Sunday, 24 February 2013

The Rat Pack: Meet The Rat Pack, Sweep Broome & Bobby

The Rat Pack: Meet The Rat Pack, Sweep Broome & Bobby: We are The Rat Pack, Sweep, Broome the Dog & bobby three mental Jack Russell dogs.We love our walks in the fields and giving our masters...

The Rat Pack: The Jack Russell Dog, facts you need to know about...

The Rat Pack: The Jack Russell Dog, facts you need to know about...:       The Jack Russell breed of dogs thrives on action and adventure. However, they often find themselves in trouble. Jack Ru...

The Rat Pack: Jack Russells, Loath Them Or Love Them?

The Rat Pack: Jack Russells, Loath Them Or Love Them?: I’ve owned Jack Russell dogs since 1967. Love them or loth them, I love my Jack Russell’s; they may be a small dog. However, what they ...

The Rat Pack: A Jack Russel Owner for Over 40 years

The Rat Pack: A Jack Russel Owner for Over 40 years: I’ve owned Jack Russell’s now for over 40 years; my first Jack Russell was a wired haired type this was back in 1967. Titch was her na...

The Rat Pack: Sweep and Her Litter of Pups

The Rat Pack: Sweep and Her Litter of Pups: Sweep the first member of the Rat Pack was born around the end of 1999. We visited many Jack Russell dog breeders in the Norfolk area...

Sweep and Her Litter of Pups


Sweep the first member of the Rat Pack was born around the end of 1999. We visited many Jack Russell dog breeders in the Norfolk area, until we eventually found a pup that suited us. The Jack Russell Dog Breeders, which Sweep came from, was only eight miles away which was very convenient for us. This gave us the opportunity to frequently turn up at the dog breeders and monitor Sweeps progress and get established with her. We eventually took ownership of Sweep at the end of January 2000; Sweep was now around ten weeks old. We were in the stages of buying a property and waited until the day we moved into ‘The Grange CL’ a small touring caravan site in South, Norfolk, UK, before collecting Sweep from the kennels.

When Sweep was three years old it seemed the right time to mate her. We approached the kennel owner from where Sweep came from hoping he would have a suitable dog to mate with her. Everything was arranged and when Sweep next came into season and at the correct time of her heat she was left at the Kennels for a few days for the mating period to take its course.

Yes, Sweep became pregnant on her first attempt and after around sixty two days in July 2003 Sweep delivered four pups, three bitches and one dog but sadly one was still born. Sweep had a bad time with delivering her pups and had to be rushed to the vets. Polly was the first born and the biggest pup of the litter. Soon has Polly was delivered Sweep began to show signs that she was in distress and was rushed to the vets, a journey of six miles. Soon after arriving at the vets the next pup delivered was the still born. This was a particularly sad time because we knew there were other pups still to be delivered. The Veterinary Surgeon helped to deliver the next two pups. Bobby was the next pup to be delivered followed soon after by Suzie.

After the bad time Sweep went through delivering her pups the vet advised that Sweep required a hysterectomy has her health was suffering. We took the vets advice and Sweep had the hysterectomy operation. After the operation Sweep was weak for a year before she fully recovered from the operation
Sweep was an excellent mother to her pups and was constantly worrying over them. Polly was the first pup to be departed from the litter. Polly had a good home to go and is being well looked after by very close friends of ours .However, Polly is still a regular visitor to The Rat Pack. We both fell in love with Bobby and could not part with him, so he became the third member of The Rat Pack. We advertised for a suitable owner for the remaining pup, and after careful vetting of the applicants we made our choice. The owner called her Suzie and for a while kept in touch with us with Suzie’s progress.

Polly

Bobby

Suzie in Basket
 


Pups in Basket
 
 
Bobby & polly

Bobby & Polly on Box 

You can email them @ sweepbroomebobby@gmail.com
                             The Grange Cl Caravan Club 5 CL Touring Caravan Site

Saturday, 9 February 2013

A Jack Russel Owner for Over 40 years



I’ve owned Jack Russell’s now for over 40 years; my first Jack Russell was a wired haired type this was back in 1967. Titch was her name. In those days I used to breed ferrets and would go out at weekends with the Ferrets and my Jack Russell dog ‘Titch’. Most weekends I would catch around 50 rabbits. These I would sell to friends or a local game butcher. In those days Rabbit was a good food source but not many people eat Rabbit these days. Shame really because the meat is low in cholesterol and high in protein.
           
   This  photo was taken around 1974                              
 





  Tichy around 1978

Titchy was a right humbug and had a mind of her own. When she was hunting you could call her untill you were blue in the face, she would just take no novice of you untill she had dug out or caught the prey she was hunting.


