That did surprise me because they, despite being `cute` little things, can also be nasty little f”@@ers, that punch way way above their weight!
Thing is – it reminded me of the time I got into a bit of bother with one some years back.
We were camping in the English New Forest and this is a national Park that contained a lot of roaming wild life, therefore the restrictions of keeping dogs on a lease were pretty stringent.
We had our dog with us and naturally were careful to adhere to this rule, for fear of her being shot. . as the posters warned.
So, of I went on my daily pre-breakfast run, telling my ex-wife the usual lie that I would be about 30-40 minutes. It always ended up being 1.5 – 2 hours, often due to me getting lost but of course I never admitted that!
Anyway, this particular day I was deep into the forest and came to a crossroads of forest trail and there stood defiantly in the intersection was a wee Jack Russell. . all on his own . . . giving me the `Think you can get past me?` stare.
I stopped and came out with the usual `Helloooo . . who are you? Nice little doggy` shit . . as if the dog is gonna answer. . actually the little s@@t nearly took my hand off .
There was absolutely no one else around and I called out to see if the owner was nearby. In the end, I just though `Sod it, you’re on your own mate` and set off again.
Of course, the dog is thinking `Great! We’re off. . ` and started running along side me.
After trying to tell it `Go home!!`(stupid) and then trying to scare it off (even more stupid). .I then tried to out-run it . . . thinking `Come on then . . Let’s see what you’ve got`.
The strange thing is that Jack Russells had got a LOT of stamina and I couldn’t shake him off – in fact I started to feel a bit sorry for him – my BIG mistake.
Anyway, after another quarter of an hour I (we) reached a busy dual carriageway - yup, I was lost.
Now getting worried that the dog is going to run into the road, I decided I had to get him to a police station and I could see that there was a town around 5 miles down the road.
Wanting to get there as quick a possible, I set off down the side of the road but immediately realized that my new companion was going to last about 5 seconds with all that traffic.
So . . . . I had no option but to pick it up and run with it under my arm.
There we are. . that’s how you, or should I say I, get into bizarre situations – running down a dual carriageway with a Jack Russell under my arm and could almost hear the passengers in the cars saying `Look at that! ̈ as they gawped in amazement.
I’m running - the dog is looking up at me as if to say `Hey. . . this is great! ̈ .
Finally arriving at the local police station (manned by one local guy only) I staggered in and told him that I had found a dog in the Forest. Actually I tried to explain the whole story and I must have sounded a bit demented because the policeman said `Just calm down sir and start at the beginning again`.
In the end, he looked at the name tag on the dog and said `Ah yes, this dog has been reported, by one of the forest rangers, as being stolen about 2 hours ago`
I swear to this day that I could here the dog doing a Dick Dastardly laugh as I left . . . git.