Fergus (ne Riddock and sometimes Roger)

I know, I know, I know, I was never to have another wife nor another dog! But you see, it has worked out so well with the wife thing that I thought, well, I can handle a dog too! She could even help.

In Kensington Garden, on Primrose Hill, all over England the dogs were so lovely, so well behaved and so accepted and tolerated by all, that Ann and I started talking about dogs. We saw one of my favorites, the Norfolk Terrier whilst on Portobello Road but Ann said it was too short in the leg and too fuzzy. She saw the Border Terrier and liked it better. A bit longer leg and less fuzzy. I told her that was because of the grooming. They can be fuzzy too unless kept groomed which can be a lot of work. We returned home and one day searching for dogs on the internet I was looking for Norfolks, none available, (rather rare and hard to find) Borders, did not like the look of the dogs available nor did I get a good feeling about the breeders or kennels. So for chuckles I looked at my old friends the Jack Russel Terriers and their were hundreds of beautiful dogs for much less money than the rarer breeds. I could not however, shake the memory of all that white hair that Oscar, a Jack I had many years ago, shed. Then clear at the end of one of the last search pages I saw this Hunt Terrier as they are called in the U.S. There were not many of these dogs available either and most that I saw were just flukes in breeding Jacks. The Hunt Terrier or more correctly (I love to research these things) the Old English Black and Tan Terrier was in the ancestry of the Jack Russell Terrier so there are some pups, colored somewhat like the old ancestor that pop up in the breed. Again, I did not like the examples available nor the back-breeding techniques used to redevelop them. My curiosity was piqued that the breed still existed, having, I thought, died out many years ago. After more searching, I ran across this kennel in up-state New York, whose owners had traveled back to Ireland and collected several pups of the original, existing, old bloodlines. The dogs are beautiful, they look right and the breeder is this wonderful Granola who loves her dogs and takes great pains to offer only great dogs. I showed these pictures to Ann and she replied, "hm, I guess I could live one of those." This was a Saturday night. Well, you know me, by Sunday contact was made, questions asked, promises made and gifts exchanged! In discussing, well, telling Ann she said, " You what?!"

Originally, after Ann got used to the idea, we were going to get on the list for one of the pups that would be ready in a month or so. In going back to the site numerable times I saw the picture you see above. His kennel name was Riddock, from the smooth meadow in Irish. I called her and asked if Riddock were available to which she said, "oh, you are ready right now. My brother-in-law is headed to Syracuse on Wednesday and I could get a two stop flight to SLC on Delta. So I tell her that would be great. That is my conjugal visit night in SLC anyway so it was perfect really. Ann was somewhat less dismayed at the news this time. This was still Sunday you see. We were both very excited until Wednesday finally arrived. There was a tense moment when we arrived at thee Delta cargo depot as the flight from Syracuse was late and had cut the passing time in Atlanta to only twenty minutes. There was no record of his having been unloaded, let alone cross-loaded in Atlanta. The chap at the counter said this may be good news, that they had rushed him plane to plane without logging him through. There was also no record he had been hung up in Atlanta. The plane landed in SLC a bit late and there were back and forth from the counter to the baggage handlers but no dog. After about another half an hour the radio crackled and the kid said he had a dog and was on his way over. When we finally saw him, he met every expectation. We have chosen the name Fergus, a virile man, at least a few more months anyway. He is settling in to life with us, or are we settling in with him, very well. He is brilliant as well as handsome and could write, I am sure, if he could hold a pencil, without chewing it to bits, long enough.

I empathize with you new mothers out there, these new babies are a full time job! I have had to put this blog together during naps.




Winnie gave him a rather disdainful sniff and later a warning growl, probably because of his exuberant jumpiness. He immediately respected that and stayed a very calm and a somewhat respectful distance off for the rest of the walk, whilst she ignored him. I told you he was a quick learner. The girlies are traumatized of course. Way too much jumping and licking. Young Holdie Woverhampton however, is absolutely thrilled at Fergus' enthusiasm. Probably life with old Ray Ray has helped. Let's hope the old Verboten are not validated this time around.