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   Jag, the terrier, is getting up there in dog years. Nobody is quite sure how old he is as he moved from home to home during the early years of his life.  He first came to our house to live when other families could not put up with his proclivity to kill the neighbors’ chickens and cats. Since we have no close neighbors, chickens, or cats, we ended up adopting him a number of years ago. He has enjoyed the freedom of never having to be tied up and being able to go hunting whenever he wanted. For the first eight or ten years of living with us, he wanted to be only outside except on the coldest of nights and would guard the homestead faithfully. Occasionally, there would be a dead raccoon or opossum in the yard, evidence of a failed invasion by the local wildlife. He has always been a tough little dog, almost as tough as he thinks he is.

   Because of his toughness and refusal to admit pain or fear, I was surprised a while back when I heard him yelping outside. I jumped up to see him running toward the house as fast as his little old legs could carry him. He was yelping in fear while being pursued by two coyotes They were rapidly gaining ground on him when I stepped out with my rifle. The coyotes both screeched to a halt when they saw me. Jag did not break a stride, heading for the house. I pulled up and dropped the first coyote where he stood. The other took off across the yard and started to run across the dam. My bullets were following close behind and he was at top speed when I finally got in a lucky shot. People that say a person does not need a twenty-round magazine in a hunting rifle are either much better shots than I am or they have never shot at a coyote running away at full speed. I had somewhere between twelve and fifteen rounds down range before I connected. Jag ran up to me and stood behind my legs before he looked back to see if the coyotes were still coming. He stood on the porch trembling. He realized he was almost in a fight he could not win. I am sure this was the first time in his life that he knew he was not the toughest around.

   This close call took a lot out of Jag. He still guards the area, but only during the day. Now he prefers to stay in the garage at night, on his bed with food and water close by. He will occasionally go out hunting by himself but does not venture as far from the house as he used to. If he is going to go hunting any distance from the house, he prefers it to be with a person that is well armed, just in case.

   The little dog is getting gray hairs and moves more slowly, much like a little old man. He does though, still have the ability to run really fast in case of an emergency.

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