Rancho Fiasco Working Terriers

Snazzy X Stash Puppy

2011-11-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Photos of the little tri colored female from the Snazzy X Stash litter

Twisters, Twisters Everywhere

2011-06-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

OK, here at Rancho Fiasco we are under another tornado watch. Severe weather again and again. Years ago you never heard of this much weather activity especially on this level. What other year have there been multiple EF-4 or EF-5 tornadoes that have all but completely erased an entire town from the map and killed hundreds and hundreds of people. The ones at night just have to be the worst. In a sound sleep and like you are in a bad dream, your house begins to shake, your windows start to explode and the next thing you know your house is spinning and landing not too gently on top of your neighbors house that was a half mile away. This season has just started. It is going to be an interesting year.

Badger Catching Ready To Give it a Try?

2011-06-15T10:14:00.001-07:00

John, Lyn and the Grizzly Bear

2011-06-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Very few things funnier than when these 2 get together. You will laugh until you hurt.

Patterdale Update

2010-12-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute little photo of Truffle playing with her best friend Tinks at Steve and Terry's house in Wyoming.
It's my bed and I want it NOW!

Shock Puppies

2010-11-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Two Shock puppies. Nice Patterdale pups that are 6 weeks old in this photo. Harley is in the top photo who is a black and tan male. Looks like he will be a heavy broken or rough coated boy. Very nice disposition and loves to sit in your lap. He is already gamey and wanting to chase things. The other photo is Stunner. A lightly broken or smooth coated male, all black with a white blaze on his chest. He is quite small and I had to tube feed him for the first week of his life as he was so small, literally half the size of his brother. He is very active now and just full of himself.

Rancho Fiasco Bisley

2010-09-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick little brag. Last weekend at the Cowboy Classic Terrier Trial in Douglas, Wyoming, Bisley was Reserve Working Terrier Champion on Saturday just behind Ivy Hill Taboo who was Working Terrier Champion. Then on Sunday, Bisley was Working Terrier Champion and Ivy Hill Taboo was Reserve Working Terrier Champion. Bisley and Tommy look like they came out of the same mold. Two very nice terriers. Congratulation to Chris and Gretchen for Tommy's accomplishments.

Tori

2010-08-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

It is a sad day here at Rancho Fiasco. Our Tori died yesterday. Lost her battle with sinus cancer. In some ways I suppose we were blessed that she lasted as long as she did. She was diagnosed with this horrible illness in January and most dogs die from this within 3 months. Tori was a huge part of our family here as she was the Mother and Grandmother to many very nice terriers including Static, Rake, Fergie, Bisley, Shock, Snazzy and all the way down to the newest generation with Rugger and Flirt. She was a tenacious working terrier and as fearless as they come, no matter what the quarry. She was a great flyball height dog and helped a good number of teams over the years but her most important contribution was to the Hole in the Wall Gang out of Wyoming. Thank you Steve and Terry for making her an important part of your team. Tori was a registered Therapy Dog and spent nearly every Tuesday evening working with girls at risk at Excelsior Youth Center in Aurora, Colorado. She had done this for nearly half her life with both the Paws for Trust and Canine Healers groups. Many girls were helped by her unconditional acceptance of them and she loved going to see the girls each week. She was infinitely tolerant of exuberant puppies whether they were hers or not. She was the best little bed dog we had and every morning she would come into bed and lay there on her back with us until it was time to eat breakfast. A better all around terrier you could not hope to find.
We were blessed to have you as a part of our family Tori for the 10 years you gave to us. Tori will go to ground for the last time today.

The Finished Project

2010-06-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

OK
So here is the finished restoration. The old shovel that was doomed to dissolve away in the banks of the Arkansas River in South-Central Colorado. Accidentally discovered while walking along those riverbanks. Thanks to my friend Jim who is a master woodsmith who attached the T Handle, this little tool who started it's life in England a good number of decades ago is now going to see some usefulness once again digging terriers.

Old Shovel - Back in Service

2009-12-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I was walking along the edge of the Arkansas River here in Colorado and noticed a small flat piece of metal sticking out of the sand on the edge of the river. Kicking it like any junk collector would do it produced the edge of a shovel blade. I pulled it up out of the sand and here was what was once a pretty good shovel. Very weathered and a broken wood handle all covered in mud and rust. Threw it in the back of the truck and had a further look when I got home. Took a wire brush to the metal and discovered it was a forged shovel. Further scraping revealed that it was made in England and had a name stamp "Union" on it. I had thought Union was an American Tool company but they likely had some of their

tools made overseas. Thought it was worth putting back into service and had always thought it would be handy to have a shovel with a fairly short handle for some of those digs that make it down to the 6' plus category. Had one of those last weekend chasing a badger with my good friend Burt and one of his terriers, Ripley in and after this thing.
Back to the shovel. Cut the handle at 28". Took some of the excess broken handle and put it to the belt sander and fashioned a "T" for the top of the handle. Have yet to figure out exactly how I am going to attach this piece but am making a little progress. Spent more time with the wire brush working on the blade and took the blade edge to the grinder for a bit of a tuneup. Applied liberal amounts of boiled linseed oil to the wood handle. For those of you who are not familiar with linseed oil, it is the miracle worker for both weathered wood and to stop rusting metal. I highly recommend it. I will make a followup post when the handle is put together and then hopefully show it being used in one of those badger digs soon.

