by Lindy Dekker

NOTE: Lindy just assisted at the Companion Animal Training and came home with Taz who had been looking for a new home. Well done Lindy!

Just about a week ago – we brought home Taz. She is a Jack Russell cross-mature lady. I suspect some Chihuahua got into the mix as she has poppy eyes, an underbite of note and various teeth in various directions. When she gets really excited her ears stand up entirely and she looks like a little bat-eared fox! The day she arrived we had a puppy class to visit and while she was reasonably polite to most of the participants, there was one innocent labby puppy that she targeted. She was going to KILL. I have no idea why, but just that particular poor soul was IN FOR IT. Every time she saw him- even in her peripheral vision – she became a spinning helicopter of gnashing teeth and growls.

Sam (our 4 year old Pointer cross) was the ultimate gentleman as usual. He welcomes all visitors to his home – points out the facilities and wishes them a nice day before he moves on with the rest of his business.

After they had all left Sam did come to me to explain politely that while he had a lot of fun, he was glad of the break , but someone had been forgotten and he rather thought she could go home now. Taz was just plain exhausted and very sweetly went into her basket and fell asleep.

Minky – the cat – was horrified. When I came home from fetching Taz, Minky came running to greet me only to see this “thing” on the end of a leash. She looked at me in horror – “what is THAT”. She immediately retired to her ‘boudoir’ (aka the spare room) and was definitely unavailable for any cuddles. Within hours we had 3 formal complaints and an open line to the SPCA. (This was a great improvement on when Sam moved in – then she packed her bags, lock, stock and barrel, and only eventually unpacked her vanity case about a month and a half later.)

Taz is a real sweetie, but finding it really hard to train the people (isn’t that always the problem?). I keep insisting that she keep four feet on the ground and she keeps trying to explain to me that Jack Russell’s DON’T DO THAT – they do four feet above the ground. She is also confused about the fact that she doesn’t get to sleep on the couch, bed, chair or, in fact, anything other than her basket. She keeps trying to explain that it is a well known scientific fact that Jack Russell’s make excellent hot water bottles. It is tough going for her as a little dog in a large dog household!

The good news is that she is starting to walk and run straight. When she arrived she ran sideways down the hill on 3 legs. We thought of renaming her “Taxi” as she came at you sideways – like a taxi coming down the road when they’ve had too many accidents. By doing daily TTOUCH and talking her for walks every day she is now running straight and almost always on all four legs. Minky has had to abandon the SPCA (our phone lines have gone down again) and she now just completely ignores Taz and carries on with her daily routine.

After only a week it feels like she’s been here for ages and has really fitted in well.