TRULY A LEGEND
Farmcliff Teddy 1986 - 2002

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by Bob Franklin & Karin Franklin

Whelped in August, 1986, Teddy was in the second litter bred by Farmcliff JRTs and was considered the runt of that litter. He was so fuzzy you couldn't even see his toes, but even though he wasn't very big, he didn't take any guff from his larger littermates. No one seemed to want Teddy as his litter mates all went to puppy homes and at Christmas time when our daughter, Karin, came home from College for the holidays, Teddy was still here. We soon realized that our daughter and Teddy seemed to have a special bond, so we decided to keep him.

Initially Teddy was unable to jump up on the wicker sofa and sort of climbed it like a ladder. We worried about the strength of his hind end because he was a little roach backed. But, as he matured, we realized this was not a concern. Since our daughter was still in college, I started him racing and I soon realized that Teddy was "something special". His lifetime racing record was phenomenal!

Throughout his racing career, we soon lost count of the many, many local trial racing championships that Teddy won. He won his first JRTCA Under 12 ½ " National Racing Championship in 1988 and again in 1990,1991 and 1994. Teddy would have won in 1989 but he was way ahead of the pack in the flat race, caught the lure just in front of the hole, had it jerked out of his mouth and wound up on his back in front of the finish hole. Before Teddy could right himself, several other dogs went through to finish ahead of him. Since points determined racing champions back then, the championship that year was awarded to the under female who won both of her races. This experience so infuriated me that I embarked on a campaign to change the "point system rule' so that now JRT racing champions are determined by run-offs between the 1st place winners.

In 1992 and 1993 a single, Veteran Racing Championship class was introduced at JRTCA Nationals, but the championship run-off included both 12 ½" and 15" dogs. Although Teddy won both of his under classes both years, he was simply outclassed by the much larger dogs in the championship runoffs. In 1994 the Veteran Division was eliminated, so we again entered Teddy in the Adult Under division and amazingly, he won the National Championship once again at 9 years of age!

Teddy won the 10 to 12 ½" National Trial Stakes Races in 1998, 1989,1992.1993 and 1994. But, he ran so aggressively that he sometimes "crashed and burned" in the hurdles which happened in both of the 1990 and 1991 stakes races.

Teddy also ran JRT racing at the Washington International Horse Show where he won 4 championships in a row until Karin retired him at age 11. To honor Teddy in his retirement, the horse show had him run a special race all by himself to the cheers of the crowd. The announcer then presented him with a special dog coat with his name on it and a floral wreath just like they would do for a famous horse who was retiring. It was a very special event that night and the crowd loved it.

A local Washington area sportscaster always invited the fastest dogs from the horse show each year to race down the halls of the local NBC studio -- live on the 5:00 o'clock news. Teddy won that exhibition race three years in a row before he was retired.

Teddy spent his late years just being a calm, cuddly JRT doing lots of hiking, canoeing and camping with Karin. Karin did not encourage his hunting instincts, but he still managed to get his share of mice, groundhogs and a possum family that lived under Karin's deck. He even on occasion played tag with the foxes in the fields behind Karin's house during their many walks.

Karin's parting comments when Teddy went over the Rainbow Bridge were, "Thanks Teddy, for comforting me when I was sad, for insisting that I take you for long walks and for being my close companion throughout my times of joy and sadness".