JRTCA Nationals

2009-10-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well this is the second year in a row that I have missed the JRTCA National Trial. In some respects if there was a year to miss it this was it. The weather was just terrible. Cold and damp. A Noreaster they called it. 38 to 40 degrees for a high temp and drizzly-sleeting dampness all day Friday and Saturday. People slogging around in ankle deep mud. The club had to have a tow truck on call just to pull all the stuck people out of the mud.
The bright spot in this for us was our puppy, Snazzy who is about 5 months old was the 4 to 6 month old Puppy Conformation Champion. She won over approximately 40 pups in the bitch class and almost that many in the dog pup class. This is a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT and I think that I may finally be forgiven for my mistake of the accidental breeding that resulted in her litter between Rancho Fiasco Stout and Rancho Fiasco Fergie.
As a side note: The repeat of this breeding has happened. Fergie is REALLY pregnant and as of today the 24th of May, 2010 she is due to deliver any minute.

Terrier Trials Can Be Exciting

2009-06-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

Had a good weekend with some good people coming to the Ruckus in the Rockies Terrier Trial this past weekend. Saturday, Rancho Fiasco Bisley was Reserve Working Terrier Champion and on Sunday, Rancho Fiasco Knotty was Working Terrier Champion. We are happy with both of our girls for doing well. There was no extra charge to the exhibitors for getting to see some Storm Chasing action during the trial on Sunday. Gaye Redpath said this is a working breed, get them in the ring and lets go. Just kidding but the funnel cloud didn't bother her in the least. Photo was taken from a high vantage point on the West side of the trial site.

Puppy Arrival

2009-05-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a big day here at Rancho Fiasco.

Two litters of puppies were expected, just not on the same day.

Rancho Fiasco Static who was bred by Anglo Terra Ruger went into
labor last evening. After 10 hours of labor she decided to have her
pups.
There were 2 males and 2 females. One of the boys looks just like Bisley.
they are all doing fine.

Not to be outdone. We no sooner got through taking a deep breath and Fergie
went into labor. She is only at 57 days so we were a little concerned because of
how premature they were. Two hours later there are 5 pups nursing from
Miss Fergie. 2 males and 3 females. There are a couple of these with a lot of
color which is something we usually do not have.
Dad, who is Rancho Fiasco Stout, the little teenage trouble maker is wondering
what this is all about.

Photos will follow in a few days.

Check back here and on the website. www.ranchofiasco.com

Skunk Magnet

2009-02-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

OK, so it has been a long time since I have posted anything here. Life in general just seems to get busy and time gets away from you.

I am not sure if it is this way all across the country but here at Rancho Fiasco in Colorado we have been overrun with skunks. There have been some cases of rabies found in skunks in this area which of course has us concerned. Over the past 7 or 8 months, I have caught 20 skunks just on our place. Seems like trying to empty a pond with a cup. You dip it in to take a cup out and it just fills in. That is the way it is with skunks in our area. Caught number 20 last night. I am getting tired of burying them although it is good digging exercise.

Trust Your Terriers Nose

2008-09-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

As we approach the hunting season in most parts of the country it brings to mind a common mistake that some people make that are new to this sport. You come across a sette and your terrier shows some interest but acts a little reluctant to enter. Some people will try to get their terriers worked up and enter what they think is an ideal home for a fox or raccoon. They finally convince their terrier to enter only to smell that they have been sprayed by a skunk. A lot of good terriers have been lost over the years to this handsome little black and white member of the weasel family. Learn to trust your terriers nose and if they hesitate to enter what appears to be a good sette, go on to the next one.

Good Hunting

Rancho Fiasco Kaddy

2008-08-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

The following story is from our friend Sherri Rossmiller of Washington who has one of our Knotty puppies, Kaddy. She seems to be coming along very nicely in the field work department and has done well at terrier trials too as she was Grand Champion Terrier at the JRTCA AGM Trial in Estes Park, Colorado on Sunday's trial.

I thought you'd want to know a little bit more of Kaddy's hunt, including some photos. We were in Jackson, Ohio with Gary Vollrath and Dawn Kelley, whom I was traveling with. We had two dogs on the ground and were walking along a hedgerow that bordered a corn field/soy bean field. It was really heavy thorny underbrush with multi-flora rose and poison ivy. Kaddy and the other dog were both interested in what we thought was a single hole sette. The other dog walked away, Kaddy stayed listening at the hole, entered, and immediately started baying. That gave us the encouragement to start clearing away the brush. When we did, we discovered it was a four-hole sette. Kaddy continued baying and we marked her at 2 1/2 ft. We could hear sparring going on and I could see the back end of something being pushed out towards the exit hole I was at. Gary opened up the hole to see Kaddy going at it with the opossum. She was taken out of the hole and the opossum was left alone. Kaddy was schooled to a raccoon on Saturday at Joe's place and the light turned on from there. She worked a really hard sette that had two hogs in it, but just couldn't figure it out. We later discovered one of the hogs had gone up in a tube that was on top of where she was trying to find the other hog. That hog had dug away, so I'm assuming the scent was so strong from both of them, she couldn't figure it out. It appears she learned a valuable lesson that day with Steff. Kaddy is a great little hunting terrier. She can go anywhere and it appears she certainly has the drive to push on. The next quarry was not going to get away. Kaddy entered another sette and started baying. We could hear her sparring with the quarry and marked her at 3 1/2 feet. I could see something being pushed out of an exit hole, but couldn't tell what it was. Gary Vollrath, a working judge from Jackson, Ohio, broke through to the tunnel and saw Kaddy actively engaging a hissing opossum. We pulled Kaddy out and left the opossum for another day. Kaddy has now joined the working ranks by earning her first NHC to opossum. Good girl Lil' Miss Wampus! Anyway, congratulations to us both for producing a good little worker!
Sherri Rossmiller

