My name is Lhasa Dotson and I live in Kingston, Arkansas. My first experience with a Jack Russell Terrier was Chester, a sweet, loving ‘Shortie Jack’. He was my brothers ‘pick of the litter’. His dog, Bubba, was the sire. Chester became ‘Aunt Chester’ when he took over the care of Chickie’s litter. At three weeks, Chickie, a Chow mix, lost interest in caring for her puppies, so Chester cleaned and cuddled her puppies while Chickie hunted. She would nurse them when we closed her in with them, then turn the care over to Chester as soon as possible. He was so sweet and protective that I knew immediately that I wanted to raise Jack Russell’s.
My brother, Dave, knowing how much I liked his Jack Russell, bribed me one Christmas with another pick of the litter. If I would drive from Northwest Arkansas to Northern Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I could stop near Chicago and take my pick of another litter that Bubba sired. I had moved away from the bitter cold winters years before so I wouldn’t have to experience sub-zero temperatures. It took the promise of a Jack Russell puppy to lure me up north during the cold in December. For years, I only visited my family in the summer months to be able to enjoy the Great Lakes.
My son, Orion, and I drove the 9 hours to just south of Chicago and picked an almost all white male that we named Miles, since we were traveling so many miles to get him. After picking up Miles, we continued on to the Upper Peninsula, driving through windy and icy conditions. Lake effec snow from Lake Michigan was blowing across the highway, icing the road as we drove north. Cars and trucks were literally going off the highway to the left and right in front of us. We finally made it to Dave’s house with Miles and spent a very cold Christmas with temperatures starting at 25 below zero in the mornings! It was worth it. We had a great visit with my brother, sister and parents. It was the last Christmas my father was alive. After our visit, we drove back to Northwest Arkansas to live through one of the worst ice storms we have ever had. Our road had 3-4 inches of ice coating it. We had to park at the top of the mountain and slide down on our backsides, with Orion carrying Miles.
We later aquired Miles’ half-brother, Loki, and raised Shortie Jacks for a time. We stopped breeding, but kept Loki and a few of his puppies until a few years ago. I was looking at Shortie Jacks online when I came across the American Hunt Terriers. I loved the look of the small black and tan dogs. So, I purchased my first Hunt Terrier from Karen at Hobbit Hill Farms, our sweet Inky. Then, of course, we had to find a mate for Inky. We flew to Louisiana and purchased Red Pepper, a red Hunt, from Jana at Russellville Farms. Sadly, Red was accidentally killed by our 95 year old neighbor when he drove by one of the farms. So, the search was back on and I found Snooks at Butterball Farms. I also found a black and tan Hunt she called ‘Boots’. I quickly put a deposit on him and as soon as he was ready, flew to Ocala to meet Snooks, Pete, Boots and the whole crew. Snooks also put me in touch with another breeder that wanted to sell a little chocotan female. So we headed back to Ocala and picked up Jilli B. We are a small operation, raising our puppies in our homes and interacting (spoiling) with them often.
Black Jack Farm 