Seventeen years, plus a few odd months, my husband and I were looking for a Jack Russell terrier to…read moreadopt. Unbeknownst to me, he had been communicating with Star-Mar rescue in Wooster and showed me a photo of the most ungainly JRT I'd ever seen. The dog had the coloring of the breed but longer legs than any JRT I'd ever seen with crazed look in his eyes.
We went to visit Martha, (the Mar in Star-Mar) and met this incredibly heroic woman and a houseful of white and brown barkers.
Bosco, originally Bobby, was as wild as his eyes suggested. Martha had the battle scars to prove it with a knee she had destroyed chasing him. This is his story, as best as I can recall more than 17 years later:
The year-old dog was a marked man in the Youngstown pound and slated for death when Martha discovered him and whisked him to safety in the nick of time. At their first encounter, he threw up in her car. Not an auspicious beginning.
The rescue had him several weeks, a longer stay than normal. It seemed he was an undisciplined thug. Initially, he was being fostered at a farm with horses. Once again, the dog faced certain death due to his penchant for the chase-of the horses.
(Those of you who love the breed are chuckling: "A JRT chaser, imagine that.")
Bosco was relocated to Martha's during which time she vainly tried to make him acceptable to civilized society. As I recall, she said he had lost two or three e-collars during his nightly hunting trips over her acreage. After what I remember as three hopeful placements, the dog was deemed hopeless by just about everyone but Martha.
Then she got an email from a retired guy in Fairlawn who showed an interest in the mongrel.
Woah, I'm sure she thought. A possible match?
She was reluctant to pursue the possible adoption due to the fact the guy was over 50. Who wouldn't be?
Hubby convinced his doubly doubting wife to go meet this animal.
During the meet and greet, the wife, hereafter referred to as I, remained unconvinced-knowing full well this dog would be the biggest challenge we'd ever had in a dog.
But since it has always been my style to make my loved ones' wishes come true, I reluctantly agreed to take him home.
In the car on the way back to Fairlawn, Bosco threw up in my lap.
That was the moment I knew this dog needed and deserved a forever home more than any animal I'd ever met.
It took several training classes and he has never lost his desire to chase anything that moves. He gets anxious and he still paces as if he's on the end of a chain.
He still walks a minimum of two miles a day, usually in his favorite park with his pack, five miniature schnauzers and his best friend Milly, a seven pound fluff ball. The activity is proven life extender for both of them. As Martha says, "Motion is lotion."
As we promised on the adoption papers, we have kept our end of the bargain.
Our secret to his longevity? Long walks, the absolute best food I can afford (check with dog food advisor) annual trips to the vet, NO PESTICIDES on this paws and probably good Youngstown genes.
But Bosco, at 17, has had no major illnesses (one kidney infection) totally deaf and just a tad under weight, still embraces life with a fervor matched by only a few people.
He is my .
Thanks, Martha.