As a Post Script, Kaddy has a 12 week old brother and sister that are available here at Rancho Fiasco. Call or email inquires to approved homes.

Choco at One Year

2008-05-06T20:16:00.001-07:00

Well, Choco just turned a year of age this past Saturday. He has matured physically very nicely. I think he has the makings of a very good earth hunting terrier. He has good bone, and an adequate head with good solid teeth. Nice angles to manuver around in an earth. His chest is very spanable, even with my small hands. His coat is as good a hunt jacket as you could ask for. Tops out at about 13" and will likely fill out a bit more in the muscle structure. He is as gamey as they come and if there is any fault I could really put my finger on is he is a little hard driven and hope he remains sensible and is willing to use his head as well as his teeth.

Lickity Split Tonka

2008-03-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

January 4, 2002 - March 30, 2008

Seems lately there is no end to the grief and heartache here at Rancho Fiasco. If you have a lot of terriers, you will suffer a lot of pain when they leave you. Our little Tonks was just a precious little guy. He was a soft and kind little soul that we loved very much. I came in from doing some tractor work today and he was gone. Died of a seizure or aneurysm. At any rate, he was taken much too early and he will be missed badly. This little terrier loved life. One of his favorite things to do was ride on the golf cart. If that thing started, he was on it and going for a ride. He loved to lay next to you and have you scratch his chest. If you stopped, he would paw at you until you started again. Everything was an adventure to Tonka. He loved life to the fullest. This little guy won more Working Terrier Championships than I can count over the past 6 years. Our home is filled with ribbons and Perpetual Trophys that he had won over the years. Words can not express the amount of pain we are feeling at his early passing.

For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes he leaps through your dreams, actual as in

life, eyes kindling, laughing, begging, it matters not where that dog sleeps. On a hill where the

wind is unrebuked and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream he knew in puppyhood, or

somewhere in the flatness of a patureland where most exhilarating horses graze. It is one to a dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained and nothing lost - if memory lives.

But there is one best place to bury a dog.

If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call - come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path and to your side again. And though you may call a dozen living dogs to heal, they shall not growl at him nor resent his coming, for he belongs there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who have never really had a dog. Smile at them for you shall know something that is hidden from them.

The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master...

Lickity Split Lotta Sass

2008-03-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Lickity Split Lotta Sass
July 29, 1991 – March 11, 2008

Come here Lads and
Come here Lass
Lets raise a toast
Lets lift a glass
To terriers present and terriers past
There are very few who were as fast
So come here Lads and come here Lass
Lets lift a glass to Lotta Sass
The best terrier there ever was

She is our best old girl and we miss her. We’ll see you again Lotta,

and we’ll run together in the green fields of Heaven

Preserving a Fox Sette

2008-03-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

Had a skunk filled weekend here in Colorado. My neighbor called me to complain that some skunks had moved into a fox sette under her garage and wanted to know if I could trap them for her. Well she is a 70 YO widow and I wanted to help. Since the vixens are all most likely preggers by now I wanted to save this nice spot for them as they used it last year to whelp their kitts. Her garage was smelling very bad when I went over there. Set a large box trap the first night using some old meatballs for bait. Nothing the first night. Figured the skunk did not like Italian. Left the trap and the second night got one of them. Was not sure how to manage this black and white critter in a large coon sized box trap, so I called upon my excellent long range shooting skills with a .22 rifle at 50' and shot him in the head. He fell like a rock but not before he sprayed a good dose of green/yellow spray and made a big 6' spot in the snow. Skunk spray all over the damn place. I went home stinking to high heaven. A friend of mine that has done some trapping said to set a smaller box trap in a trash can and that way they won't see you walk up on them and you can put the lid on it and fill it with water. That way they won't spray. Well I went right ahead and set one of the double door Havahart traps in a trash can. The next morning I checked it and sure enough there was another skunk. Well I went to tip the trash can up and neglected to notice that the trap was about 3" longer than the trash can. The minute I tipped it upright the darn skunk sprayed. Could not get the lid on the can and things got real stinky right off. Stuck a hose in the can and when the water started to fill the panicked skunk sprayed again. Things were really smelling bad now. With this fine Havahart trap on end, I failed to notice that the bail that holds the door closed had lifted off the trap door and now the skunk was climbing out the now open door. I taped the door closed and back in the water it went. Not discouraged by my tap on the door, it made it's way back out again and this time I tapped it in the head with a piece of steel flat bar that was laying on the ground. It fell into the water and showed me that skunks can spray even under water. A big oil slick came to the surface and the minute it hit air, seemed to atomize and this is now the third time this critter sprayed me. Did I mention that the temps were at about 20 degrees F and the wind was blowing 35 to 40 mph Just to make my morning more pleasant? Am sure the last love tap dispatched the skunk. I put a log on top of the trap and left it to turn into a large ice cube. Will deal with it later today. My wife would not let me in the house. Had to shed the skunky clothes in the garage and run to the house and shower in this fine weather in my shorts.

