There’s a New Terrier in Town

His name is Otto. Otto the Wonder Dog. And while we’re away from Sonoma for a week, Otto is holding down the fort. He’s brought along a friend, who likes to fancy himself the owner. But Ed is really only here for several useful tasks he can perform with opposable thumbs. Things like taking pictures and opening cans of dog food. But it’s really Otto’s show this...

Stop Taking the Terrier Name in Vain!

Why can the media just not get terriers right? First there is the deplorable tendency to think that Jack Russells are the only terriers, when the terrier cognoscenti know that Smooth Fox Terriers are the best terriers. Hollywood even swaps in Jack Russells in the movie versions of books that were famously about Fox Terriers. (The director of My Dog Skip has still not been forgiven in...

A Celebrity Blog Encounter

The terriers are so beside themselves they can barely concentrate on their chew toys. Our blog has been visited by a celebrity. No, make that THE celebrity — at least if you are in the Smooth Fox Terrier world. You’ll remember, in this post, I told you about the definitive Smooth Fox Terrier movie of the decade. I could go out on a limb and say A Single Man is The Citizen...

Varmint Shock and Awe

People ask me if I’m ever afraid living part time in Sonoma surrounded by wildlife. “Ha!”, I say, “the dangerous animals are in the City!” Yes, we had another raccoon stand-off. Yes, it again involved Oscar, our youngest terrier. And this time it took Andy, our carpenter friend Dino, San Francisco Animal Control, and assorted power tools to bring everyone...

Night of the Living Foxes

There is a scary event that is becoming a disturbing ritual around here. The barn, with its sleeping loft, is down at the more forested part of the property. So we see lots of wildlife — most of it in the evening and most of it staying a healthy distance away from the smell of terriers. But despite Oscar’s daily attempts to mark a wide circumference around the barn as his...

A Single Man. Two Excellent Terriers.

Many have praised designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man. The most common thing I hear is, “although the main character is gay, this is not a gay movie”. Excuse me critics. All wrong. True, this is not a gay movie. This is a Smooth Fox Terrier movie — maybe the best we’ve seen this decade! Yes, Tom Ford should be lauded — lauded, I tell...