Farewell old chum...

A year ago today Jackson passed away, so very peacefully. I think of him often and J2 and I both miss him dearly. We would like to thank you, his blog readers and pals, for all your kind thoughts, messages and gifts, they really did mean a lot to us. We were touched that the musings of a small grumpy dog were enjoyed by so many.

I wanted to end Jackson's blog on a positive note. Many of you already know that in August 2010 we adopted another little dog in need, this time a 2 year old Welsh Terrier who we called Noodles. I think that Jackson would approve.

Much love,

J1 & J2 with Noodles xxx

RIP Jackson

One of the last photos of Jackson, taken by Diane at the recent Fox Terrier Fun Walk

It is with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you that Jackson died peacefully in his sleep last night. When I woke early this morning he was still warm but already gone.

As many of you already know, he battled against many health issues during the (almost) 6 years we had with him, including degenerative disc disease, Cushing's Disease, cataracts and had survived major surgery for kidney stones, primary hyperparathyroidism and lung cancer. A short while ago he had a stroke, followed by 2 others, but seemed to be making a good recovery. I think that in the end his poor body had just had enough.

He spent his last day cheerfully, as ever; he trampled some flowers in our garden, sauntered around the local park, dined on pasta and tuna and spent the evening curled up on my lap where I like to think he was dreaming of his favourite occupation, destroying toys.

J2 and I have been very grateful for your support, kind words and comments over the years and hope that you will remember Jackson fondly. He was a dog in a million.



J1 & J2

Good Friday was a very good day...

Every day is a good day when you're a terrier, right? There are always new dogs to bark at, humans to ignore, smells to sniff, things to be grumpy about...But I just knew that Good Friday was going to be an extra special day because J1 was tidying up, which let's be honest, doesn't happen often around here.

I had no idea what was in store until a car rolled up outside and J1 took me to the front door to greet our visitors. And guess who it was???? None other than my pal Asta's humans all the way from the good ole US of A. And who was with them? My square pal Eric and his humans too! My eyes nearly popped out of their head!

Here's Eric and I saying hello:



He's the pipsqueak in the photo. Remember that I'm substantial, NOT fat!

Eric then decided to take up sentry duty:



The humans were ooo-ing and ahh-ing over us both but Eric and I took it all in our stride. I even fell asleep with my head resting on Ami's foot, probably because I noticed she was wearing socks with WFTs on them!

As if the day wasn't good enough already, they then showered me with shedloads of pawtastic gifts! I made a start on destroying a chipmunk but this was swiftly removed as I am supposed to be quiet and resting after my recent stroke.


(Don't worry about the eggs, they were for the Js). I'd just like to point out that the socks are great but rather too big. What's that? They're for the humans? Oh, I thought they were for ME!

After a couple of hours J1 and our guests went out for a stroll but I was too tired to join them so I stayed behind with J2 to try out another gift, my new Cath Kidston Bandana:


(please ignore dead plant growing out of my ear. J1 says it's a work in progress)

and then dream of destroying all my lovely presents...Thank you pals for a truly pawsome day...

Been feeling pawly...

I know that many of you have already heard on the wire that I've been a bit under the weather recently. It seems I had a mild stroke and temporarily lost the use of my back legs. The world went a bit lop-sided for a while but never fear, I'm on the mend now!

Thanks to all my pals, old and new, for your good wishes and messages of support. I hope to be able to visit all your blogs soon, but until then, here's a recent photo of me lounging on the Js bed.



Handsome, eh?

Walking the Dog

Heard about the new graphic novel that features a Wire Fox Terrier? It's called "Walking the Dog" by British illustrator David Hughes and stars his WFT Dexter.

Some of you may have already read about it cos J1 and her previous WFT, Watson, are mentioned in it and she's been blabbing about it all over the place. Take a look at her Forever Foxed blog to read more.

Anyway, the book is strictly for grown ups, not pipsqueaks, because there is some (ahem) "adult content" with a few HBO words thrown in. And it's not just a book about walking the dog even though that's the title. Confusing huh? Well, I liked the book as it was funny and a bit rude in places but as usual we got far too much of the humans and not enough of Dexter the Dog, the real hero of the piece. I'd like to know what Dexter thinks. I hope he's getting a big cut...

Please form an orderly queue for Pawtographs...

Some of you may have already read on my wirey pal Eric's blog that the pair of us were going to be featured in the February 2010 issue of the UK magazine, Your Dog. Well, it's finally out and we are included in a 6 page breed feature about Wire Fox Terriers.

I was dismayed to discover that J1 has muscled into MY photo and is mugging away. I have blanked out her face to spare you all the horror and you'll see that I am turning my head away in disgust. Eric's human was much more sensible and stayed out of the limelight but she did include some wheelie photos. Pah!