An update as of 3/11/2008 Have set this trap 9 times and have caught 8 skunks. All but 1 are males, some of which have serious telltale signs of fighting for territories and females.

Lickity Split Tucker

2007-11-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

A Brooke Hollow Polar son that we are very proud of.

This story is from Jim and Val Craft who live with Tucker and 2 of his pups.

Lickity Split Tucker is a breeding of Mike Bilbo and Darlene McInnes and has done very well in the Conformation ring since he was a 4-6 month old pup, and continues to this day to win numerous Best Open Terrier Championships at JRTCA trials that we attend. We are so glad they intrusted Jim & I with his care. I couldn't have asked for a dog with a better temperment, especially being a Jack Russell. A testiment to Mike & Darlene. All of their dogs have the best temperments and personalities. No doubt about it. Not many people can put 4 intact males, along with bitches running around in a yard and no problems. People are alwaly amazed that we are able to do this. It was the day after the JRTCA National trial in Maryland. I was so excited as I was going to get to hunt Tucker in the ground and see what he could do. I had decided not to really hunt Tucker on my road trip back to the Nationals, as he had done so well this past year, and did extremely well under Greg Mousley earlier in the year, and Greg was going to be the judge for Nationals. We wanted to give him every chance to do well, which he did. He came in 6th in a class of 44 dogs in his Over Rough/Broken division, and 5th in his Suitability to Red Fox class of 24 dogs/bitches.. I was very excited.We were going to hunt with Jimmy Eslinger, a Working judge with the JRTCA, from Maryland on that Monday. Being a newbie to hunting, although we had schooled Tucker and Otter at Mike's home on some quarry, this going into the ground was new to us. We were with Jimmy, his daughter Casey, and Sandy Brown. We started out on a farm with corn and soybeans fields, checking the woods that seperated them for settes. We did have a more experienced dog with us who would check the holes also. After checking many holes down a dried up stream bed with no success, we moved to a new area. Most of the holes had leaves down them, so we would proceed to clear the leaves and see if the dogs were interested. Most of the time nobody was home. The tempatures were so warm that Jimmy explained that by this time of year it is much colder, and the critters have retreated to their dens, but this warm weather has kept them outside taking in the last of the seasons warmth. Many times Tucker would be very interestd at first then back out as their wasn't a strong scent, and nobody was home. I was very encouraged with Tucker's ability to be on the ground, sniffing around, nobody telling him what to do, finding holes, and seeing if quarry was there. I knew there was a chance that we may not run into anything, but getting him on the ground was good for him. Tucker comes from a very good line of dogs that are awesome hunters in the field. We knew he had it in him, it was a matter of putting it all together. At one point, we came upon a 2 hole sette. Our more experienced dog and Tucker were on the ground together, they seemed pretty interested. Both terriers were at the hole acting pretty anxious. We cleared the leaves, 1 dog went down, only to come out the other side, Tucker was trying to get down the hole. By this time Jimmy had asked the that the other dog be put on a lead. When I asked Jimmy " What do you want me to do with this shovel if quarry comes out"? He told me, "If you see quarry, take the shovel, block the hole". Just as he said that, well their was a good size ground hog looking at me. Tucker had gone down the hole and the quarry was trying to make a fast exit. We had both holes blocked after that. This was getting interesting! Jimmy could see the Groundhog right up against his shovel, and he told me to let Tucker down the hole on my side. Tucker dove down the hole and we could hear Tucker barking and the Groundhog growling. A few scuffles, and Tucker came back out my hole, only to dive over to the other hole by Jimmy. I blocked my hole again, Jimmy took his shovel away just as Tucker dove into the hole after the Groundhog again. He didn't get all the way down before he had the Groundhog in his grip, and I'm sure a little bit of Tucker in the groundhogs mouth. Tucker was giving that Groundhog a run for his money, a few yelps and growels, and Jimmy decided that was all he needed to see. We were able to get Tucker to let go. I was so proud of him. After all of the excitment, we took Tucker to the side, looked at his wounds and scrapes. He was bleeding all over the place, he had a few punture wounds and a wound in his mouth, so we cleaned him up and he looked pretty good. He was pretty pumped up, and was probably ready to go again.As all of this was happening down the hole, I was kind of in a world of ah! I knew what was happening, but I knew Tucker would be okay. It's a very scary thing watching your dog go down holes and not knowing what may be down there with them. We took some pictures and Jimmy congratulated me on a job well done by Tucker, and said that I now have a Working dog, that Tucker had earned his Natural Hunting Certificate to Groundhog. We headed back to the car, I was on cloud 9, and Tucker was tired. We once again looked over Tucker's wounds, and decided his wounds were a long way from his heart. He would certainly servive. I decided I needed to call a few friends and tell them the good news! My first call wasn't to my husband, it was to Mike Bilbo! He has encouraed me and my dogs to get their NHC's. Every chance I get, I make a trip to Mike & Darlene's to school the dogs in their earth tunnel, with live quarry. Both Mike & Darlene are always very proud of their dogs they have intrusted to others. Mike was very excited for Tucker and I, as was Darlene. We headed back to the house, where we were met by a few folks, and all went to wonderful dinner. While at dinner, Jimmy was filling outTucker's paperwork, he handed it to me with "Congratulations", and I proceeded to hand it over to the JRTCA administrator Terri Batzer, who woud take it into the office and promptly get my Natural Hunting Certificate back to me as soon as possble. That would be a check I would gladly fill out.I couldn't have asked for a more pleasurable judge to have gone out with, as Jimmy Eslinger. Not once did he make me feel like a newbie. He encouraged my dog and myself, and answered any quirky questions I had. To me their are no stupid questions. There is allot to remember when your out hunting in the fields with your dogs, and I know I have a whole lot more to learn. So I want to "Thank" Mike & Darlene for all of your knowledge you have given me on this subject, and will continue to give me.I would also like to mention a "Thank You" to all of the Working judges I had a pleasure to meet on my trip back to Nationals. You were all great in the field, and also encouraged my dogs and me to continue to hunt! Thanks, Tim & Dawn Weiss, Illinois, Joe Shapiro, Indiana, Catherine Brown, New York, Jimmy Eslinger, Maryland, and Tyler Brown, Ohio. You are all an asset to the JRTCA and the breed. Tucker had healed up very well. He is back to his handsome self, and it will be a pleasure to lead him into his 1st Working Terrier class. He is a great little dog, I always say, I'm just along for the ride when he shows. He is a natural, and always shows with class and dignity, and a new notch in his lead, he is a "Working Dog". I'm very excited to get Tucker and Otter into the ground again as soon as I can, and work on getting Tucker his Bronze Medallion, that would be quite an honor. Once again"Thanks", Mike, Darlene, Jimmy Eslinger and Casey Eslinger.

