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"Where's the Off Switch?!"
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| "Fox Terriers are
hardy, full of fun, and keep things lively wherever they may be.
...The terrier personality is feisty, alert, and always ready for whatever may occur." --The Fox Terrier, Smooth and Wire--  |
June 1, 1997-
"That puppy has the jaws of a Veloc-i-raptor!",
my roommates' daughter exclaimed upon being mistaken for a chew toy by my
nine week old wire fox terrier puppy. Yes. And she is also a confirmed "green
beret" in the fight against four-, six- and eight-legged garden terrorists!
Not to mention the fact that she yodels each night at almost precisely three
a.m. --- convinced under the summer moonlight that the malevolent pom-poms
on my pink and white knitted slippers are not only inching closer to the
bed... but are, in fact, threatening life as we know it on this planet!
People told me Fox Terrier puppies would be like this. Did I believe them? --Yes. People told me I would regret my decision to abandon the mild-mannered canine breed I had here-to-fore owned, because life would never again possess the same idyllic peace and tranquility it had previously. Has my life indeed changed? --Yes. More succinctly put, in the mere two weeks since acquiring my fox terrier puppy: LIFE HAS METAMORPHISIZED!! But, do I regret the transformation? --No. No. No. Uniquivocally, no! Actually, I find this changeover to Frenetic Fox Terrior-dom cathartic. A long-over-due rebirth! An opportunity to see the world through fresh eyes. Unprejudiced eyes... Through my fox terrier's eyes, I see with new equality both the critcal and the trivial. In my little girl's world, both the Wall Street Journal and the National Enquirer are puppy papers. In my little girl's world, each needless excursion I make to meddle or meander 'midst society's materialistc metropolis -- while leaving her at home -- is a threat to family solidarity and a worthy cause to cry about. In my little girl's world, each new day is an adventure... Each corner turned, opens new vistas of opportunity... No stone is left unturned in the pursuit of a heart's desire... In my little girl's world, there is always time for an evening's stroll. Always time to smell the flowers... Always time to give a kiss to a loved one... I think I shall learn a lot from my fox terrier. Let's hope I never find the "off switch"!
Wendy
Simpson, columnist for Barking at
the Moon, lives with her Wire Fox Terrier puppy, Gidget
, in Washington State. Together they enjoy travel, gardening,
cooking, chewing up good literature and dodging raindrops! |