Titch died at a good age of sixteen and was still very active to the day she died although her eye site was not that good by then. It was not long after losing Titch that my next Jack Russell arrived on the scene, and he was a right diamond. His name was Ben. Ben had a temperament to die for; he was friendly, good-natured, playful,full of energy which you would expect in a Jack Russell.

I had given up Ferreting and rabbiting at this stage has the market had changed and there was not much call for Rabbit meat. Ben was not much of a hunter I had even known him to sit with a Cat and that’s really rare in Jack Russell’s.

The wife and I had taken up walking and hiking as a hobby and spent many holidays and short breaks in the Lake District, Yorkshire and the Peak District of England. Ben would come with us on all our walks. Some walks could be 10 to 20 miles. That didn't bother Ben he would never give up always by your side enjoying the adventure.





Everybody loved Ben; I used to tell people he started out as a Great Dane and wore himself down to a Jack Russell in size as the day went on. I worked in the construction industry as a bricklayer by trade. No health and safety then like today’s regulations. From the age of around ten months Ben would come to work with me every day.

                                      



                                 




He would never run off but always kept himself amused. If he ever went missing he would not be far away. Most often found in someone’s house near where we were working there you would find him sitting on a comfy chair eating a biscuit. When Ben passed away in 1996, it was like losing a child it took a few years to get over him we had built up a close bond between us over the years.

 
For the next couple of years my wife and I adopted our son’s dog, you caused it a Jack Russell. Dusty was a bitch a rough haired version. We would take Dusty out daily on many of our walks and hikes. Dusty also had a good nature and being a typical Jack Russell would dig, chase and see anybody off who she did not like. Dusty did not like Postmen or any type of delivery person. It was quite comical at times seeing a delivery person walking down the drive trying to shake Dusty of their trousers leg. But she didn’t really mean them any harm more playful than anything.
 
 
                                                                     Dusty
 
When we moved to the location we are at now it felt like the time to have our own dog again. You guessed it; a Jack Russell it had to be there was no second thought on maybe a different breed of dog.


                                 Dusty playing with Sweep when she was a pup.


Sweep arrived on the scene in January 2000. What a bundle of joy she turned into if it moved Sweep chased it. We have nearly 10 acres of ground with 6 of those being meadow land. Sweep was always kept well occupied.
Sweep was brought from a local Jack Russell breeder, is kennels were like a five star dog hotel. He breeds them out of love for the breed and not for the money.






                                              Sweep picking the Lottery Winners.
                                           However, can't remember ever winning.


 In Autumn 2000 we thought it would be a good idea for Sweep to have a companion to keep her company. It turned out that Sweeps mother had just had another litter of three pups by a different dog (farther). One had black patches, one with brown patches and the other strange as it seems was all brown. We first decided on the brown patched puppy, they were only a few weeks old at this stage so it was too early for them to leave their mother. When we arrived back at home after leaving the kennels all excited on once again being proud owners of our next generation of Jack Russell. Sitting talking we both looked at each other and said “I really liked that all brown one, did you”? A phone call to the kennels and we changed our minds for the all brown puppy.


                                                         Broome the Pup

 Broome is name or otherwise known as Broome The Dog. We often think he is not a dog but a teddy bear.
Why, because if you try and sit him up he cries and moans just like a ‘Stiff teddy bear’ when you speak to him he answers you back with is growls. But we would not part with him for the world.

In early 2003 we thought it would be a good idea to mate Sweep to let her have a litter of pups.
After making arrangements with a suitable dog from the kennels she came from. Sweep was left at the kennels for the mating period to take its course.
Sweep had four pups but sadly one was still born. 


                                            Sweeps  Pups Polly, Bobby & Suzie.

Poor Sweep had a real hard time delivering her pups and had to have a hysterectomy. This took Sweep around eighteen months to get over and back to her full strength again.


                                                Sweep was a wonderful mother

Yes, we could not resist keeping one of the pups that’s when Bobby arrives on the scene, he’s real name is Bob Tail.
                                                        Bobby as a pup.

I’m sure Bobby’s got every Jack Russell character rolled into one in him. He is a little smaller than Sweep and Broome, but what he loses in size he makes up in character. Fearless, boundless energy, alert, adventurous you name it Bobby’s got it.





 And that Folks is Sweep, Broome and Bobby, ‘The Rat Pack’.


                                                            The Rat Pack
                                           Sweep            Bobby              Broome

Email The Rat Pack with your doggy story@ sweepbroomebobby@gmail.com


We live at The Grange CL