The Edge

We are always balancing. With a Jack Russell guy in the house there is always the issue of adequate exercise. Well, actually adequate as a concept related to activity for a terrier is not an attainable goal, but one must try. How do you get him enough without letting him get into trouble?

You really can't do it on a leash..... Unless perhaps you had one five miles long. We have a nice chain link kennel that served many Border Collies as a partial exercise yard, but Ren uses that.

Thus there are few options other than to let the little stinker run free some of the time. That's where the keeping out of trouble part comes in. He knows you can't catch him.

Do not attempt to combine this with birding. I was standing in the yard letting him race around playing the fool, while I trained my new binoculars on an immature Bald Eagle that was passing over.

WHAM. He hit my legs going about fifty. Needless to say they heard the resulting lecture in town. I won't even try that again.

And he chases horses. Fifteen-hundred-pound horses like Sunny, who hates him with the devil's own passion.

Thus I must schedule exercise around horses, bird walks, and cars coming in and out.

And hope his natural gregariousness brings him to the door rather than the back 40. Because I can't keep up with him and only a fool would try. The minus twenty weather helped with this concept.....I only had to close the door with him on the other side of it once and he decided that coming in was the better part of running away.

This morning I bird walked for a few, just up in the back yard. At least six pairs of cardinals, plus the usual suspects made for a nice trip. Next came the pup, as it is Sunny's day to go out.

He raced down to the heifer barn. I stood there humming elevator music and waiting. He came right back, as he really likes to be with his people. However, he brought something along and proceeded to gobble it down, big pieces of nasty dribbling down from both sides of his mouth. Ack. JRTs will eat anything! He grabs wood and runs away to eat it before I can get to him.

I ran over to see what he had, fearing he had somehow acquired suet from the suet feeder, but no, there were egg shells there. Ah, yes, a lot of eggs froze in the cold snap and LIz buried them in the manure pile.

I guess Ren and Jade dug them up. You cannot imagine how fast a JRT can run when there is a big treat at the end. He did come back, evidently having found his fill of tasty treats, but I asked Liz for a good rebury. I dread to even think what he will come up with next.