Squirrel Season

Anyone who knows me in real life knows my dogs are two of my highlights. I'm one of those nutty people who treats dogs like children, even though I do know there is a significant difference between the two. At our house there are two dogs, Ditto and Dinah. Ditto is Jack Russell Terrier whom we have had since she was seven weeks old. She'll be ten in October, and although she's still going strong, I can definitely tell she's not as young as she used to be. There is, however, one important exception to this:

SQUIRREL SEASON!

Every year around this time, our little dog turns into a monster. As fate would have it, we happen to have two full grown walnut trees in our back yard. You'd think one of us might have thought about the implications of this when we bought our house, but nope! Squirrels are foraging and scampering back and forth at all times of the day right now. Ditto is in seventh heaven, while I on the other hand, am in hell. I don't just love dogs, I love all animals. I usually won't even kill bugs or spiders, so you can imagine how I feel when Ditto gets another victim. She gets at least one unsuspecting prey every year, and usually two or three. Oh the sounds they make when captured...screaming in terror as they are being murdered right before our eyes...it's absolutely horrifying!

The hardest part for me is that it's not even Ditto's fault--she's simply doing exactly what she's been bred to do, hunting. She doesn't even do anything with the squirrels after she gets them, which is her trait. Jack Russells are bred to "go to ground," locate and kill their prey, then leave the goods for their master to do with as he or she pleases. In our case we DON'T please, so our little hunter is left wondering why we take the prize and put it in the ground. Actually she's probably not, I'm sure I'm anthropomorphizing with that statement, but still...life can get pretty interesting around our house this time of year.

I found a poem online that sums up the personality of our little JRT to a tee:

The Jack Russell Terrier
by Diana Langford, from the Jack Russell Terrier Club of Great Britain

"Find me a Doberman, I'll cut him to size --
And tear him to pieces, in front of your eyes!
I'm cocksure and bossy, the King of the patch,
Bring on your Alsatian, it can't be a match!
I'm a dirty street fighter, my language is foul,
I'll fight to the death, never throw in the towel.
Don't step near my missus, don't push me too far,
Get right off my pavement, take your hands off my car.
And when she's alone, I sit on her knee,
She knows she's quite safe, relying on me.
Don't walk by my lorry, when I'm at a show,
When I'm guarding my ponies, I'm lethal you know.
I'll follow a fox, to the depths of his lair,
But I like creature comforts, get out of my chair!
I'll not walk at heel, or sit when I'm told,
But I'm loving, protective, brave, loyal and bold.
My life is full of the moment, importance and bustle,
I know I'm the greatest --
I'm called a Jack Russell."
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