Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Guest Blogger: MEET MORGAN & EDDIE!




Morgan on her wedding day with her husband and furbabies!
I think this is one of the best bridal portraits I have ever seen! Don't y'all agree?

I am so excited to share this great post by my dear friend Morgan with all of my readers. I asked Morgan to be a guest blogger on The Wet Nose, because of her incredible accomplishments with her Jack Russell Terrier, Eddie. If you know anything about JRT's you know they are incredibly independent, high energy, and for many, difficult to train. I have encountered many, as they are one of the most popular breeds, if not most popular, with horse people, but have never felt I could own one because of their difficulty to train. Morgan and Eddie have done an excellent job of breaking down my preconceived stereotypes about the breed.

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Jack Russell Terriers (JRT)… or Jack Russell Terrors.
People seem to have mixed feelings about the breed. I have always loved JRTs, probably because I grew up around hunter horses and they go hand in hand. I will admit it takes a special owner to love and appreciate a JRT. They are not your average small breed dog. JRTs were breed to be WORKING terriers. That is why they do not do well in many homes. Too many people think small dog equals lap dog. This is not the case! JRTs are extremely intelligent, active, athletic, loyal, intuitive, and fearless. When their energy is not directed correctly or at all they become moody and destructive.

I would like to introduce you to my JRT “Always Ready Eddie” because he will change all negative feelings you have for the breed. Eddie is 2.5 years old and lives with his older sisters Trotter, a 14 year old German Sheppard and Skyy a 4 year old Great Dane. Eddie was our unplanned child. We had decided NO more dogs, as two were plenty. Until I went to a horse show and there Eddie was! He was lying under a blanket in a crate and looked pitiful. He looked right at me and he took my heart. For the rest of the horse show he stayed curled up in my fleece jacket with his head poking out of the zipper so he could see everything going on. I got several comments from others about how I had gotten the cute one. Eddie is adorable- big brown eyes, the right amount of spots in all the cutest places and he is short-legged which I love!

A few months after we had Eddie we decided it was time to enroll him in PetSmart education. I knew he had an awesome temperament and needed the training to back it all up. Eddie breezed through puppy class, intermediate and advanced classes in a very short amount of time. This is when I realized just how smart the JRT breed was. My first goal for Eddie was to become a canine good citizen. While he can pass the test I knew this wasn’t quite right for him. So we started agility classes and we LOVE it! In less than 2 years of agility training we have started to compete. Eddie is very hard to beat for several reasons. First, he is VERY fast- he absolutely loves the sport and secondly, he is so perceptive and in tune with me it makes everything so easy. I truly believe all the training I have put in has kept him out of a lot of trouble. Let me clarify that statement- Eddie is NOT a bad dog but by his breed he needs an outlet for his energy and for us it is agility. Several people have told me that if Eddie was the only JRT they knew they would love the breed. That’s a simple testament to what positive training can do for any dog!

I truly cannot explain on paper the bond that Eddie and I have. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with an animal that can teach me so much about so many things. I only hope you, the reader, have a connection like this with a dog someday. Are you ready to give JRTs a try yet?


Last but not least some famous JRTs!

Nipper 1884- His Masters Voice (you know the dog looking into the phonograph)

Bothy 1982- The first dog to travel to North and South Poles with his owners

George 2007- saved 5 children from being attacked from pit bulls

And many others you have seen on TV- Eddie on Frasier, Skip in My Dog Skip, Wishbone and many more.



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