SOME HISTORY

I can't imagine a time without a Fox Terrier in my life. 

We had Boy a year before I was born. He was a year between myself and my big sister Jade and we three were inseparable. 

He saved us from brown snakes and toads - he hated toads! He would shake them in the 'terrier destruction style' until all their legs were ripped off and you'd find legless toads all around the yard, he had no mercy. He was a naughty dog, he chased chickens at my grandparent's cattle farm, he barked at everything, he never brought toys back and we'd have to chase him around the yard trying to get them. But he was a great mouser and would dig them out from under the chicken coop. He also had an obsession with my guinea pigs and spent many hours hunting them outside the cage, gnawing at the wooden door, just hoping he could have a taste. Which he eventually did one day when I was at school, he & my Nan's dog Sachimo ate my 13 guinea pigs (mums & babies) and left just a few feet and some hair and that was it. I can laugh about it now, but I was devastated in the moment! 

He also loved to chase cars, he was runover 5 times and will be forever known as the million-dollar dog for his hip surgery from a car scrap that left him with a lifelong limp. But for all his faults, he was 100% loyal and never left my sister and my side wherever we went, and he loved our adventures on our pushbikes.

Everyone knew Boy dog and knew if he was there, Jade & I weren't far behind. 

He lived a long life, old Boy, and died on Easter Sunday 2005 when he was 15 years old. It was a sad day, he'd gone all grey and slow shuffling in his walk, but he come found me in the yard, gave me a lick and a sniff and then went off quietly to pass on. He was buried under the pine trees next to his best mate Sachimo. 

Fourteen wonderful years with a loyal dog does things to your soul.

Your heart always breaks when a foxy leaves your life and Boy was the best dog a kid could have growing up and will always be in my heart. He was the first smooth and the dog that started my absolute adoration for the Smooth Fox Terrier breed. 

 Five years without a fox terrier brought us to 2010, where the next smooth came into my life. Joey. 

(Named for his jumping through tall grass as a pup)

Or Jo, Moj, Moji. The dog that just did not stop! 

Playing fetch was his life. He had ears that weren't perfect and flopped back when he ran. He loved to play and run and go on adventures and always had to be amongst whatever was happening.

He was a naughty puppy though, very destructive but I think this had a lot to do with my working full time when he was a small pup. As a pup he didn't listen or have great recall until about 3 years old. What a mission he was, but with some obedience classes he became a wonderful dog. Once I started part time hours, he grew so much more observant to me and obedient to commands. He took on a taipan snake at 5 months old, a frill necked lizard at 1 and throughout his life saved us from many a brown or tree snake. He was true to his breed as a hunter and was a fantastic mouse and rat catcher who also had a taste for waterhen chicks and native rats too.

He did not like thunderstorms at all and loved his thunder shirt. But he was the best snuggly dog if you were having a bad day. 

He loved to go on walks and in the car and went on many 4wdriving treks and camping trips.  Everyone knew where there was Jordy, there was Joey. He came to work with me every day and became best buds with the two other office Labradors who he played chase with. 

We moved home a lot in his life, however this never seemed to bother him, just as long as he was with us. For his final years, he lived a great life full of farm fun. He was trained not chase and loved being a shepherd to our herd of Damara sheep, alpacas, countless chickens and went on his daily scout around the neighbourhood to say hello to all the neighbours who obligingly would throw the ball for him or say hello. 

He lived a long life too, he saw me grow as an adult, the good, the bad and he was always right beside me. My shadow. He welcomed both my babies home when they were born and loved them from the very beginning, he met my partner who he secretly loved more than me because he could throw the ball further than I could. He was such an important part of our family.

We were all heartbroken when Jo left this world, a cold Saturday morning May 21st, 2022. I'd been up most the previous night with him, lying on his favourite blanket, telling him what a good boy he was knowing that the end was near. It especially broke my heart as my two toddlers come into the vet's room and said, 'goodbye Jojo' and gave him one last pat. 

Lumps that a previous vet had stated 'fatty tissue and that he was just a lumpy, warty old dog' deemed more of an issue and I suspected cancer took over quickly. We said our goodbyes and he was cremated and sits upon a shelf in our house. Never forgotten, always loved. 

The best dog, my best mate for a long time, who continued my life's passion with Smooth Fox Terriers and the one who made way for the next adventure. 

Owning Teo & Kiki and the beginnings of my dream of breeding Smooths as Zenterrier.