The meaning of Terrier
There is an awful warning in a review of J.R. Ackerley’s cult novel “My Dog Tulip’’about going into detail about one's pooch. While we do keep a close eye on Tammy's bowels this is more a 'horrified fascination' than a subject I wish to write about. So we are not competing with Tulip - even though they have made a film of it!
Her eating habits are little better: while a nice fresh bone is accepted with pleasure after a period of chomping it is buried to be dug up again in a few days - or some cases a few months - time. Our vet is well aware of such matters as he recognised that the black bones are the ones which taste best! I shall return to this topic in a few lines, but for the moment let us head back to the subject line of this post:
The wikipedia entry begins "A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs." That covers a good bit of our beast but misses a key attribute. The Oxford dictionary entry gets closer to the point of this post by adding "used in similes to emphasise tenacity or eagerness: she would fight like a terrier for every penny".
Going back to the past, as Tammy was recovering from snake-bite 18 months ago she found a rabbit-leg in the bush, which I did not wish her to eat. So I grabbed a protruding bit and pulled it. I also lifted and eventually the dog was dangling with her hind feet 30cm off the ground. This was resolved when the ligaments in the rabbit-leg tore and she fell back to the ground hurriedly swallowing the portion at her end of proceedings.
Fast forward to today. Although the weather was awful (about 10 degrees, windy and drizzling) she had a newish bone which she wished to eat on the lawn so she was on the lead out there. Then there came a loud bark implying "I am cold and want to come in.". When I went to do this, she was standing on the verandah with a very old (past the green stage) bone in her mouth. I explained carefully that she had Buckleys of coming indoors with that.
As I expected this did nothing so a tug of war ensued. I didn't get her right off the ground this time but it was only because I didn't want to damage my recovering back by lifting a wriggling 3 kgs. As shown below the front legs are well off the deck: it is a pity the blood-curdling growls can't be included in the post!
Her eating habits are little better: while a nice fresh bone is accepted with pleasure after a period of chomping it is buried to be dug up again in a few days - or some cases a few months - time. Our vet is well aware of such matters as he recognised that the black bones are the ones which taste best! I shall return to this topic in a few lines, but for the moment let us head back to the subject line of this post:
The wikipedia entry begins "A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs." That covers a good bit of our beast but misses a key attribute. The Oxford dictionary entry gets closer to the point of this post by adding "used in similes to emphasise tenacity or eagerness: she would fight like a terrier for every penny".
Going back to the past, as Tammy was recovering from snake-bite 18 months ago she found a rabbit-leg in the bush, which I did not wish her to eat. So I grabbed a protruding bit and pulled it. I also lifted and eventually the dog was dangling with her hind feet 30cm off the ground. This was resolved when the ligaments in the rabbit-leg tore and she fell back to the ground hurriedly swallowing the portion at her end of proceedings.
Fast forward to today. Although the weather was awful (about 10 degrees, windy and drizzling) she had a newish bone which she wished to eat on the lawn so she was on the lead out there. Then there came a loud bark implying "I am cold and want to come in.". When I went to do this, she was standing on the verandah with a very old (past the green stage) bone in her mouth. I explained carefully that she had Buckleys of coming indoors with that.
As I expected this did nothing so a tug of war ensued. I didn't get her right off the ground this time but it was only because I didn't want to damage my recovering back by lifting a wriggling 3 kgs. As shown below the front legs are well off the deck: it is a pity the blood-curdling growls can't be included in the post!
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| You want tenacity, I got it in spades! |
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