Many thanks to all readers who sent good wishes to our new family member. He is thoroughly settled in now, figured out the doggie door in 10 seconds flat, claiming sofa privileges (which we have granted), can negotiate tricky attic stairs to my study.
He still won’t bark. The reason may be, that he’s not a Jack Russell at all, but a feist. More about this on his web page.
One curiosity we’ve discovered: he smiles. It’s a lips-back, teeth-baring thing, which at first we thought was aggressive. However, he only does it when very contented — e.g. after a long tummy rub. Sometimes he does a happy sigh with the teeth-baring. It’s definitely a smile. Didn’t know dogs could smile.