Hi everyone
Clemkirk Royal Request aka Fergus came
into our lives in 1999 after the death of Ben our elderly
kelpie cross lab. My husband was quite happy being a
one dog owner as we still had our 10 year old Blue Heeler
named Bluey.
I
admit that yes it was much easier packing up the car
to go away with 2 kids, our luggage and just one dog
but I missed being a 2 dog family and Bluey seemed so
sad and lost. 12 months later David finally gave in
and I headed straight up to see the Kirkham’s
at Clemkirk Kennels where my children and I spent 5
hours deciding which puppy would become our newest family
member.
Fergus was the ugliest puppy with the
biggest head I have ever seen but he soon grew into
a very handsome dog with the personality of a clown.
After living with 2 well behaved senior dogs both with
multiple obedience titles, having a young Labrador was
a real shock! Gone was the garden, the watering system
and any shoes that the children left at the back door.
He especially loved eating gumboots! Fergus chewed on
the corner of the window sills of our new extension
to the house and all hell broke loose when he ate the
wiring off the boat trailer, not once, but 3 times!
With patient training Fergus thrived in the obedience
ring getting his Encouragement and Novice titles quite
quickly. We were working our way up to competing in
the Open ring and participating in Agility lessons when
we discovered this new discipline called Flyball.
Fergus
took to Flyball really quickly as even though he wasn’t
very interested in balls, he learnt that he was rewarded
with food every time he brought me back a ball. Being
a Labrador he would do anything for food! Our first
competition was in Ballarat at the Santa Ball Competition
in December 2003. On our first race Fergus decided that
rather than bring the ball back to me that he would
go over and say hello to the opposition and run back
over their jumps instead of ours. The judge blew her
whistle and stopped the race and Fergus got his first
and only yellow card.
Although never a super fast dog he soon settled into
a rock solid and reliable team member and was part of
two winning teams at the Australian Flyball Championships
in Canberra in 2005 and Ringwood in 2006. We never did
make it back to the Open ring but Fergus did earn his
Flyball Master title.(700 points)
In
2008 Lemtree the Duke aka Jack came unexpectedly into
our lives as a grown dog (thanks once again to the Kirkham
family). For Fergus and Jack it was love at first sight.
As Jack had a natural interest in tennis balls I introduced
him to Flyball. What a natural! One week after his 1st
birthday, Jack and I were competing in his first Flyball
competition and boy was he fast.
He has also gone on to win 2 Australian National Titles,
the first in Sydney in 2009 and again at the Sydney
Royal Show at Easter this year. He gained his Flyball
Master Champion title (1000 points) while in Sydney
and is well on his way to his next title.
He
has shown momentary glimpses of brilliance in the obedience
ring gaining his CD over past 12 months. At the moment
we are working our way at competing in the Open ring
if I can teach him not to throw the dumb bell at me
like a tennis ball.
Jack is a wonderful family dog and while Fergus will
always be a one person dog, Jack is happy to sit on
anyone’s knee for a cuddle (even if they are asleep
and don’t know he’s climbed up and made
himself comfortable).
Both dogs enjoy a summer holiday down the beach and
Jack is known on the dog beach as the surfer dog as
he jumps over waves to retrieve his ball and then body
surfs back on the waves. Fergus prefers to simply paddle,
talk to the other dogs on the beach and lie on my beach
towel. It’s a dog’s life.
Fergus and Jack has given me a great deal of pleasure,
helped me through some very tough times and through
my involvement at BDOC I have made some very special
friends.
As the sign on my kitchen walls says “Dogs are
not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
STOP PRESS
