A repost from this blog circa August, 2004
Some of the stuff on the internet really is amazing. I got a call the other day from a fact checker on the West Coast that is editing some kind of general dog book. They wanted to know if it was true that a Jack Russell terrier had killed 3 tons of rats in one day!
"Uh no, that would be a lie or a very serious mis-statement," I replied. I explained to the woman that Brian Plummer claimed his TEAM of dogs had killed 3 tons of rats over the course of a YEAR in the mid-1970s, and that this was certainly possible, though still impressive and, oddly enough, there were no pictures. Oh. And the dogs were not Jack Russells.
By they way, I inquired, where had she gotten this little nugget of misinformation that she was about to pass on between two bits of cardboard and charge a price for?
She steered me to this web site (link now broken) which describes a Jack Russell Terrier as a dog that weighs 7 pounds and is 10 inches tall. According to this web site the dog originates in Germany, and the prefered color is black, "but black/tan, red or dark gray are also allowed."
According to this site, the Rev. John Russell crossed Trump with bull terriers and pocket beagles to get the modern Jack Russell.
Sure he did. And yes, it's a 7 pound dog from Germany, and the best color is black. Absolutely!
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I guess hiring a proof reader was out of the question lol.
ReplyDeleteThat site has 2 articles for Australian shepherds with somewhat different information in them (although both have a great deal of questionable stuff).
ReplyDeleteThe first one says, in part, "This race was created in Australia. It is the European result of the crossings of shepherds and other dogs." How does one get a "European result" that was "created in Australia?" Nevermind that the Aussie is an American breed.
It continues, "Two lineages of this race exist. The one that are used in Australia like shepherd and the other that is possibly the one that we see in the canine competitions. Of the true shepherd it olvídese that dog is neither for apartment nor for house. That dog corresponds in the Australian plains where possibly neither you nor we pruned to survive." Okay, the first sentence could be someone's bodgered up description of the split between working and show dogs. However, working dogs can and do successfully live in houses. (Any guess on what language "olvidese" is or is meant to be?) What was being pruned to survive?
"...oddly enough, there were no pictures. Oh. And the dogs were not Jack Russells."
ReplyDeleteAnd it was claimed by Brian Plummer! I like his stories, but I dont really believe all of them...