A TRUE DOG STORY...

I would like to let it be known quite a few facts about my wonderful canines. I own 7 of them, and though it may seem like too many, for me it is not. I own a wonderful Feist (Rat Terrier or Teddy Roosevelt Terrier), all of which is 12 inches high, 15 pounds. She was christened Coca Cola for the color of her coat. Her back is dark brown, almost black, while her head and the tops of her legs is a 'fizzy' color. Her neck is splashed with white as are her belly and legs. Her long tail has a white tip. She is already 6 years old and is starting to get a few gray hairs.

Being a terrier, she loves to hunt animals including cats and chickens-much to the dismay of my grandparents. C.C., as we call her, is agile and quick, making her an excellent ratter. She also is a great squirrel dog. Every now and then, she tries to run up the tree and actually gets halfway up. She has also been seen catching rabbits and moles which plagued our garden until she arrived. She even chases the small herd of deer that live on our farm.
Now for the other adult dog. Jodee is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie/Red Heeler mix. She may sound like a Heinz 57 but she is actually very pretty and unusual. Her coat is red merle. It is like a very red brown with black specks and spots. Even her eyes have a red tint to them, not like C.C.'s dark brown ones. She is 22 inches tall and around 45-50 pounds. She is a mere 3 years old compared to the veteran, C.C. Compared to C.C., the outgoing, sometimes aggressive Feist, Jodee is quiet, shy, and conservative. When I first acquired her, she was about 8 or 9 months old. She was extremely frightened but I pulled her out of some of her shyness.

When she was younger, she had a lot of her herding instinct. Quite often I would catch her chasing the horses, trying her best to make them go where she wanted them. I did not have any smaller animals that she could be trained to control easier so she has not been trained to herd. C.C. decided that she would interfere with Jodee's herding abilities and my efforts by teaching her all about being a hunting dog. She taught her how to chase chickens, how to tree squirrels, how to chase deer, and how to dig up armadillos. Now, Jodee thinks that she is an overgrown Feist.
Though she still occasionally chases the horses, it is only because her instincts still have a strong spark in them. I did have another Feist, a male named Snoopy. He was C.C.'s mate and he also contributed to Jodee's training, except he helped me train her to work agility.
Jodee had 13 beautiful puppies, C.C. four. Jodee's puppies looked like hounds in their body style but they had the blue and red merle coloring of Jodee. We have given away all of them except four. C.C. had two tan puppies, a black one, and a brindle one. We gave each of them away too except for one. That is why I own 7 dogs