Anyone know what breed "Sparky" is on the show Coolfuel, on the
Discovery channel (or TLC...I dunno)? You can see some pictures on the
website, http://www.coolfuelroadtrip.com
but they don't give much info about the dog, other than that he was
born in Austrailia, so I assume he's an Austrailian breed. Possibly a
type of hound dog, or maybe a sheep dog?

Paul said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

Anyone know what breed "Sparky" is on the show Coolfuel, on
the Discovery channel (or TLC...I dunno)? You can see some
pictures on the website, http://www.coolfuelroadtrip.com

Jack Russell Terrier or JRT mix.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"Paul" wrote:

other than that he was
born in Austrailia, so I assume he's an Austrailian breed.

Erm - why would you assume that???
There are many, many dogs born in Australia of breeds that didn't
originate there, just as there are dogs of 200-odd breeds born and bred in
the U.S. that didn't originate here.
There aren't all that many breeds which originated in Australia, as a
matter of fact; aside from the native Dingo - which some say isn't really a
dog, and which predates European notions of "dog breeds" - the only ones
that come to mind are the Australian Cattle Dog (aka Queensland Heeler or
Blue Heeler), the Kelpie, the Koolie, and the Australian Terrier, although
there are probably a couple more.
(I refuse to count the Labradoodle, although the original failed attempt
at getting them to breed true was in Australia.)



Possibly a
type of hound dog, or maybe a sheep dog?

Not even remotely close. G I already know, from discussion on JRT
lists, that Sparky is a Jack Russell Terrier. (Which, btw, is a breed which
originated in Great Britain in the 1800s.)

And I have to say, I find it somewhat surprising that anyone could mistake
such a small dog as a hound or herding dog...

"Sionnach" wrote:

I already know, from discussion on JRT lists, that Sparky is a Jack
Russell Terrier.

Oh, and BTW, the web site does clearly identify him as such; I went and
looked, and the information is fairly easily found in the "Bios" section of
the "Media Kit"- cut'n'pasted directly from the site:

"Born in Newtown, Australia on February 28, 2000, Sparky is a typical
affectionate, protective and over-achieving Jack Russell Terrier. No, he
doesn’t have much dialogue, but he’s irrepressible and fun and definitely
along for the ride – In truth, he often steals the show."

Gosh, Sionnach, I apologize for not knowing as much about dogs as you.
It was a simple question that didn't need the degrading comments. So
I'll let you work at your people skills with another question... Why is
his tail significantly longer than most JRT's. Is that possible with
the breed, or could he be a mix?

It was a simple question that didn't need the degrading comments.

shrug
They weren't intended as "degrading", merely discussion; your problem if
you want to read more into it than is there. This is a USENET *discussion*
group about dog breeds (not a "get your questions answered for free" group)
and your post led to thoughts about Australian breeds.

Yes, I found - and still find - it surprising that anyone, regardless
of whether or not they know much about dogs, would think that a dog being
born in another country would automatically mean it was of a breed that
originated there. Saying so doesn't mean I'm trying to "degrade" anyone,
just that, well, it's surprising.
Incidentally, SHAUN is Australian (his accent's fairly obvious, even if
every article I've ever seen about the show didn't also mention his
nationality), which, of course, is why Sparky is also from there.


Now, if you want "degrading", I'll point out what I refrained from
initially, namely that
A. it took me two mouse clicks and about 20 seconds to locate the part of
the Coolfuel website where Sparky's breed is listed (although it did require
knowing that a "media kit" would most likely contain bios).
B. if you type the words "Sparky" and "Coolfuel" into any web search
engine - out of curiosity, I tried it on Google, Yahoo, and AskJeeves, AND
in the box at the top of the AOL welcome page that says "search" - you
immediately get page listings that tell you he's a Jack Russell Terrier
without you even having to go to the pages in question.

IOW, next time you want a simple question answered - especially if you
don't want additional discussion - perhaps you should make just a WEE bit of
effort towards finding the answer for yourself? Google is your friend, as is
the search box on your AOL start page (since you have an AOL e-mail
address).


Why is his tail significantly longer than most JRT's.

It's not. It's simply undocked (possibly minimally docked, but it looks
like a natural tail), which isn't uncommon in dogs from Australia.

More JRTs than not in the U.S. have docked tails; the correct dock takes
off only the end of the tail - anywhere from just the tip to about 1/3 of
it- leaving a mid-length tail which is carried straight up. Some ignorant
"breeders" don't realize that, and dock the entire tail, leaving only a nub.
Exactly how much of the tip is taken off varies even within "correct"
docks - currently, the trend among JRTCA breeders is to leave 2-3 inches
more than was the custom 10 years ago.
However, there are plenty of undocked Jacks here, too; quite a few
breeders aren't docking at all if the pups are going into non-hunting**
and/or non-showing homes, and of course there are plenty of BYBs who don't
have it done, either.

