GOLF BALL CLIFFIE

Cliffie is great fun with a wonderful temperament, but as a JR he is too tall by far for the breed standard. The handsome Cliff is twice the JR we are used to seeing - but in the true manner of all Jack Russells he thinks he is a bit of an 'all right' and so do we!

Some years ago two of our club members imported a stud dog to straighten up fronts as a lot of the JRs had what is called a Queen Anne front - bowed legs that resemble the furniture of the same name. This stud dog was taller than the 'ideal' JR, but it did work. You will rarely see a JR now with bowed front legs. Unfortunately the genetic mixture sometimes combines in one puppy, producing a giraffe, Cliffie is a giraffe!! His litter sister Cathy can walk under him.

Cliffie is too big to go to ground although he loves to try, only succeeding if the burrow is fairly large. Another strong instinct he shows is chasing and retrieving things such as tennis balls, footballs, basketballs and cricket balls. He runs onto the field or court and joins in the game, although the players feel he's no asset. The local Boy Scouts think it is great fun when he runs into the scout hall and tries to take part in their games. I'm not sure if the Cricket Team feels quite so happy.

When I throw a ball or stick into the long grass, the bushes or the creek he is very good at fossicking for it and bringing it back to me. At the back of our home is a walking track and a mile or so down the track is a golf course. I often walk down there and sometimes find golf balls that have been hit out of the golf course into the long grass and bushes.

I think it would be great if there were a golf ball detector like the metal detector used to find gold. That's when I hit upon the idea of using Cliffie's fossicking ability to find golf balls. An area behind the cricket ground was ideal for training sessions. It has long grass, bushes and the creek alongside and a flat grassy spot. Basically I hit golf ball after golf ball into the bushes with Cliffie in hot pursuit fossicking for them and bringing them back to me. The first time I took Cliff past the golf course he ran under the cyclone wire fence onto the fairway where the golfers were playing. A golfer was in a bunker contemplating the ball, Cliff stood on the edge of the bunker staring at the ball, ready to pounce. Just then another golfer hit off, Cliff riveted his attention on that ball as it sailed through the air, taking off after it down the fairway.

With all the yelling from me and the golfers, Cliff turned his attention from the ball and sprinted back under the cyclone wire fence and we both ran away into the bushes.

I think there could be a few flaws in my training technique!