Walker the Brave…

It was time to get a dog and similarly to most other Professional Hunters here in SA my choice for a hunting dog fell on a Jack Russel breed. Most people would know that these dogs have a great reputation as tracking dogs – especially wounded game – and can be very tenacious in spite of their small stature…

Well, after looking and phoning around for a while; we finally found a breeder and my choice fell on a tan & white female whilst my darling wife chose a black & white male which (to me) seemed to have more fox terrier than Jack Russel blood in him. Her reason for picking him was quite simple: “look at that face darling… you can just see that he is more intelligent than any of the other dogs around here…â€

So we left the breeder with two new additions to the family and decided to name them after our favorite Scotch: “Johnny†& “Walkerâ€. Since “Johnny†doesn’t really suit a female, my dog ended up with the name “Walkerâ€â€¦

As much as I hate admitting it; Johnny did have a more intelligent face than Walker, but I refused to admit point blank that he actually was more intelligent… this was in spite of the fact that Johnny was the first to sit, stay and lie down on command and also the first to go do his toilet business outside… Truthfully; this is a bit of an understatement as Walker still doesn’t sit, stay or lie down on command… but that is unimportant... Fact is that I was (and I still am) convinced that Walker would become the most famous hunting dog in the whole of South Africa if not the world…

See Walker was special. OK, not exactly special in a “quick to learn†kind of way… Maybe more special as in a “missing chromosome†kind of way but special nonetheless… She would stay when you commanded her to: “sitâ€, “stay†or “come†and she would come when… well usually she would come when you had food or some treat for her… See; Walker had an excellent nose and could smell food from a mile away. (She also had an excellent appetite and very quickly she was almost twice Johnny’s size…)

As I grew up in a home where dogs were to stay outside and guard the property as opposed to lounging around inside the house and being under one’s feet night and day; I do not particularly care for dogs inside the house and I have a real dislike in lapdogs. And with Sabina’s constant attention Johnny soon became just that… a real lapdog that always wanted to be picked up and cuddled. Walker on the other hand was exactly the opposite and found it far more interesting to run around on the ranch hunting anything from butterflies to ostriches and paying very little attention to her owners or anything else for that matter.

And needless to say; very soon my dog’s willingness to show affection to everyone (the gardener, the mailman and practically all visitors) other than myself became a regular and sometimes humiliating topic of discussion when friends or guests were visiting…

But if there was one thing that Walker did enjoy it was being out in the bush. Whilst Johnny preferred lying on the kitchen floor, the bedroom floor, next to the swimming pool, on the veranda – practically anywhere in close proximity to where Sabina was – whenever I picked up my rifle and headed out to the bush Walker was right behind me… OK, not exactly right behind me… she usually followed at a safe distance … but with me nevertheless. I desperately wanted to teach her how to track but this task was virtually impossible as, in order to teach an animal, it should at the very least come towards you when you called it… something that Walker simply had no interest in doing.

But one day – not too long ago – Walker redeemed herself, showing character and bravery uncanny for a dog her age that forever changed my attitude towards her and has since made us inseparable…

The staff needed rations and asked me if I would shoot a warthog for them so I picked up my rifle and took a walk into the bush. As usual, Walker was following behind me at her regular 15 paces or so – fooling around with butterflies and ants, now sniffing under this bush – then that one – and not paying much attention to me. On this day (and for a change); Johnny decided to leave the comfort of the house, and join us on our expedition. He was walking right behind me – keeping a close watch on my every move and probably waiting for me to produce some kind of treat from one of my pockets somewhere along the way…

It was at the end of October and we had quite a bit of rain at the beginning of the month so the bush was exceptionally pretty. The Acasia trees were thick with foliage which made it rather difficult to spot animals and in addition to being green; the grass was at knee height which didn’t really improve the situation from a warthog-spotting perspective. I have to admit that I was slightly distracted by the extraordinary beauty surrounding me and my attention wasn’t really at the job at hand i.e. warthog hunting so after about an hour in the heat I decided to give it up and look for a warthog on another day.

As I wanted to turn around to head back home, movement caught my attention in the long grass ahead of me. I froze instinctively and peered into the grass to see what it was and then saw what many a hunter dread …

Johnny and I saw the M’fesi (Mozambique Spitting Cobra) at the same time, gave a loud yelp and couldn’t turn around quickly enough to make a beeline back home. Of course the snake’s reaction to Johnny’s sudden movement was to rear up and spread its hood in a rather threatening display – a few feet away from me. Now anyone who has done the “mamba or cobra dance†will tell you that the waltz is a much more pleasurable experience and I stood there – frozen rock solid – waiting (or hoping) for the snake to see that I held no threat to it and move on.

And then something happened that neither I nor the snake had expected… I just saw a flash of tan and white and the next moment Walker was between us – barking with vigor at the snake which was understandably not impressed. This distraction gave me an opportunity to get hold of a stick and send the snake to snake heaven (or hell) but not before the cobra managed to spit at Walker. This didn’t stop her though and Walker continued her attack on the snake – even after it was already dead.

