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.

Jack Russell Terrier Races

Jack Russell Terriers racing at the Colonial Cup

As many of you know, I grew up riding and showing horses up and down the East Coast. Of all the breeds of dogs, the two most popular in the horse crowd seem to be the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the Jack Russell Terrier, and I have spent countless hours with hundreds of these dogs at the barn, horse shows, or horse races (my parents bred race horses, and my hometown of Camden, SC is known for its history rich in both show and race horses).

One of my favorite events at many horse races is not the horse racing itself (well, I do love that!), but instead the Jack Russell Terrier races, held between horse races at some events. These races are fun, fast, and competitive as Jack Russells fly at warp speeds down the track towards the finish line! While I have never owned a Jack Russell that participated in racing, many of my friends enter their Jack Russell's each year at the Colonial Cup Steeplechase in Camden, SC.

My dear friend Ashley of Palmetto Horse & Hound poses with her race winning JRT before a race at the Colonial Cup

My friends and I take time out from watching horse and terrier races to pose for a picture in some fabulous hats! Hats are a must at horse races!
(From left to right: Lonny, Ashley, Miss Muddy Paws, Mary Katherine, Mark)

Racing is the only terrier trial event I have ever witnessed in person, and it is extremely exciting from a spectator standpoint. Just like with Thoroughbred horses, there are two types of races for Jack Russells: flat and steeplechase (also known as hurdles). The Jack Russell Terrier Club of America (JRTCA) sanctions numerous trials throughout the year all around the country, and horse races also hold their own events in the same format and style as the JRTCA races.

The format of the race is very interesting. The track is a minimum of 150 feet long, usually 200+ feet (the length recommended by the JRTCA), and is a straight track with a starting box at one end (the dogs are separated into their own ‘gates’ much like horse races) and a stack of straw bales at the opposite end with a hole in the middle (directly behind the hole is the finish line) of the bales. A lure, typically an enticingly scented piece of fur, is attached to a piece of string and pulled along by a Lure machine that the dogs chase to the finish line. Some races require muzzles for the safety of both the dogs and the human catchers at the end of the course, but other races have optional muzzles for non-aggressive dogs. Before the race begins the dogs are allowed to see and smell the Lure while in their starting box, this excites the dogs and motivates them to chase the lure down the course. The race begins when the starting box opens and the terriers’ race down the course (it’s incredibly exciting to watch them jump in the steeplechase races). The first dog to cross the finish line (the finish line is immediately behind the hay bales and is the entrance to the catch pen) is declared the winner. To make it even more exciting, the first dog to cross the finish line is not always the first to enter the hole in the hay bales! Each race may be a series of heats, semis, and finals. A championship race is often held in each division and is a competition between the winners of the flat and hurdle races. To qualify for the championship those dogs must have run in both the flat and steeplechase races.

If you’ve never seen a Jack Russell Terrier race first hand I encourage you to attend one! They are a blast to watch, and it is incredible to watch these feisty small dogs do what they were bred for! A real sense of a prey drive really comes out when you witness these races, and they give dog owners a better understanding and appreciation for the history of the breed.