Twofer Tuesday

As everyone knows, at least half my blog posts are about dogs/animals. And, there are my three dogs. Boy, don't they just look cute in this photo. One would never know about the little secret that we hide.

I was perfectly happy with my two girls, the two on the left, Katie and Zorra. But, a rescue call was sent out and I ended up with Sam, a wire fox terrier. This week Sam will celebrate his 4th birthday (June 19th). This made him just one month younger than Zorra. So, I had TWO puppies. (Insanity does run in our family).


Now, I admit. I didn't know anything about terriers when Sam joined the pack. I always wanted a dog like Asta from the old Thin Man movie series. So, I was excited when I went to pick him up. I knew that he was energetic and a handful, but I thought.. really how bad can he be? I have a decent background for handling dogs. I already had a difficult dog in the house, Katie. She surely tested (and still does) my patience daily. I can train him to be a productive member of society.

Once again, the adage "You may get what you wish for" was SCREAMING in my head. Sam came to live in Boot Camp Hell, (as he refers to my house) when he was 9 months old. I took this photo about a week after he came. This was just when I was learning about the secret of terrier terrorist. It was Boot Camp Hell for me, as well.


Doesn't he just look cute? Well, at the time I took this photo, I didn't like Sam. Keep in mind, I had no idea what a terrier terrorist was like. He came to me untrained (yea.. NOT housebroken) and had been allowed to do as he pleased. This included running all over, not listening, bouncing off the walls and peeing and pooping everywhere. Oh boy, was he and I in for a shock.

Now, out of kindness to a friend, I took in a Sam and my life and his was....


... turned upside down. I had entered a black hole. A terrier terrorist was now part of my life and there was no way to free myself of it. I was in for life. Who would kill whom first, was still a mystery. I had many things to learn and I also entered the number for Wire Fox Terrier rescue on my speed dial.

Little did I know that terrier terrorist do not walk on four feet when attached to a leash, I found out quickly. Now, terrier terrorist must walk on their back two legs and pull, gasping for air as they are going to die at any moment if they don't reach their destination. Ok, well, that had to change as it was annoying. Try to walk 3 dogs on a leash with one acting like a fool. It drove me AND Katie mad. Even Katie gets irritated with Sam, and showed him who really ran the roost around here, and it was not, nor ever would be, Sam.

Alternative training measures were taken, and now he only walks on his back two legs only 1/2 the time. That is an improvement, believe me. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but terrier terrorist walk to the beat of a different drummer. Life involves compromise, and terrier terrorist and I had reached one.


Sam stayed in a crate for most of the first few months he came to live with us in Boot Camp Hell. He managed to learn housebreaking rules for the most part. But, again, terrier terrorist sometimes slip up if their mom leaves the house for more than 2 seconds. The problem with spending all your time with your dogs - they miss you even more when you leave. Again. a compromise was reached and now, only pooping in an extreme emergency (ie human leaving house) on the linoleum is allowed on the terrier terrorists part. Human, can get upset but for no more than 5 seconds, then revert to terrier terrorist are allowed to poop in extreme emergencies.
Also, as part of the compromise, terrier terrorist will wear goofy hats or clothes. Every July 4th, he wears his Uncle Sam hat.


Sam is known in my house as a dirty rat bast*rd when he decides to make mud pies, etc. He adds a whole new meaning to the phrase dirty pig. But, again, I did not know about terrier terrorist and how they wrote the original rules of dirty dogs. I know all subsections of code book now. Some compromise was made, but we are still hashing out the rules.

Terrier terrorist also like to dig holes anywhere at any time. I fenced in a big portion of my backyard for the dogs to play. I had grandiose ideas of also being able to practice agility and flyball back there. Again, I did not know about terrier terrorist and their need to dig to China and beyond. My backyard looks like a war zone. Some of the holes are several inches deep and are developing into trenches. Sam also will eat anything that he finds in these holes, mice, worms, moles, etc. This has caused some embarrassing situations at the vet office, but terrier terrorist take worming all in stride, unlike their moms.


Terrier terrorist also do NOT have a medium button. It is either all or nothing, fast or slow, on or off. NO in between.



But, after 3 years, Sam and I have reached agreements and compromises between terrier terrorist and humans. We have learned from each other to channel our focus into constructive things, such as agility, rally, flyball, and earthdog trials.


Sam has even managed to earn some agility titles, and is getting better every week.


Now, after all this time, Boot Camp has gotten easier for Sam. And even though terrier terrorists are still a big portion of our lives, I am much better dealing with the constant surprises. Who knew that after 3 years, I could actually like him. After those first few months of terrier terrorist initiation, I never thought I would see that day. I deleted the Wire Fox Terrier rescue number from the speed dial on my phone.

Threats to him regarding his health are now down to 3 or 4 times per day instead of 100+.


Now, I am not sure what we would all do with out Sam, the terrier terrorist. Happy "barkday" to Sam.