More on Choco

2007-09-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Choco is 4 months old now. He is put together well for a ground working terrier. Decent bone and head, narrow front end and very flexible, a small spannable chest.
He is gamey as they come, maybe too much so for such a young terrier. His willingness to get hard after game like coons in a roll cage at such a young age has me cautiously optimistic about his hunting drive. He is very biddable and easy to get along with around other terriers although has somewhat of an independent streak. This can be dealt with and not a bad trait as in the hunt field, he will need to be able to be sensible and sort difficult problems out. His adult teeth are on the way in and we will start his working career next hunt season at the end of '08. I have a video of him working on a ground squirrel under a boulder and as soon as I figure out how to upload the video, I will post it for your review.

Rancho Fiasco Static and Runamuk Prowler Litter

2007-08-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

People have been asking for an update on Static's litter. We have 4 beautiful pups. Two males and two females. They are 7 weeks old now as they were born July 18.
These photos are of one of the males we call Hoot who is a full brother of Fergie. He is well named as you can see by his antics that he is always into something. In this case he was in a box of chew hooves. I spent about 1/2 hour looking for him when I heard some noise in the closet where they are kept.

Darlene Update

2007-07-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

On Monday the 23rd of July, my wife Darlene was riding a horse of our next door neighbor's. During the course of the ride something spooked this horse and he bucked hard, throwing Darlene high into the air. She landed on her right hip and broke it badly. I was in Maryland for a Board meeting of the JRTCA at the time. I got a call from her saying she was on her way to the hospital for this injury. The Urgent Care facility said it was a bad break and that she would need surgery immediately and so she was transferred to the hospital that could perform this type of surgery. She had broken the femur bone which is the large bone which goes from your knee to your hip. The break occurred in the neck of the femur where it goes into your pelvis or hip socket. The surgery required the use of three titanium pins about 4" each to hold the head of the femur together. Since it has only been 3 days she is very sore. Having difficulty sleeping and of course getting around. Blood clotting is a major concern with a break such as this and so the doctors have her on large doses of blood thinners which cause her to be cold all the time and little annoying things like constant nose bleeds are bothersome. We are hoping for a quick recovery as she is already asking the doctors when she can realistically ride again.
This is the second time she has broken a leg in the last year and a half.
Never a dull moment here at Rancho Fiasco. The xray above is a photo of her repaired femur bone with the 3 screws installed.

This is Choco

2007-07-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

This is a new addition to the Rancho Fiasco hunt pack. Choco is a Gunner pup out of a little Black and Tan Fell Terrier that came to this country from a gentleman that was terrierman to the Duke of Beaufort Foxhounds some years ago in the South of England. This gamey little chap is afraid of nothing even at the ripe old age of 8 weeks. He plays hard with other terrier pups much larger than he is. Has already managed to kill off some rats and enjoys running dark tunnels and hollow logs. The chocolate colour must come from the mother's side. He has a terrific coat, above average bone and head. Will look forward to seeing how he does in the field perhaps in the fall of '08.

