It will be 12 years this Thanksgiving that we were watching the Eukenuba Dog Show after the Macy's Day Parade. We saw this adorable little dog in the Terrier group. The Smooth Fox Terrier. As a family we had been tossing around the idea of getting a puppy. We were rooting for this guy to win best in show. The breed really stole our heart. I started researching. I found a local breeder who just so happened to be having an unscheduled litter due in January. We came to see this boy and his sister when they were just 6 weeks old. I fell in love. I wanted the girl, even though the boy was cuter. Shane said he was tired of being outnumbered since even the cat was a girl. Then I wanted both and he said no way!

Shane won and this little white dog with a black head came home with us a few short weeks later.

Little did we know this dog was going to rock our world. Talk about personality!

His name is Zero and he is just as spirited as Jack Skellington's beloved ghost dog.

He is a little grayer now and actually gets tired these days but he is still a ball of fire.

Zero's Idiosyncrasies

* Will not go outside alone

* Loses his mind over Pizza crusts (pizza bones we call them)

* Must sleep with my daughter

* Follows me around until bedtime then goes to seek out daughter

* Does not play well with others (dogs and cats)

* Loves all children, no matter how rough or small they are

* Lays with his back legs out

* Eats all meals like he has not been fed in weeks, will actually snort and choke because he eats so fast!

* Once ate a rock bigger than his throat and had to have emergency surgery

* Had a hernia operation

* Had a giant cyst removed from his head and looked like Frankenstein

* Dislocated his tail

* Broke a rib

* Can catch a frisbee

* Up until this year he could play with a ball for an entire day without getting tired

* Will become a statue if you put a muzzle on him

* Up until now he was awful on a leash

* We boarded him once and he barked the entire week we were gone until he lost his voice and was still trying to bark with his hoarse voice (it took him 3 months to get over us leaving him and we have never boarded him since)

* Took 3 years before we could leave him out of a crate while we were not home

* Is a pretty good sea dog

* Excellent watch dog and protector

* Terrible in the car (we used to have to drug him when we went on trips)

* Ate an entire tub of gummi bears and we had to replace the carpet in the entire house

* opens cabinet doors

* Will jump in the showers and tubs to drink the water

* Will have seizures if he gets too excited

* Hates squirrels and birds

These dogs are gorgeous. They are not for the faint of heart. They require a lot of attention and work as they are VERY active and smart. He is worth all the effort but you really have to love terriers. The SFT is a dying breed. It is extremely hard to find a breeder or even a rescue these days. He is a handful but I can't imagine what life would have been like without him.

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