Our dogs and what they taught us...

Having seen Down and Out in Beverly Hills  (tacky movie with a very smart dog named Mike the Dog), I decided I wanted a Border Collie as I could see that the breed was exceptionally smart. Michael was resistant to getting one, as his philosophy back then was that we could find a good dog in a box in front of the grocery store, so why did we need to buy a puppy? I held out!

It took us 3 years to find just the right dog, one that was equally as smart as she was cute. Lady Pipkin or Pippi came to us through a breeder in Eatonville, Washington.  We brought home our first 6 week old BC puppy in November of 1988. Michael made me pick her out, because “you’re the one who wanted her.”  Within 24 hours of coming home, there was a thunderstorm and Pippi disappeared outside. Having been whelped under a porch in Eatonville, she managed to find her way into a safe, dark place---an old abandoned dog house behind our well shed that we didn’t even know existed. It was that one seemingly endless hour when she was missing that Michael tipped his hand and I discovered that he was madly in love with this special puppy. He carried her into the house, nuzzled against his cheek, tucked inside his coat, both of them dripping wet. He set about to get her warmed up and dry and it was in those few minutes that I saw the truth of the matter: they were soon to become BEST buddys!!!

Pippi was a very mellow Border Collie by today’s standards. She LOVED everybody, humans and dogs both, although she was known to be the official Fun Police if other dogs were having too much fun. Conversely, she was known to step into a bad interaction between dogs and stop it. We knew little about Border Collies at the time and in retrospect, I have to wonder why she even put up with us, as now we realize she was even smarter than we thought.

Pippi had one litter of puppies fathered by Flint, Karen Child’s special BC of long ago. We kept one puppy: Perky, who is still doddering around as I write, 15 years old, ¾ deaf, ½ blind and with a fairly severe balance disorder, plus she is incontinent. Michael has been saying that “she isn’t long for this world” for 3 years….and I think the dog may outlive me at this rate. She is sweet natured and timid, we think primarily because she got caught in the electric fence when she was young, not just zapped, but caught….that coupled with the fact that she had the Fun Police for her mother. After her mother died, Perky blossomed into a much more outgoing dog!

By the time Perky was born and raised , Heather had discovered Agility. Michael was still playing bluegrass guitar at the time and although he truly loved his dogs, he didn’t have much time to do anything else besides work. One year, we went to Chilliwack, BC for their Annual (very fun!) Bluegrass Festival. What he didn’t know is that there was an Agility trial (AAC) going on that weekend. He agreed to go one day to watch.

It was there that we saw and visited with Ian Pate of Campbell River one of the forefathers of agility British Columbia and the Pacific NW.  Many seasoned Agility handlers will remember him, with his tall stature, white hair and beard, steel blue eyes, Scottish accent and wonderful dog, Becky. He and his daughter, Kathryn and sometimes his wife Ann would come down here to Agility trials for years until his health compromised his ability to continue the sport. Ian was the one who got us in contact with the first local Agility people, for which we will be forever grateful.

Sadie Lady came into our life by accident when we were at the Sandpoint Idaho Draft Horse Extravaganza in October of 1996. We brought her smelly little self home, cute as a bug’s ear and clearly a sweet and cooperative dog. She taught us more about Border Collies and Dog training as we begin to pursue Agility beginning in 1997. It was quite the eye opening experience for us.

Sadie had one litter of puppies at the ripe old age of 4. Of those 7 puppies, 4 of them are Agility dogs now: Q owned by Martin Singer, Sir Robbie owned by Marcia MacDonald, Gwen owned by Sharon & Amanda Nelson and Xena Warrior Princess. All of them are very special dogs for a variety of reasons.

Xena taught Michael even more about training and what NOT to do (in retrospect) and how a dog’s mind works then any of the dogs he had ever owned. Her name fit her when she was just a few days old. The runt of the litter and the least “pretty” of them all, she begin to falter within a couple of days, so I took to giving her supplemental feedings. As a result,  when hungry, she began to crawl up the side of the whelping box and hang at the top and scream in this high pitched little warble, causing me to coin her name: The Warrior Princess. She was one tough little dog, very primal. Who would have known I would be so bonded to this dog?

Michael trained her to have no fear of anything! He didn’t want to do ANYTHING to hinder her drive. As a result, to this day, she sees Agility as a RACE….between Michael and herself. Back when Michael built this race car of a dog, he neglected to put in the brake and steering wheel! This has given rise to one of our sayings here at Every-Buddy’s: “What you learn first, you learn best!” Michael continues to work on installing the brake and steering wheel…and to get the foot off the accelerator…but it is like trying to install those things while the car is running at 80 miles an hour! Xena would run herself into the ground doing agility if he did not stop her. She absolutely loves doing it! Unfortunately, Michael needs to have a lightening fast mind to handle her, so she continues to be a challenge to run even at 5! RUN is the operative word here!

From both Xena and Sadie, Michael has learned enough to write a book on Agility, dog minds, dog behaviors and how arrogant we are as humans thinking we are the smart ones!  Xena thinks in black and white terms. She is unforgiving and cuts him no slack on the course…which is totally unlike her Mother, Sadie. However, as Michael always says, “You get the dog you deserve!” Meaning: ‘You taught the dog to do whatever it is doing, good bad or great!” We continue to love our Warrior Princess who gives us 150% no matter if she is on the Agility field, swimming in the lake or chasing her reflection in the mirror!

She was about 16 months old when Bruce’s Crown Jule came into our lives thanks to Eileen Gillette of Ravensgate Border Collie Rescue. She was, on the surface, very smoozy, licky, leapy, lappy and generally, gave the impression of a giddy teenager. Under her beautiful red coat and green-gold eyes lay a dog that Michael has nick-named Scary Smart. Jule was surrendered to rescue because she was threatening to bite the children, plus they couldn’t figure out how to get her under control with the leaping etc. She was running their house! We were soon to find out that she had had the family trained. Fortunately, we had learned a lot about Border Collies along the way! She was quite startled when she discovered that we were not going to be intimidated with her lifted lip or her intensely threatening looks….I call them “steely eyes”. She discovered I had “steely eyes” if she pushed me. Jule came with no sense of guilt or remorse over anything. She stole whatever she wanted! If you told her “no” about anything, she just stared at you as if to say, “What’s your problem?” or “Who ME?”

After too few weeks of training, we put her in a REAL trial and she had a terrible weekend, showing great fear.  Michael pulled her from trialing even before the weekend was out, while he worked on increasing her confidence. She came back to the Agility ring less than 5 months later with increased assurance, so much so that she began to take obstacles without his direction and having a perfectly WONDERFUL time! As another BC person said, “Well, she is acting like a Border Collie! Border Collies learn the job and then go do it without much help, so it is not unwarranted that Jule is now OVER confident!” Through consistency, patience and a gentle firmness, Jule has come around to be a terrific fuzzy buddy, both on and off the field! She responds well to the whole family and loves Every-Buddy! Her favorite “job” here is to work with Students who have dogs that are injured or ailing and can’t run so she gets to be their Rent-a-Dog.

We are blessed to have each one of these dogs in our lives. They are as different as people are and are truly family members. Each one has a firm place in our hearts. I have often said that these fuzzheads are sent here to teach us something, watch over us and to be our good friends. Michael and I work daily to return the love and patience they give us. I know we don’t measure up to their high standards! Are we LUCKY to have been blessed with these dogs!

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