J1 was huffing and puffing a bit about the article because it says we are "relatively easily trained" (yeah, right!) "especially good with children" (Mmm, couldn't eat a whole one) and "friendly" (ha!) .

[Click on article to enlarge]

Anyway, now that I am officially famous I need to be escorted everywhere by my security team to keep my adoring fans in check. Please form an orderly queue for pawtographs...

Merry Kissmas!

Merry Kissmas pals!



Even though I didn't participate in the Dogs with Blogs Christmas Card Exchange this year some of you were still kind enough to send me a card which is rather pawsome. Thank you!

Wishing you all the best Christmas, with treats and toys and good times galore in the year ahead.

Fox Terrier Fun Walk No 2

On Saturday I got to meet some pals old and new for the 2^nd Fox Terrier Fun Walk in Brighton. These included Sally & Paddy and their new foster friend, Douglas and my good pal, Blue who was acting as official photographer. I slipped her a fiver beforehand to make sure she only got my good side, what do you think, was it worth the money?

We also had a handful of handsome Welsh Terriers along, plus my good pal, Seamus the Irish Terrier and a lovely lab called Purdy.

There were 23 dogs in total including 15 of us WFTs. We met at 11.00 at Brighton Marina for a photoshoot and pawtographs. Then we headed off, taking the Undercliff Walk from Brighton towards Saltdean. It was a lovely sunny day and several pals went for a dip in the sea. Brrrr, far too cold for me!

The great thing about the Undercliff Walk is that it is very flat so I could recline in my chariot for part of the journey. Several other dogs were a bit jealous, and tried to hitch a ride with me.

I know that some of the ladies were super excited when they heard that Harrison Ford was going to be attended. Here he is, resplendent in his green neckerchief:

What, were you expecting to see someone else, hehehe?

If you have a Facebook account you can see more on my Foxed – Wire Fox Terriers group page, or on J1’s Flickr page or on the Fox Terrier Rescue site or on Blue's blog of course...

Droolsome treats were supplied by my bakery of choice, the Dog Dog’s Bakery, Mmmmm!

We all had a lovely day and hope to do it again soon...

Calling all UK Fox Terriers (again)...

...and anyone else wishing to attend a "meet and greet" with me, hehehe!

My pals Sally and Paddy and I are organising a Fox Terrier Fun Walk to be held at 11.00 on Saturday 10th October, Undercliff Walk, Brighton.

Please visit Fox Terrier Rescue for more information and to register interest.

Pawtographs will be available on request.

Birthday Barkout

Yup, it's been five years since I moved in with the Js and we also decided to use this date to celebrate my birthday. Happy Barkday to me!

Here I am sporting my new bandana-thingy made by the lovely Brenda, with the assistance of her 2 wirey pals, Alle and Jack.



We've had our ups and downs over the past few years but on the whole, by and large, all things considered the Js aren't too bad (for humans.) I think I'll stick around...

My Carriage Awaits...

I've decided that being wheeled about is great, I'd highly recommend it. Why waste potential toy-destroying energy on walking when you can get your human slaves to push you around like royalty?


And you can bark at other dogs without them being able to get at you, hehehe!

Pseudowhat???

Look at my red beard. Guess what I had for my tea...

Sorry pals. I know it's been an age since my last post and some of you have been concerned about me. The truth is, I've been really slowing down and the Js have been trying to find out if it's old age (hey, I'm still in my prime!) or something else.

After lots of vet visits and stuff it seems I have an extremely rare neuromuscular disorder called pseudomyotonia. This is usually associated with Cushing's Disease and is progressive with symptoms including muscle stiffness, weakness and wastage. It can be rather painful and means that I can no longer take walks longer than 10 minutes maximum or I really begin to stiffen up. Of course, the Js will just have to take me for 50 short walks a day instead of 3 longer ones. Sounds fine by me!

But all is not lost. Remember my dog pram? (Newer pals can read about it here). It means that I'll still be able to get to all my favourite haunts such as the beach or the park without having to walk too far (the Js are useless and don't have a car).

I'm sorry I don't have as much time to visit all your blogs as I once did but don't think I've forgotten you. Of course I miss you all heaps; hope you've missed me too!

Fox Terrier Fun!

What do you call a bunch of 15 Fox Terriers? Or was it 16? J1 lost count. Is it a Bark of Terriers? We certainly were noisy at times.

Today was the first Fox Terrier Fun Walk in Stanmer Park, Brighton and I finally got to meet my blogging pals, Sally and Paddy and made several new friends. It was a pleasant sunny day and we had a lovely stroll through the countryside, stopping for photo opportunities every now and then. Have you ever tried taking photos of dogs walking together? It's pretty hard work cos the silly humans keep getting in the way and mugging for the cameras. No-one wants to see them, right? It's all about us dogs, hehehe.

