Our Other Doggy Family Members
December 22nd, 2010
It dawned on me the other day, that I have not really formally introduced Rudy — our "not" Jack Russell.
One day, while my daughter and I were waiting at our vet’s office over 4 years ago, we saw a posting on the bulletin board in the waiting room that a lady was trying to find a home for one of her dogs, Rudy. Rudy, who was 2 years old at that time, is half Yellow Lab and half Red Heeler. My daughter, who is TOTALLY a dog lover, pleaded with me to let us take him. I told her we’d talk to Papi (dad) when we got home, and we’d ask him. Well, Papi’s response at first was "No. We were a Jack Russell family, and that was it.
Well, a couple of months went by, seeing that Rudy had not yet been adopted, my husband had a change of heart. So, we went back to the vet’s office and asked about the listing that "used to be" on their bulletin board. The response I got was that just that morning, since no home had been found, the owner had taken Rudy to the local Humane Society. I was surprised at the timing! If we didn’t act quickly, we weren’t sure what was going to happen to Rudy.
We drove to the Humane Society, and Rudy indeed was there. In fact, they hadn’t even processed all his paperwork yet! I asked if there was an adoption fee for him. There was. So we told the worker we’d pay the adoption fee and got Rudy out of there. She said that was the fastest turnaround time they’d ever had for a dog adoption!!
That day, we brought Rudy to our home. Poor fellow, he actually gets car sick . . . as we learned on our way home from the Humane Society, if you know what I mean! So, other than to the vet, he always stays on our ranch. He also has bad hips, and after only 6 months, we could see his hip problems in the way he walks, and in the difficulty he has to get up. But he’s a happy dog. He’s sort of the big "Papa" dog of all the dogs. Sometimes I think he thinks he’s a Jack Russell, because he’ll stand by a tree, keeping his eye on a squirrel, and bark, just like a Jack Russell. He acts tough — unless, of course, there’s lightning. Then, he’ll paw at the door for us to let him in. And when we do, he’ll crawl under something — anything — to try to keep him safe from the lightning. Although the Jacks aren’t thrilled about the lightning, they’ll sort of look at Rudy like, "What’s your problem?" I personally think our Jack Russell Terriers are good for Rudy, because they have taught him how to be brave.
He has now become the family guard dog, with his loud, strong barks when someone walks by. And he does a great job of taking care of us, and our dogs! And how the puppies love him!