When it was all over I realized that Walker had gotten snake venom in her right eye – something that a little milk poured into the eye sorted out for her later…

I wish I could describe the pride I felt when I got back home and I couldn’t wait to relay the events to everyone who had made fun of my “stupid†dog… And if I’m not mistaking; Walker was walking 10 paces behind me after her fight with the cobra instead of 15... The following day she was walking closer to me and the next even closer. Nowadays she walks right on my heels and whenever I drive somewhere she has her honorary position on the passenger seat right next to me. She still doesn’t always come when I call her or sit when I ask her to but that is unimportant to me as she will always be the dog that intervened in a confrontation between me and a dangerous snake.

And one day…she may even learn how to track…

Nice story, as good as it gets !!

Thanks for sharing it, I really enjoyed it.

L

That was a lekker story.

Thanks for sharing.

Gerhard

Chris that is material for publication!! Great story.

The makings of a great companion. Keep us updated with future adventures with this dog and a picture or two.

Nice read Chris. You write well. Where is the photo of Walker?

Thanks for the comments.

Here's a picture of Walker with one of her favourite toys - a giraffe bone.



And here's another picture of her and her best friend "Delarey" (our Rhodesian Ridgeback who was named after the famous Boer General)...



Delarey was adopted from the SPCA and the idea was to use him as a hunting dog - something that he did quite well at as 3 young bushbuck can (or cannot anymore) attest to (but that's another story)...

But his plans of becoming a real hunting dog was cut short when Sabina got him under hands... Now his highest aspiration in life is to become a Yorkshire Terrier and another lapdog...

Good prose and a good read. If I were you, I'd tell people that I named the dog after "Walker, Texas Ranger"... Chuck Norris is f&^*ing awesome! Kidding aside, good work.

In college, I had a buddy that owned a little male jack russell terrier. That dog had no concept of fear whatsoever. It would regularly pick fights with dogs twice its size and win simply by intimidating its opponent into running off. Anyways, we used to have an annual party at the fraternity house that I belonged to, and the party's theme called for live roosters. I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say that we thought it would be a good idea to pit the dog against the 4 roosters that had managed to live through the party. After 5 minutes of squawking and flying feathers, the pup came out victorious and unscathed. The roosters never had to worry abou being locked up in a pen again. To sum it up, jack russell terriers are a great breed (and tough as hell), and they are superb for what you're looking for in a companion. Good choice, but if anyone from the animal protection yada yada reads this, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Besides, surely the statute of limitations on mistreating animals is less than 7 years.

The Ridgebacks are interesting dogs too. Some of them were used on lions.

Some friends of mine have a Jack Russell named " Chainsaw". Many people have verified that the name is well deserved.
GREAT STORY, Thank you for sharing
thank
Larry

Chris,

The story brings back memories of my recent hunt in RSA. My PH had a Jack Russell named Breaker. He was being trained to track as well.

Well, I had a camp full of ladies at the time that spoiled Breaker to death! He started to get a little lazy... NOT a good thing according to my PH.

Baie dankie vir die lekker storie!

I admit that Jack Russells are neat dogs, but give me the ridgebacks every time. I have three and they do a good job of keeping the nasties away! African names of course, Sheba, Simba, and Shumba.

quote:

Originally posted by Msichana:

...I had a camp full of ladies at the time that spoiled Breaker to death! He started to get a little lazy... NOT a good thing according to my PH.

Baie dankie vir die lekker storie!

Well done on the Afrikaans there Shannon!

Yeah, I know how your PH felt... Animal lovers invariably spoil the dogs rotten when they visit... which can make things difficult - especially when clients who don't like dogs (or are allergic to them eg.) visit later...

Fortunately we've always managed to find a way around this in the past...

Thanks! I'm learning Afrikaans at the moment.

Exactly, especially because my PH was still in the middle of teaching him to track. He was starting to become a "lap dog."

I'll see them again in April. I wonder if he got back on track???

Great dog and a great story!

Chris- I especially enjoyed your story as I have 4 Jack Russells. Two females and two males. The males are the more aggresive ones. All of mine are allowed in the house and each one has its own spot on the couch. The males are more aggresive but it would be a fight to the death if Reese tried to lie down in Lilly's area! However, just because they spend time in the house does not change their big dog attitude!

This past summer, Jack (now there's an original name), was pacing back and forth along a wall of my shop building. I told my son-in-law, "must be after a mouse" as we sipped beer on the patio. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flying into the air. As I turned my head for a better look, I could see that Jack had something long hanging out of his mouth. As my son-in-law approached him, he growled at us, suggesting we stay away. Well, it turned out to be a non-poisonous snake. He bit that snake in half and flung one half into the air, keeping the other half for himself. His quickness was amazing and I don't think a rattlesnake would have had a chance!

My friend and PH Fred Bezuidenhout in Namibia has two Jack Russells that both track wounded game. They go out hunting with him every day. As a matter of fact, previous to these two he had another that attacked a Leopard that was lying in ambush as Fred was opening the gate to his driveway. The Leopard killed his Jack Russell which really pissed Fred off. Fred attacked the Leopard (a female) bare handed and the fight was on. Fred won the fight when the female had enough and took off. Fred spent 2 weeks or so in the hospital!

John

John - that sounds like Fred! Was this in the last few years? I thought I had heard all his best stories.

Chris and John love those dog stories...

Mike

Bill- don't recall how long ago it was. It was while he and Rose were at Kansimba so maybe 4 or 5 years ago. Rose showed me the pictures of Fred while he was in the hospital. He was all bandaged up and had some infected bite wounds. He didn't look real happy!

John

Thanks. Another great story.