This
is really a tale of two dogs. There were two puppies left
in the whelping box when I went to the breeders. They
were the runts of a litter of nine. They were the last
two born and they were so small that the breeder had to
hand rear them because the other puppies were beating
them up. She had not been sure that they would survive
and she could not guarantee that they would grow to the
breed standard height. This was not a concern for me as
I was not looking to show them, rather, I was interested
in obedience and dog sports. Even though my intention
was to only get one puppy the breeder convinced me to
take both of them.
When I look back now I feel ill thinking that I might
not have taken Teela. I just could not bear to think of
her not with us. She is a special little girl and she
had been the favourite of the breeder which was why the
breeder was so keen to get her a good home. Most of you
who attend obedience will know Teela, if not by sight
then by sound, as she is not one to take being left in
the car lightly. I could be out on the oval training Rus
in a class and if the noise stopped I could look over
and see these little legs disappearing through the skimpy
cargo barrier into the front of the car. I lived in fear
that she would get herself caught on the way through and
then I wouldn’t know if the noise was caused by
frustration or because she was in pain. I paid out the
$1,000 odd dollars to get the car fitted with all the
right gear. At least I now know she can’t hurt herself.
Those of you who know Rus will know him to be a bit of
a woose…well a lot of a woose. But he is gentle
and smart and he is actually the ‘closet’
top dog. Teela thinks she is top dog but it is only because
he lets her believe that. I have noticed if the issue
is about anything he cares about she will not tackle him.
We have cats at home. Luckily the cats were mature before
the puppies arrived so the puppies learnt very quickly
not to tackle a cat head on. My house is divided into
the cat half and the dog half so the dogs and cats don’t
have to meet if the cats don’t choose too. Surprisingly
one of the cats deliberately teases the dogs and strolls
through their half of the house just daring the dogs come
near. Rus stands there and barks, the only time he actually
makes a barking noise, (usually it’s a howl or a
scream) and Teela spends her time trying to nip a cat
on the backside to make it run so she can chase it. The
cats are far too smart for the dogs.
Tollers are ‘Smart, smart, smart!’ and both
dogs are in class 4 ready to start trialling, it is just
a pity that their owner is a nervous wreck. Both dogs
are very sensitive and pick up on my every mood, so if
I go into the ring being very nervous both dogs spend
their time trying to work out what it is that they should
be worried about. I have to work on that.
I
have really concentrated on tracking and Teela became
a Tracking Champion earlier this year. We think she is
the first Toller in Australia to be titled in such a way.
I made the decision that I would do one dog at a time
so that I could stay in the sport longer because once
you finished Test 6 that was as much as you could do in
tracking.
Rus has begun tracking and achieved his
TD, Tracking Dog title during this year. He is showing
a lot of promise and could very well be a better tracker
than Teela.
Teela is very fast and can ‘roar’
through corners, this puts pressure on me to know when
she has done this and then I have to be smart enough to
get her back on track, whilst Rus is slower and more likely
to go straight around a corner, this makes him much easier
to handle. I am so pleased that a new tracking title TSD,
Tracking Search Dog will commence in 2009 so that means
I can ‘dust off’ Teela’s Tracking harness
and get her tracking again. The dogs LOVE tracking and
they LOVE setting up the tracks on the Friday probably
even better. They get to run free in the bush with lots
of other dogs as we put out the flags for the tracks to
be done the following day. Tracking is great fun.
I
have also dabbled in flyball and Rus is doing full runs,
even if it is at a snails pace. Teela will do the runs
but forgets about bringing the ball back, so much for
being a retriever! I just need more hours in the day to
be able to do all the sports I want to do with the dogs.
Maybe flyball will have to wait until I retire and I have
the time to make the commitment to flyball.
Life has not been the same since these little red dogs
arrived three years ago. My family think I spoil them
but I don’t think so, I think I treat them accordingly
to their personalities and I tell my children that that
is exactly the approach I took with them. So, the 5.30am
howling sessions, Teela’s screams of frustration
when she has to wait her turn and the occasional lapses
of obedience are just part and parcel of bringing up a
dog. These are two very affectionate, loving and playful
dogs and I am just so lucky to have the both of them.
