The Terrier Part: Part One

Why Terriers?

When I was a child, terriers were not even close to being “my thing.” I’d grown up with larger dogs, such as farm shepherds, Labrador retrievers, a golden retriever, and several of the neighbors’ collies. I vaguely remembered Trixie, the beagle we’d had for a short time when we first moved out to Higby Road, but she was not a fond memory and hadn’t lasted long before being returned from whence she came. With my first husband came my first small dog, Fu-Jo, a little gold Pekingese with a black mask. He was a fun little dog, but not enough to make me want small dogs ever again.

Eventually, both my first husband became part of the past. I met my second husband, who owned Doberman pinschers. We still owned Fu-Jo, but I indulged myself in my childhood fantasy of owning a Dalmatian, too. After several years of marriage, my husband was injured and housebound for several months. We talked about getting him a lap dog for company, as Fu-Jo was now gone and the Dobermans bumping against him were causing him pain. We settled on a Toy Fox Terrier. The youngest Doberman was having none of being separated from “Daddy,” however, and the TFT ended up bonding with me.

I was sunk.

I wanted nothing to do with another little dog. I was a big dog snob, firmly so, by this point in my life. I had to admire the way she stuck to her guns with the bigger dogs. Once, when the red Doberman, Carnelian, was lying on the bed and determined to keep her off, she put him firmly in his place by grabbing one of his flews and jumping over his head while it was in her mouth. He screeched and ran to hide in the bathtub, bleeding from his swollen lip, while she settled in on the pillows. He deferred to her for the rest of her life. Even after she was poisoned by one of my neighbors (while she was in my own yard!) he carried that lesson to other dogs, treating even the smallest as he would another Dobe.

Oma cemented my love for Toy Fox Terriers. She wasn’t a “good” TFT, in that she was oversized and came from a commercial breeder, but she was the love of my life. When she died, it took me a year to find the perfect dog, completely her opposite physically (so that I wouldn’t compare them), but her perfect match in terms of temperament. Beau was my heart dog. There will never be another Beau. However, my love for the breed continues.

I added a Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, Pip, after Beau died. It was a aborted attempt to change over breeds, to find something new because I “knew” the magic was gone. I’d previously handled a Toy Manchester Terrier for someone, so I knew the breed was a possibility, but it didn’t reach out and grab me. The Teddies seemed ideal to me: they were small, but bigger than TFTs, sturdier, heavier, more able to live with the goats that I had added to my life over the years. They also managed to peacefully coexist with the TFTs. So, I reasoned, as I eased out of TFTs, the transition would be an easy one.

Oh, how we lie to ourselves.

There is something about a terrier. You have to be a terrier person to understand. They don’t capture your heart, so much as wrestle it into submission and force it to do their bidding. They are not easy dogs, although my breeds are easier than some. Every day with a terrier is a struggle for supremacy. Every step of training is a battle of wills, even when using positive training methods and coercing behaviors with preferred yummies and toys. I don’t think I could train an “easy” dog again, like a retriever. They’d be boring. I wouldn’t have to Figure Them Out. The proudest moment of my training “career” came about when a judge handed me a blue placement ribbon in Rally obedience, saying “I bet you never thought you’d see one of these, did you?” No. Not really. Not especially over the sheltie in the class. When I found out he was a terrier person, I had to smile. He Understood.

I still have both breeds and will continue to have both breeds, at least as long as my breeding/showing partner is still with me. Eventually, I may transition to breeding only Teddies or only TFTs or not breeding at all. I might indulge in my love for Papillons or Japanese chins or Dobermans or Dalmatians. But be without a terrier? Never.