My Dog

I’ve had dogs off and on my entire life.   I’ve loved them all and mourned their passing, but the dog I have now is the best so far.  He is a pure-bred Border Terrier whose grandfather was judged “Best of Breed” at the Westminster Dog Show.  We got him from Skyline Border Terriers in Los Angeles.   If you are familiar with the movie “Something About Mary,” the dog in that film was a Border Terrier from the same breeders. ( Obviously the scene where the Terrier attacks Ben Stiller uses a stuffed dog for a lot of it, but you can see the real Border from time to time.)

The story of how I came to choose a Border Terrier as our next dog is interesting.  We have small grandchildren, so I wanted to make sure the dog was going to get along with children.  I found a Web Site that listed every breed of dog for its compatibility with children, “1” being the best and “5” being the Wild Dingo!  Prior to that we had been thinking about a Jack Russell Terrier because we both wanted a terrier this time around.  It turned out that the Jack Russell was rated a “4” so that was out.  The only terrier rated “1” was the Border Terrier, and that was the first I had ever heard of the breed.  Anyway, we then did a bunch of research on the breed and went to some dog shows to see them in the flesh.  Based on that we decided we just had to have one.

We named him Spenser after the character in Robert Parker’s novels.  (Eileen has read every one of Robert Parker’s books, including the “non-Spenser” ones.)  Because he is a terrier he must have a lot of exercise every day or he will just drive you nuts.  So, we walk at least two miles or run 3.5 miles every day.  The point here is that I know that I would not be getting that much exercise if it were not for Spenser – I would be making all kinds of excuses to avoid taking a walk or running.  So, I figure he is going to add another 10 years to my life from the exercise he makes me do and the joy that he brings to me each and every day.

Here is a great picture I took of him recently, which is now the wallpaper on my computer.  Click to enlarge it.

Arf!