HISTORY
Life before Border Terriers
- by Bob Hand
.. LITTLE INCH
Carey and I have owned terriers for 31 out of the 32 years that we have been together.
In 1973, a year after we met, I bought a Jack Russell Terrier puppy from a local farm using £5 that I had been given for my 21st birthday from my Mum. We called the puppy 'Inch' and she became an intrinsic part of our lives for the next 17 years. Inch was one of the brightest terriers I have ever known ... she would also 'stop on a sixpence' at my command no matter what she was doing. She shared our lives in most things that we did, accompanying us on most of our camping holidays, car journeys and enjoyed visiting the local pub on the village common where she was known by most of the locals!! She was also fine with other dogs; her one fatal flaw was 'other people'. She simply did not appreciate being fussed over or patted by anyone that was not 'immediate' family!! Anyone who ventured to touch her would be given the advantage of a warning growl but unfortunately if that was not heeded, there would inevitably be a follow-up. I could write a book about Inch but suffice to say, she was a tremendous character whose exploits, amongst others, included
eating the interior of a car, raising a family of orphaned kittens and escaping through the sunroof of the car aged 17 (and almost blind), disappearing for several days, then turning up in the garden of the Lord Mayor of Thornbury!! Luckily she did not bite him. She produced one dog puppy when mated to 'Bobby', a little JRT that lived in the local village shop and was well known by the locals as well ..unfortunately the day after the mating, Bobby died and so the little puppy became 'Bobby 2', fitting almost seamlessly into his father's footsteps in the village shop!!
Amy was a West Highland White Terrier bred by Sue and Andrew Thompson of the well-known Ashgate affix.
She came into our lives in 1977, the same year that Virginia Wade won the Ladies Final at Wimbledon, she really was the most affable and endearing little personality you could wish to meet .. there simply wasn't a bad bone in her body. When our daughters were born, the hapless Amy even ended up one time in Madeline's pram as a guest 'baby'! Until recent times, we have had one of the largest populations of suburban foxes in the area that we live in which is North of Bristol in the South West of England. One of the funniest sights I ever saw was looking out through our bedroom window in the dusk of a late Summer's evening to see a little white figure tearing round and round a section of fencing .. I screwed my eyes together until I could just make out that Amy was playing chase with a lively but spirited vixen .. it was difficult to make out who was chasing who but it looked like they were both having a lot of fun. Amy started life out as a white terrier but gradually over the years often became more sort of 'cowpat' green due to some of her less endearing habits!!
Page last updated 20 March 2004