Rancho Fiasco Fergie

2007-03-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

I try to limit this blog to working stories but it is so rare that a terrier does this well and is so well thought of by a large number of judges at terrier trials
that I needed to post this.
Fergie is a pup out of a really nice little Russell bitch we have named Static. She is also a littermate to the little terrier here named Ripley.
Fergie was Best 4 to 6 month old puppy at both Arctic Blast Trials last year in Wisconsin. She was Puppy Conformation Champion at both of the Piney Woods Trials in Texas under Gaye Redpath and Stephanie Taylor and she was Puppy Conformation Champion again last weekend in both the SWJRTN Jack Roundup l and ll under Desi Mackin and Elizabeth Gleason. In Arizona a few weeks ago she was Reserve Puppy Champion under John Broadhurst. Barry Wade looked at her but did not like her that well but ironically enough, she was Puppy Conformation Champion again at both of the HWJRTC Sunflower Classic Trials and won the Barry Wade Perpetual Trophy. She was 4th in the 4 to 6 class last year at the JRTCA National Trial and anytime you can get a ribbon in that large a trial, you have done well. She was Puppy Conformation Champion at the recent Mason-Dixon Ice Breaker which was her last showing as a puppy as she turned a year old on May 1. Her personality is just terrific. She loves everyone and has shown herself to be a game little terrier. We will start hunting her late summer and fall. What a pleasure she is to have around.

A Good Day of Foxing

2007-02-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

Met up for breakfast with some terrier hunting friends, Greg B, Brent and Gary. Planned our outing, gulped a few strong cups of coffee and headed out the door. A very nice Colorado day. About 30 degrees, plenty of snow and the sun shining bright. Got to a first sette which was under a large Ponderosa Pine which had produced foxes before. Plenty of sign that this sette was being used as there were well worn paths of muddy tracks over the snow going in and out. I entered one of my Russells, Polar and he was struggling to get into this tight earth. Spent the better part of a half hour digging the entrance hole out to squeeze his butt in. Once he was in he would open occasionally and would be moving all over the sette. We felt sure that it was probably a small vixen that was giving him the run around. After being in for half an hour or so I figured that this would last all day and he was making no progress pushing her into a stop end. He is not prone to false marking and so I pulled him and we entered one of Brent's terriers. She did the same thing. After a bit we pulled her out and entered Greg's terrier, Cogburn. This was a crafty little fox as Cogburn is a handy sized little terrier and even he could not manage to get to her. Decided to leave the sette intact and move on to another location. Stopped by a 2 hole sette that was active which also happened to be right outside some peoples livingroom window. We could not dig that one and get away with it, so Cogburn checked this one and unfortunately no fox home this morning. Off to the 3rd sette. This one was high on a creek bank that Greg and I had dug before. Last winter, his Russell, Chisel got in on a skunk and stayed with the darn thing for nearly 3 hours. That evening it was 10 degrees and bone chilling cold. Took us about 4 hours to dig 2 five foot holes to get him out. There were several times we thought we had lost him but out he came and he was ok.
Yesterday morning was a different story. The same hole was covered in deep snow and there were well worn paths of muddy paw prints going in and out of this sette. The smell of a male fox marking the entrance was strong and Polar went to ground immediately. Within a minute he was marking this fox and then quite. Boxed him and he was moving deeper and deeper into the sette. After 15 or 20 minutes he settled into steady work about 20 feet from the entrance and 4' deep. The bunch of us cleared about 18" of snow off the ground about 6' wide and tried to stick a spade into the earth. Hit it like a concrete sidewalk. We had 2 good digging bars with us and we were to get a good bit of practice with them. Hammered our way down an inch at a time. This was the hardest dirt short of NE, Oklahoma I have ever attempted to dig. Took us nearly an hour to get down to him and fortunately we ended up digging one of the places Greg and I dug last year. Got down in a perfect position right between Polar and the fox.
My terrier was being reminded that foxes have a good set of teeth. He got the usual muzzle punctures and lip wounds that are characteristic of fox work. Polar was in this sette for a good long while. He finished his job and we pulled him and thought we would introduce one of Brent's terriers to the fox. Blocked the hole with a spade and entered her. The fox in the mean time thought he would leave but met up with Brent's terrier on the way out. She had him stopped and worked on him for another hour. Back to digging a second hole. Got plenty more practice on those digging bars. About 2-1/2' down and we broke through to the terrier. About this time the fox decided he had put up with enough of us and squeezed out the hole beside the spade. This boy was really full of attitude as he ran off about 75', stopped and postured sideways standing straight up glaring at us as if he were saying "F___ You and the horse you rode in on!" Off he then ran across the creek bed and stopped and looked back at us again with the same look of contempt. He was a big handsome dog fox with a bright red winter coat. A nice animal to keep in the gene pool for sure. We backfilled the holes and stopped off for a buffalo burger and pitcher of beer, or two, and talked about the days dig. It was a great day of terrier digging with some good friends.

