xristine
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Hi from a newbie...I'm new to the forum and much impressed by the excellent work you're all doing; work done not just with compassion but with humour too!
I don't live with a dog just now. I did live with one and a half JRTs until they died of old age; the last one - the JRTX - died in 2003. I grew up with two poodles and along the way, a SBT. But the JRTX was the love of my life.
Another dog isn't possible just now because I work but circumstances are likely to change next year and I'm hoping that before long I'll be sharing my home again. I miss all that optimism, enthusiasm and energy bundled into such a small area.
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Paul&Annie
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Hello and welcome!
I hope that you will keep and eye on the forum and when the time is right for you in the future I am sure RR will have the right dog for you.
We got our JRT from RR last year and I know what you mean about them, he makes us laugh every day, they are great fun.
Thanks for your support.
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reclaimingrebus
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I'm sure we can keep you busy until you cease paid employmnet! welcome aboard !
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Sharonr - Admin
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Hi there and welcome to our pack! Yes the humour is compulsory  Initially it worried me when you said you "did live with 1 1/2 JRTs"!
Give me a shout if you need any help with the forum.
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xxlynne
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Welcome xristine
Just wondering if you know what you were x'd with Ristine's are a favourite of mine
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PatE
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Hello and welcome from another jack lover 
They do wrap their little paws round your heart, don't they?
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xristine
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hello all - many, many thanks for the warm welcome and such a good humoured forum!
@xxlynne - I think I was crossed with a computer as I'm hardly ever off the thing 
@ all the JRT fans - no matter what I do I can't rid myself of a fascination for them. I tell everyone else who thinks about having a JRT to imagine the dog 10 times the size they see and ask themselves if they can *still* manage her. But sadly I can't seem to get the message through to myself.
They are wonderful dogs. They have the perfect sense of humour, they're loyal and if they do something for you, you know it's because they want to - or you have a packet of cheese in your pocket...
Here are my two... They are both dead now (of old age). The little black one (the JRX) died in 2003. I've given up thinking I'll ever stop missing her.
The hole they're looking into came to an abrupt end or this photo wouldn't exist. No JRT owner lets a JRT near a hole she can get down or you won't see her for dust. The JRT cross was cross with something that preferred waiting at the top for whatever it was to come out; so on walks I could ignore her and concentrate on Satan's daughter... 
They both had excellent recall and that isn't the 'speak no ill of the dead' speaking - I have no illusions about JRTs. But my two always came back immediately when I called or raised an arm. The JRTX was very very bright and trainable. The JRT was a JRT and apart from coming back when I called her was in every other way what you'd expect of a JRT in other words she couldn't hear anything at all that wasn't said by me.
The tails were docked before I got them btw. The JRT came from working stock and this was before the laws were changed so I can kind of understand why the farm decided to dock but in the JRTX's case I never forgave them. She is quite clearly a very mixed breed and was never bred to work. And she loved wagging her tail. I used to grieve for the bit that was missing even if she didn't. 
Sorry about the rotten photo - it's a scan from film. This was pre-digital. This is the photo on the noticeboard above my desk and it's how I best remember them... always into something.
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Sharonr - Admin
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I think there will be many terrier people on our forum reading your post who will know exactly where you are coming from and whatever the JRT traits, just how endlessly amusing they truly are 
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PatE
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Hubby and I have a little joke about jacks - and that is "once bitten, forever smitten!"
So we understand your fascination - and they do feel like a big dog in a small package. It led to another of our little sayings "Heart of a lion, sense of a duck!"
You can't help but laugh at them and their antics.
Of course you are missing yours still, but when the circumstances come right, there'll be another - who won't replace, but will mesmerise just as the others did. Adorable little dogs
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xristine
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PatE - your saying has made me laugh and has explained a lot.
I was bitten by a JR as a child. I happened to be walking by when some children on bikes went by who had been teasing the JRT and he decided to bite the nearest child - me! So, obviously I was 'infected' and my fascination isn't my fault at all...
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CloClo
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Can so understand this - maybe not about just JRTs, but most terriers. However, thats probably because the 'JRT' pups my parents bought before I was born turned out to be 'terrier mutts.' They did have the personality of JRTs though!
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Pooch zzz
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Hello Xristine. I'm a newbie and I just wanted to thank you for your additions to the Dog Dictionary! Ha ha ha, I'm racking my brains to come up with something new.
I discovered RR in a desperate attempt to find a loving home for one of my pack. I truly cannot believe there are such wonderful people in the world. I'm sorry to hear of your loss, the memories never really fade and you will always remember them (in the best light). I still often think of my first pooch, a rescued doberman who was only 9 months old and 24hrs from PTS as he had outstayed his kennel space at the rescue. Sadly he died at just 7, in my arms on my birthday, from congenital heart failure - Don't you just hate the breeders. We had a telepathic connection - I hardly ever had to tell him anything, he would do what was in my mind! That was 1991 and I still have a quivvery lip at his passing.
There have been other dogs, all mongrels or xbreeds (no genetic pedigrees ever again for me) and each has given me something special and I have loved them all and mourned them all, swearing each time that I'll never give my heart to a dog again. But then here I am with three little monsters, and that's another story!
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xristine
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@CloClo - I think the appeal of terriers is that they live everything in the fast lane. It's all 100% with them and if they do something for you then you know it's because you have won their respect - the cheese in your pocket helps though!
@Pooch zzz - I enjoyed doing the additions and will think of some more.
I've given up thinking that I'll stop missing my JRTX - it's been 6 years and I still wish for the 'one more moment' thing that humans do when someone they love dies.
But really, there are so many sad little homeless ones that instead of grieving I think it's better to offer a home. I don't know if I will ever have such a close and empathetic relationship again with a dog but actually just seeing a smiley doggy face will be enough! Besides, my life has become way too ordered and predictable - it needs a terrier to mess it up a bit!
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Paul&Annie
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Xristine,
I love your photo!!!!! It just sums up terriers, they are so nosey and so busy!
The picture must be a wonderful memory for you.
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xristine
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I love your photo of your little one on the beach, modelling his bandanna. It made me smile. Such a typical JRT stance and with his tongue stuck out too.
They're such characters aren't they? And their optimism is so contagious. I love the fact that even though you can tuck them under an arm they'd still try to kill the lion for you if you'd let them...
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