After a year of researching terrier breeds, I saw a posting for an adorable male pup in spring 2022. I contacted Lynda Burke of Spotswood Jacks Kennels in Wrightsville, PA. Ranger was a singleton, meaning that he had no littermates, which is pretty unusual! After applying and convincing Lynda that we would be suitable “parents”, we drove eight hours to pick up 11-week-old Ranger. Lynda is an AKC Champion breeder, and we met Ranger’s mother, Ivy, and several other young Russell Terriers at her home.

Meeting Ranger was a love fest! He was so wriggly that when Lynda handed him to me, I dropped him! It was embarrassing, but he was okay.  With a car full of puppy food and gear, we drove back to Dorset, stopping twice along the way!  He ran around under our feet so fast that we had to jump up to avoid stepping on him! Ranger slept through the whole first night, and so did we, because we all were so exhausted from the excitement!

Ranger has an incredible talent for balance-beam limb-walking on fallen trees along the Pinnacle Trail. He turns any walk into one with detours and daring feats, seemingly just for the fun of it. We always marvel at it - he’s the Simone Biles of the trail!

Around town, Ranger enjoys visiting the Dorset Library and Dorset Union Store, and we're grateful to walk the grounds of The Barrows House, Dorset Inn, and the Dorset Field Club in the off-season. A group of us in Dorset Village call ourselves “The Other End of the Leash Gang!” We met while walking our dogs each day, and the dogs—and their people—got to know one another and socialize.