Severe Cold in the Rocky Mountain Region

2007-01-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

With the weather recently it has been nearly impossible to get out to hunt. Harold, Greg and I took a few terriers last weekend and got after a few raccoons. Temps last evening got down to -8. The terriers feet would start to freeze within 10 to 15 seconds and they would act crippled. Hopefully it will warm up to some extent today.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2006-12-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Here is wishing all of our Terrier Friends a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season.

A New Generation Hunting in Kansas

2006-12-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

This is Ripley after talking her way off a lead at 6 months of age. She managed to find a sette and as things would have it, there was a nasty little grinner possum hiding there. Not for long.

Ripley was making sure that this possum was going to finish his nap elsewhere. Good thing there wasn't a 20 lb raccoon there instead. This little terrier has such strong hunt drive, it is hard to contain her. Annette, who is Ripley's owner thought this sette had already been checked by an adult terrier when she gave the OK for Ripley to get off her lead.

Can You Guess Who This Is?

2006-11-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

A well known working terrier woman in the U.S.

Out For A Badger Dig

2006-11-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

It's hunting season here in the Rockies and what more could you ask for but a cold morning with good friends and a couple of trucks full of willing hounds and terriers. The morning was very good starting out in the 30's with a moderate breeze. We began with a hound workout. Got into a wheat stubble field hoping to scare up a young coyote or maybe a hare to course. This field is about 15 square miles of area so there is a lot of walking to do. It had not been harvested since last year and so the weeds were knee deep and wet. I was sorry within 5 minutes that I had not worn my Filson coveralls but had my insulated Carhartts on that were soaked to the skin in just minutes. Who said you get smarter as you get older? The crew today was myself, Greg, Burt and Cody who is Bramble's new owner. We had 4 Staghounds and Riley who is a Staghound of sorts. We walked for a few miles getting the hounds plenty of exercise and us plenty wet. About half way through our walk, Mace and Scorch bolted after some mistery quarry. I never did see what it was but they ran hard for about 1/2 mile and then went unsited. They hopped around trying to see over the weeds but nothing, so back they came. On our way back, we came across a fresh badger dig. One of the holes was partially stopped up with just a bit of an air hole visable. We walked back to the trucks and drove back after loading the wet hounds. Burt collared up Rake his terrier and put him on the ground after we did a quick clearing of the backfill. Rake was very keen on getting in further. The soil was sandy and the badger did his best submarine emergency dive impersonation as the hole was down about 6 feet and corkscrewing down from there. We never had direct terrier/quarry contact and knew it was going to be a lost cause, so packing up the tools we headed to a field we hunted last year for another look this season.

The next field was promising. It was all in large round bales and there was plenty of badger digging going on as there were holes everywhere. We rotated terriers between Rake, Greg's Tonka and Cody's Bramble, a little Black Fell Terrier he got from me that was from Gerry Herrera's breeding. We did the Kentucky type of hunting, driving from hole to hole and dropping the terriers to have a look. Finally, we came upon a sette that Bramble acted decidedly different. She stared intently into this sette with her tail just buzzing and she was growling. Then in she went and started baying and growling immediately. We jumped to the tools like the General Quarters alarm had just sounded. We located her only about 2 feet down and she was moving deeper. We got the general direction of the pipe location and tried to sink a hole just ahead of the scrapulation. This badger was backing away from Bramble and going deep, pushing mounds of dirt up in front of her. She was digging frantically trying to clear backfull and we were trying to keep up with the both of them. This was Bramble's first badger and was a good learning experience. We never did catch up with Old Brock but being in the field with friends and terriers with spade in hand is better than taking up space on a couch watching a football game. There is always next weekend and this badger has a long way to go before he is out of this field. We will meet again.

Arapahoe Hunt - Blessing of the Hounds

2006-10-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hunting Foxhounds and hunting terriers has gone hand in hand for centurys.
I was fortunate enough to have been a guest of the Opening Day of the Arapahoe Hunt. Foxhounds are very exciting to watch and they hunt coyotes in this part of the country. Each season starts with an old tradition of the Blessing of the Hounds by a Priest from the local Parish. He prays for the hounds, the riders and the quarry. This day was quite typical for the Rocky Mountain Region as it was quite cool with a constant mist in the air with overcast skies. I was lucky enough to get a ride with a lovely young woman named Dahlia who happened to be a world class "Bloody Mary creator" She and I along with another equally lovely young woman named Libby did the Hilltopping in her Suburban, watching the riders and hounds at full cry galloping across the countryside. Dahlia asked "Another Bloody Mary?" Who am I to refuse such a request... Of course
The hounds and riders covered a good deal of ground that day. One of the riders that had a hand held GPS said it was 18-1/2 miles. I was exhausted just thinking about it. Quite a nice day overall.

Rancho Fiasco Static

2006-09-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

This is Static. She was Working Terrier Champion at the recent terrier trial in Gunnison, Colorado,
Ruckus In the Rockies V. She is the classic rough coated, black and white Polar daughter who is
full of herself and a great little hunt terrier.

Shock @ 4 Months

2006-08-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

She is coming along nicely. High hopes for a great little hunt terrier.

Killer Raccoons Terrorize Olympia, Washington

2006-08-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Now Where is Gunner When I Need Him?

