Dave and Crackers ready to hit the road for their cruise.

By Carina Monica Montoya

It’s anything but a dog’s life for this pooch. His name is Crackers, known around town as “the dog riding in the back of a convertible Mercedes”. Crackers is a 9-year-old Jack Russell terrier that literally knocked on Dave Andersen’s door one night in 2014. He was hungry, thirsty, and alone. Dave and his wife fed him and gave him a comfortable bed to sleep before taking him to the Fillmore Animal Hospital the next morning to find out if he was microchipped. Although he was microchipped in Oklahoma and the information listed his birth date as November 2012, he was not registered and there was no one to contact. Days passed and no one claimed to be missing a dog. The rest is history.

Standing at about 15 inches tall and weighing 14 pounds with a broken coat, which means his coat is a combination of a rough double coat and wiry fur, he is built for sports such as surfing. Crackers’s skills are as good as the likes of Duke Kahanamoku, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, who is known for his incredible balance and coordination on a surfboard, except Crackers’s incredible balance and coordination skills are riding on top of a convertible roof cover. It really is not as easy as it looks. With his little hip-width ratio distributing weight equally between both legs, gravity’s pull is what keeps Crackers in position while he rides on the vehicle in motion. It’s all science. Newton’s law of motion describes movement of matter which contributes to maneuverings and the ability to stay atop something without falling, not to mention the fact that Crackers is always securely tethered down.

Most people are delighted to watch Crackers surf the streets of Fillmore. With approximately 300 million olfactory receptors in his nose, he can catch all the smells in the air, and he enjoys the feel of being outdoors with the wind running through his fur, and clocking miles without having to actually run them.

The Scottish believe that if a stray dog follows you or enters your home, it is a sign of new friendship to come, one that will be faithful, sincere, and caring. This is what Crackers has been to the Andersens and what the Andersens have been to Crackers. He shares the Andersen’s home with Sophie, a rather large 35-pound Yorkie mix. Together they patrol the property, but Crackers has proven to be more of a guard dog so Dave promoted him as director of security.

Dave, a longtime farmer originally from Monterey, first moved to Los Angeles where he met his wife. After his son was born, the Andersens relocated to Fillmore in 1998 because of its wide-open space, country-feel, country-hospitality, and friendly people. It was the perfect place to raise a child and build a business in agriculture marketing, buying and selling fruits and vegetables from the farm to buyers around the country.

Fillmore has been a wonderful place for the Andersens to settle and call home, and Crackers couldn’t have picked a better house to choose for his new forever home.