a rate that far exceeds that of a 46 yr. old Redneck? I finally had to close her up long enough for her attention to be distracted by her chew toys.

Thank heavens that fox hunting is not popular in Mississippi!

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[madi]

LOL, it reminds me of the time I tried to "gun" train my horse. She was a whopping great 17h thoroughbred and I was only 16 at the time. I leapt on her back, had my now husband, then boyfriend, hand me my rifle and I fired it over her head. Well, all hell broke loose, she reared up, I fell off, she went berserk and took off across the field, over the fence and down the road. We had to get the car and track her down. I never tried that again, a "non-gun" trained horse was just fine by me.

madi xx