Hello
and welcome to Banjo’s story.
Banjo was born on February 17th 2007.
It was this litter that gave Australia their 123rd to
132nd Finnish Lapphunds.
Like many people I know, we had less
trouble finding a breed of dog we liked, than choosing
a name. Many of the Finnish Lapphunds we had met, had
kept their Finnish heritage in their names, but we wanted
ours to be a truly Aussie version. So Banjo it was.
Banjo had two sisters that were very
good at escaping and causing chaos; this was to give
us a taste of what was to come. We had not really had
any problems with either of our other dogs – both
Keeshonds, not a plant or toy destroyed between them.
Then along came Banjo……..
we gave up on garden beds pretty quickly, and we soon
discovered that having a lovely soft dog bed simply
meant a huge toy that could be torn to shreds , night
after night after night…..
Poor Webster Keeshond who was 9yrs old at the time,
was stuck with having to sleep on just our decking boards.
Sometimes, he would bark and let us
know what Banjo was up to, we would head outside at
all hours of the morning to find Banjo dragging the
dog bed out to the yard with the stubborn Webster still
sitting on it. Webster still woofing, telling him to
go away. Looking back I can laugh about it, but it was
not funny at the time - 3am is for sleeping!
It quickly became routine at our house
to head home thinking what level of destruction would
be found. I remember coming home to find Banjo bright
blue from opening and destroying a box of liquid hand
wash that was for my work. It kept us entertained for
weeks , for every time it rained our back yard bubbled.
Each time we came home though, he would greet you with
his enormous grin, and whole body wag that meant that
staying mad at him just wasn’t possible.
His whole body wag has earned him
the nick name Wiggle. He is most commonly known in Finnish
Lapphund circle as ?The Black Wiggle?. It does cause
a small problem with completing a Stand for exam in
Obedience though. Does moving all four feet because
you wag your tail so hard you nearly fall over count
as a fail? I think so, shame really. Guess we will have
to work on that one.
Banjo has just turned 4 and thankfully
grew out of most of his destructive traits; he has grown
into a truly beautiful boy with the most magnificent
personality. He loves life, never has a bad day, and
everyone / every dog he meets is a new best friend to
be made.
Banjo now shares his life with Curtis
our Schnoodle and I think Curtis is in some way giving
Banjo a little pay back for what he put Webster through
4 years ago. He has done me proud with his Jumping title
and has one pass left for his Agility title. Hopefully
Obedience will be our playground this year; we may need
some work on that Stand for examination though!
One thing is for sure though, win
or lose he will always be smiling and will always be
my best friend.
- Tracy Benda.