(AP) OLYMPIA, Washington A fierce group of raccoons has killed 10 cats, attacked a small dog and bitten at least one pet owner who had to get rabies shots, residents of Olympia say. Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night."It's a new breed," said Tamara Keeton, who with Kari Hall started a raccoon watch after an emotional neighborhood meeting drew 40 people. "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid."Tony Benjamins, whose family lost two cats, said he got a big dog -- a German Shepherd-Rottweiler mix -- to keep the raccoons away.One goal of the patrol is to get residents to stop feeding raccoons and to keep pets and pet food indoors.Lisann Rolle said she began carrying an iron pipe when she goes outside at night after being bitten by raccoons when she tried to pull three of them off her cat Lucy. She obtained rabies shots afterward as a precaution."I was watching her like a hawk, but she snuck out," Rolle said. "Then I heard this hideous sound -- a coyote-type high pitch ... It was vicious. They were focused on ripping her apart."The attacks have been especially shocking because raccoons came within five feet of cats without any problem in previous years, Benjamins said."We used to love the raccoons. They'd have their babies this time of year, and they were so cute. Even though we lived in the city, it was neat to have wildlife around," he said, "but this year, things changed. They went nuts."In one case five raccoons tried to carry off a small dog, which managed to survive.The attacks, all within a three-block area near the Garfield Nature Trail in Olympia, are highly unusual, said Sean O. Carrell, a problem wildlife coordinator with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, adding that trappers may be summoned from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove problem animals."I've never heard a report of 10 cats being killed. It's something were going to have to monitor," Carrell said.Meanwhile, residents have hired Tom Brown, a nuisance wildlife control operator from Rochester, Washington, to set traps, but in six weeks he has caught only one raccoon. He and Carrell said raccoons teach their young -- and each other -- to avoid traps.Brown said he had seen packs of raccoons this big but none so into killing."They are in command up there," he said.

Hunt Season Is Almost Here In the Rockies

2006-08-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

This will be a short note to encourage you who hunt to get your terriers out for some serious exercise and training. In this photo, an old terrier of mine is checking out an artificial earth that I dug into our property. Getting to work a coon or fox here in the artificial earth is like putting a sharp edge on your shovel before you go out for a hunt. A lot of people have mixed feelings about this but I can tell you that in this controlled environment, we have introduced dozens of new terriers to hunting and quarry over the years. It is a good tool. We have no groundhogs here in the Rockies so most of our hunting involved travel or waiting until Fall.

West Meets East

2006-07-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday and Friday I made a trip to Maryland for a Board Meeting and for a day or two of field work.
I took Knotty with me and as usual, she was lots of fun to hunt as she has more energy than have ever imagined.
Over the two days we managed to get after about 8 groundhogs. These are 2 of them. My friend PatrickB with his 2 trusty sidekicks, Mountain and Sailor along with Knotty made a tough combination for the groundhogs to overcome. A good number of them fell victim to terrier and spade.

Dinner Time

2006-07-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

This has nothing to do with working terriers but it was a humerous picture. We have a very enthusistic group of terriers when it comes to eating. They are likely to eat most anything that won't eat them. Will try to limit this to
more working information and photos.

The Evil Stepsister Moves In

2006-07-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

Shock comes along and says to Fergie, "I'll take that!"

Rake's Neice

2006-07-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

This is Fergie, a Static puppy that is 9 weeks old. She has in her possession her first hunting trophy. Everybody better get back and stay away.

Rake

2006-07-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here is another photo of Rake. This coon was taken down by him last winter and was humanly dispatched

Rake

2006-07-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Rake who is a son of Polar is just a terrific all around terrier. In the photo he is pictured on the left next to his sister Static. They are just a little tired as they had been working a very large raccoon in an old beaver sette which was one of the largest settes I have seen in this country. Nearly 100' in length and almost 50' wide, this sette can hold a large number of raccoons. My friend Harold who discovered it has taken 7 and 8 coons at one time out of it. Rake has endless enthusiasm and will hunt all day long. He is an excellent baying terrier but will not hesitate for a moment to grab a quarry and haul it on out for your inspection. Any quarry that thinks they can push him out of the way to bolt will have a rude surprise in store for them as he is a powerful terrier of subatantial size, yet spanable enough to get in after groundhogs.

Brooke Hollow Polar of Rancho Fiasco

2006-06-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is Polar. He is the foundation to all our Jack Russells here at Rancho Fiasco. Where can I even start with him? He is about as close to being the ideal stud dog that one could ever hope for. His list of pups that are exceptional is very long indeed. Even his grandpups are doing very well. They are hunters first and formost. They have the best temperments one could hope for and seem to do very well in the show ring for those that are interested in collecting rosettes. We have to thank Karen McCarthy for allowing us to have Polar as part of our family here.

This is Rancho Fiasco Shock

2006-06-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

Gunner's first puppy, now 7 weeks old.
We are excited about Shock as she is
exceptionally outgoing and very bold.
She looks to be a great hunt terrier
when she matures into an adult as she
is a real killer with grasshoppers and bugs.

Mountain Top Gunner

2006-06-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of Mountain Top Gunner from Jerry Herrera's kennel in Conifer, Colorado
A great Fell Terrier that is really fun to hunt. He has been in front of every quarry in North America with the exception of a badger. Next season...