Here are some of us at the start, raring to go. Can you spot me? J1's mum (in white) is holding me and I'm in the middle, looking jaunty. You might want to bigify the photo for maximum handsomeness.



Here are some of my new pals:


Pippa and her daughter, Rosa


Me with Willow. Notice the admiring glance she's giving me?



Here's Max, enjoying a quiet moment away from the rest of us, with a chew.


Binkie and Sally



Me, Paddy (not Sally's Paddy, a different one) a bit of Max's tail growing out of Paddy's head and Pippa.


I think this is Hector with his lovely ears.


Yummy Fun Day treats from my favourite shop, the Dog Dog's Bakery.

And I mustn't forget the few interlopers who walked with us: Crumble the Cocker Spaniel, Sparky the Miniature Dachshund and Molly & Seamus the Irish Terriers.

And here I am back home, just getting ready to have a good snooze. All that barking seems to have made my ears stand on end!



A great big Jackson-sized thank you to all who attended and Diana for organising it and Annette and Diane for route-planning combined with crowd control; you all made it such a marvellous day. Let's do it again soon...

PS If you want to see tons more photos and an exciting video of the walk, take a look at my Facebook group page (Foxed - Wire Fox Terriers) in the Events section.

Testing times...

Hey pals, some of you know that I've been back and forth at the vet again this week. I've been a bit under the weather and the vets are trying to figure it all out. I like to keep them on their toes. I've had the usual poking and prodding tests and on Thursday I had chest and bladder x-rays again. Trouble is, they were "inconclusive" so have been sent off to the specialists. I'll keep you posted as soon as I hear anything.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you my latest feature film. Remember Eric's recent video with the solitaire game? He gave an oscar-winning performance. But you know me. Not one to play by the rules. Eric made it look too easy, so I thought I'd show you my approach. J1 calls it "Bull in a Chinashop". Make sure you turn up your volume for maximum enjoyment and carrot- crunching sound effects. Enjoy...

Calling all UK Fox Terriers....

...and anyone else wishing to attend a "meet and greet" with me, hehehe!

My new pal Sally is organising a Fox Terrier Fun Walk to be held at 11.00 on Sunday 19th April, Stanmer Park, Brighton.

Please visit Fox Terrier Rescue for more information and to register interest.

Pawtographs will be available on request.

Celebration time...Come on!

Today marks my second blogoversary, woo hoo! Can you believe that I've been blogging for two whole years? I think that if it's at all possible, I've even grown a tad more handsome during this time, what do you think?



A great big Jackson-sized thank you to all my lovely pals for your continued visits and comments. Here's to the next year and may it be filled with good times galore for all of us! Chin chin!

Foxy Lady

Listen up pals, there's another Foxy Lady on the blogging scene. Her name is Sally and she lives in the UK. Like me, she was rehomed by Fox Terrier Rescue and you can read her story here (scroll down past me).



Please visit her blog to bark hello and remember to tell her I sent you.

Paws off, I saw her first.

It was a Funny Old Day...

I was a bit grumpy this morning when I awoke to be faced with a garden full of snow. It's the thickest snow we've had in the South East of the UK for YEARS! As you know, I like my home comforts and I certainly didn't appreciate getting snow clumps stuck to my legs. The only good thing about today was that everything ground to a halt and people were all cheerful and stuff. There were no buses or trains in our neck of the woods and the schools and universities were shut. J1 had an impromptu day off work, hurrah! When we went to the park it was full of students and school kids throwing snowballs. At least they knew better than to throw them at me, although J1 got one on the back of the head.

Here's a brief video of me barking at the people enjoying themselves:



Yes, I know. It doesn't look like that much snow, but the path I'm walking on had all been trampled. In my garden it was so high it was up to my undercarriage so J2 made a snow dog. Later this afternoon I ate his nose.



Not sure how long this snow is planning on sticking around. Hope it's not too long...

Want a pawtograph?

At last, fame and fortune await! No, I haven't been signed up for the new Tintin film (Steven, I'm still available and waiting for your call!). But I AM the star of J1's latest Forever Foxed card:



I know this seems like yet another shameless plug but I was so excited to see my handsome old self on the card! You can read more about it here on J1's boring blog if you like, but don't feel obliged or anything.

Cuz and the Hairdryer

Hey pals, I know that some of you may have been wondering what I've been up to these past few weeks. Well, J1 bought me 2 new cuz toys, a medium and a large, and so I've been mostly eating, sorry, playing with them. J1 sawed the feet off them before she gave them to me to make the challenge of destroying them rather more difficult.

Here's a quick video of me taken this morning. I got rather wet on my walk and so J1 is drying me with the hairdryer while I'm working on my large cuz.

Nothing (not even the evil hairdryer) is going to interrupt my cuz-gnawing pleasure.




No rest for the wicked.