WATERLOO, S.C. (AP) — Two wooden tunnels sit in Emory and Samantha Vaughn’s backyard in Waterloo; the tunnels are connected at a right angle by a small, square corner piece.
At one end sits Mickey, a live rat protected by the thick plastic walls of his cylindrical container. On the other, Emory holds Minnie, the couple’s 1-year-old Jack Russell terrier.
The instant Minnie saw Samantha carrying the container that holds Mickey to the end of the tunnel, the high-energy dog switches from a friendly family pet to a single-minded huntress with laser focus.
In Emory’s arms, Minnie keeps her eyes fixed intently on the tunnel’s entrance, even as she twists slightly in an attempt to free herself from his grip.
Emory sets her down and in flash she disappears inside the tunnel. A moment later, she reappears on the other side, growling as she bites and claws at Mickey’s shelter, which suddenly looks flimsier than it had just a moment before.
Samantha lets Minnie go at the cylinder for a few seconds before scooping her up in her arms and scratching her behind the ears.
Minnie’s run the drill so often now, she doesn’t even need to think about it. It’s part of her training for the Jack Russell trials she and her owners compete in across the country.
A little less than a year ago, the Vaughns went to a breeder in North Carolina to get what would be their seventh Jack Russell. At their home on Lake Greenwood, pests such as lizards and rats are an issue, and Jack Russells are ideal for keeping their yard varmint free. But when they went to pick up Minnie, then 2 months old, the breeder told them about the breed-specific competitions that go on across the country.
So they took Minnie to a trial near Charlotte, not expecting much but excited for the experience. Then, Minnie started winning.
“We just wanted to see what it was like, and went there planning to stay just a couple hours and ended up spending all day, spending the night and staying the next day,” Emory said. “We went out a week later and bought a camper and, counting nationals, have been to three real trials with her.”
On Oct. 13, Emory and Samantha loaded up their trailer and took Minnie up to Boonsboro, Maryland for the 2017 Jack Russell National Trials. They entered her in 14 events and by the end of the weekend, Minnie had racked up two national championships, two second-place finishes, two third-place medals, and a sixth place finish.
“We really lucked out when we got her,” Samantha said. “We were just looking for a backyard breeder to get another Jack Russell and ended up with a puppy who was able to compete on a national level.”
Though the Vaughns spend time working with Minnie in their backyard to help build endurance and an understanding of the courses, they said most of her success comes down to her natural canine instincts.
“We thought that you would have to have your dog really trained and everything,” Samantha said. “But really, it’s like 85 percent instinct. It’s what they want to do and then you just kind of help them along and build the skills.”
Samantha and Emory said, now that they’ve gotten started, they plan to schedule 2018 around competitions across the country. It’s the tight-knit community at each event as much as the competitions themselves that keeps them going back, Emory said.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie and, in a short time, we’ve gotten to know a lot of nice people,” Emory said. “It’s just a fun weekend and you get to work your dog and exercise, and the dogs have fun too.”
Emory and Samantha are now on the waiting list for another Jack Russell puppy — this one from a breeder in Virginia — who they also plan to enter into competition.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Organizers of an anti-death penalty coalition say they have delivered over 56,000 petition signatures to New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, urging him to sign a bill to repeal the state’s capital punishment law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States criticized Russia on Wednesday for approving sales of fighter jets to Myanmar’s military despite its deadly operations against Rohingya Muslims, warning that Moscow’s actions could make the situation worse.
Russian defense officials used a visit to Myanmar this week to announce a deal to deliver six Su-30 fighter jets to the country’s military. The Russian officials said Myanmar is also interested in buying Russian navy ships and land weapons.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called Russia’s move to provide the jets “a good example of the challenges we face with certain governments.” She said most of the world wants the Rohingya crisis resolved peacefully, and suggested Russia’s actions would instead fuel more suffering and instability.
“This would seem to be an occasion where Russia could show solidarity through humanitarian assistance rather than potentially aggravating the situation through weapons sales,” Nauert said.
The admonition comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia, including over Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine and elsewhere. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Moscow was responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria for failing to rein in Syrian President Bashar Assad and his forces — an accusation that Russia firmly rejected.
The United States and many others refuse to sell weapons to Myanmar. In October, the U.S. restricted what limited non-weapons assistance it provides to Myanmar’s military and its leaders, specifically cutting off those involved in the violence in northern Rakhine state — ground zero for the Rohingya crisis. Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since August, when the military launched operations that the United States has described as “ethnic cleansing.”
On Wednesday, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson resigned from an international advisory panel on the crisis, calling it a “whitewash and a cheerleading operation” for Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The sudden resignation cast a shadow over global efforts to deal with the crisis and raised further questions about Suu Kyi’s leadership.
The six fighter jets aren’t the first arms Myanmar has bought from Russia. In the past, the country has purchased MiG-29 fighter jets, Yak-130 combat trainers, Mi-17, Mi-24 and Mi-35 combat helicopters and other weapons, Alexander Fomin, a Russian deputy defense minister, said in Myanmar on Monday.
“I’m sure that Russia-Myanmar military-technical cooperation will develop further to allow Myanmar to build up a modern military armed with high-tech Russian weapons,” Fomin said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s defense minister says the nation’s cyber experts have successfully repelled a third hacking attempt from Russia but warns the cyberattack threat is mounting.
Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said Friday the recent attack targeted companies in Ukraine that also have offices in other countries, including Poland. He told state TV1 television that “luckily in Poland we repelled them, but the threat increases daily.”
Poland, which is part of NATO, recently moved to build a special cyber troop, to number some 1,000, to counter cyberattacks.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Counties across New York are getting extra financial support to battle the influenza epidemic as the number of confirmed flu cases continues to rise.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that he’s directing the Department of Health to provide reimbursement to local health departments in 57 counties and New York City to help them fund additional campaigns to promote and increase flu vaccines.
State health officials say the number of lab-confirmed flu cases continues to rise, with 15,750 reported since last week, including about 2,350 who needed hospitalization.
Those are the highest weekly numbers since the epidemic began nine weeks ago. More than 52,000 cases of the flu have been confirmed statewide since Feb. 3.
CHICAGO (AP) — Tre’Darius McCallum had 17 points and six rebounds to help DePaul pick up its first win in its new Wintrust Arena, beating Delaware State 81-57 on Monday night.
DePaul (1-1) fell to No. 14 Notre Dame 72-58 in Wintrust on Saturday, but took an early lead to roll over the Hornets (1-1) Monday night. The Blue Demons never trailed, leading 15-3 at the 12:19 mark and taking a 35-21 lead into the locker room. Delaware State made a run to close to 53-41 midway in the second period. DePaul’s Eli Cain, who had 11 points, drove for a layup to start an 11-2 run and the Blue Demons coasted home.
McCallum, who was 7 of 12 from the floor, nailed 3 of 5 from long range. Max Strus added 15 points, hitting 6 of 8 field goals.