**The purpose of the dock is to avoid injuring the dog's tail when pulling
it out of holes by same.


Is that possible with
the breed,

See above WRT most Jacks being docked.
A JRT's natural tail is quite long. The tail can be fairly thin and
somewhat whippy, like that of a hound, or can be fairly wide, like Sparky's.
The tail is carried erect, curling over forwards at the end; on many
undocked Jacks, it curls all the way up and over tightly like that of a
Northern breed. (It's fairly common for undocked, ungroomed rough-coated
JRTs to get mis-identified as "spitz mixes" by animal shelters.)

Sparky's tail is actually fairly short for an undocked dog.


or could he be a mix?

Anything's possible, but since the dog's owner AND all the literature on
Coolfuel (which has already been quoted to you) both say he's not, it's
unlikely. In any case, he looks like a JRT.
Which, BTW, doesn't mean he's going to look just like JRTs you may have
met; there's a great deal of variation in the breed, since until the last
couple of decades they were bred almost entirely for working purposes.

Sionnach, I thank you for your help.
I will disagree with you though. I did do a google (before and after
your post), I did go through the site, and I still can't find the info
you found about this particular dog. I think it's obvious that I don't
know much about dog breeds. That's why I asked. The topic is
appropriate for the group. As you stated, this is a Usenet group, open
for anyone. You don't own it, and nobody is forcing you to reply. If
you didn't like my question, DONT ANSWER IT!

You're a pretty pathetic person to get so worked up about something so
silly. You also seem like the kind of loser who has to have the last
word, so I'll give you that opportunity and not reply to you.

Sionnach's insulting comments were definitely not justified, and I can
assure you that they don't represent the feelings of the rest of the
group. This group is open to everyone, and if Sionnach doesn't like
that, oh well. All the group would lose is a jerk with a bad attitude.

"Paul" wrote:
I did do a google (before and after
your post), I did go through the site, and I still can't find the info
you found about this particular dog.

The only information I found (or rather, verified, since I already knew it)
was that he's officially ID'd as a Jack Russell Terrier. Well, and I looked
at his pictures on the Coolfuel site to verify what I remembered WRT his
tail length.

WRT the information on the Coolfuel site, I've already said that it was easy
to find ONLY if you knew that the "media kit" would be the appropriate place
to look for bio information.

WRT you not being able to find the information via search engines, I don't
know what search terms you used, but again, all I did was type in the most
obvious ones: Sparky Coolfuel.
On four different sites, including AOL (via the AOL software, not on the
AOL web page), that immediately pulled up listings for pages which ID'd him
as a Jack Russell Terrier; the words were right there in the page synopses -
you didn't even need to follow the links.

These were the second & third listings on Google, Yahoo, *and* AOL:


TVI Media Presents: Coolfuel Roadtrip ... his trusty Jack Russell Terrier,
Sparky, and the COOLFUEL Crew set off on an ... Sparky and Shaun travel in
revolutionary alternative fuel vehicles with ...
www.tvimedia.com/1_coolfuel.htm - 9k - Cached - Similar pages


America One Television With the gas tank on empty and 16000 miles of America
to explore, Australian Shaun Murphy, his trusty Jack Russell Terrier,
Sparky, and the COOLFUEL Crew ...
www.americaone.com/shows/cool_fuel/index.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

Maybe you used too many terms, or less well-defined ones? If the listings
don't come up when you use the same terms I did (which I GAVE you in my
post), then something in your computer and/or web browser is borken.


The topic is
appropriate for the group.

Yep. And nobody said it wasn't.

You don't own it,

Nor does anyone else; it's an unmoderated group. What's your point?

and nobody is forcing you to reply.

Nope. But I still took the time to not only answer your initial question -
including taking the time to give you direct pointers to where the
information is on the Coolfuel site, and to quote the information for you -
but to write informative answers to the questions about JRTs in your
*second* post (ignoring your rather lame attempt at being personally
insulting while I was at it).
Seems you'd rather waste your energy stomping about getting insulted,
feeling "degraded", AND trying to be personally insulting yourself, than
actually discuss facts on dog breeds... your problem, not mine.

If
you didn't like my question, DONT ANSWER IT!

It's not got anything to do with "not liking your question".

Once again, you're projecting things into what I wrote, as well as missing
the point. Which is (again):
When you ask a question on a discussion group, you can expect discussion of
everything in your post; if you don't *want* discussion, or are going to be
thin-skinned, see insult when none is intended, and/or feel "degraded" when
someone is surprised at something you write, perhaps you'd do better to seek
information elsewhere.


You're a pretty pathetic person to get so worked up about something so
silly.

I'm not "worked up" in the slightest - the strongest emotion I'm feeling is
mild bemusement at YOU getting so "worked up" and projecting things into
what I write that aren't there.
And considering that you claimed to feel "degraded" when I expressed
surprise at something you said, it's pretty funny/ironic that you're so
quick and ready with the lame attempts at direct personal insults (this
being the second post where you've tried it on). :-D

"Sionnach" said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

I'm not "worked up" in the slightest - the strongest
emotion I'm feeling is mild bemusement at YOU getting so
"worked up" and projecting things into what I write that
aren't there.

Heh. My simple non-googled response that Sparky is a "Jack
Russell Terrier or JRT mix" didn't receive a word of thanks from
the OP. Methinks he's looking for an argument.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.