Today I was playing with Sam and Nate in the backyard when out of nowhere I noticed a small, white tornado swirling around my feet. Suddenly, Sydney is freaking out and growling, and Sam and Nate both look like a deer in the headlights. After a couple of seconds I was able to figure out what was going on, which was that our neighbor's Jack Russell terrier puppy managed to crawl under the fence and was now in our backyard. I stood there for a minute and watched her run from Sydney, and I realized she was a little freaked out herself. I don't think she could tell from the other side of the fence exactly how much bigger than her Sydney is. Of course, the puppy was not interested in Sydney. She was more interested in the boys. She immediately began jumping all over then, and they both lost it. I found this to be kind of funny. They both live with a 40+ lb. dog and think nothing of it. But the second a 10-pound puppy starts jumping on their chests and licking them on the mouth, they become terrified. Sam was hiding in our little soccer goal, and Nate just rolled on the ground crying. I let both boys back inside, and I had to figure out what to do with this puppy.

I took her back over to her house, but the owners were gone. So, we officially became dog sitters for about an hour. This is only fair, considering how much we have asked others to watch our dog. After a few minutes, she and Sydney got used to each other and they actually had a good time playing with each other. It took me about 5 minutes to make the following observations about Jack Russell terriers:

1. Their legs are spring loaded and they can jump about 5x their height, seemingly without bending their legs.
2. They never stop moving. Ever.
3. They are very, very cute, which may mask the previous two points.
4. They are extremely agile and seem to have no hesitation bounding up and down chairs, tables, children and other dogs.
5. They are really fast and hard to catch, even in a small backyard with very few places to go.

Gina had put a note on the neighbor's front door, and they came to get the puppy (who we found out is named Jackie) right as we were starting dinner. It was a nice chance to visit with Fong (the dad) and the two oldest daughters for a minute. It was also a nice chance for Fong to put up a barricade at the spot in the fence that Jackie used to make her great escape. This added a little fun drama to the day, but I have a sneaky suspicion we haven't seen the last of Jackie.