Rescued from a big city shelter, this super energetic Jack Russell
Terrier went through three homes before coming to our attention. A take charge lady with a strong sense of herself, she was
not the ideal pet for most people.
I was visiting
a friend when the Director of a local rescue pointed her out to me. She continually yapped and barked doing everything and
anything to get noticed. I liked her spark and agreed to foster her while another home could be found. We quickly went from
foster to forever as the plucky little dog proved her metal. She learns at lightning speed. No other dog we have trained has
learned this business as quick; at her first training she proved she had the intelligence, heart and drive it takes for this
work.
Recently while working a case in the wilderness,
Twist began to pull hard on her harness demanding that we go up the side of a mountain to the cliffs above. As always I "trust
the dogs", so our small group of observers and pet owner, followed the little dog up the steep hillside. When we reached
the top Twist looked back at me and then went to the pet owner and jumped up on her. She was clearly asking the pet owner
to follow her which she did. Twist trailed her way along the rim of the cliff and alerted at a predator's den. In her own
way, little Twist was trying to tell woman that her pet had unfortunately met with a predator. It was truly a sad moment and
soon Dodger found evidence confirming what Twist was trying to explain. It was a bittersweet moment; sadness at the passing
of a much loved family member but also admiration for Twist and what can only be explained as canine compassion by selecting
the dog's owner from the group and asking her to follow. Although I was sad at the elderly dogs passing, I was very proud
of Twist.
Twist proves my philosophy that it
is not about the breed of the dog... but the heart of the dog. And Twist has the heart of a lion.
