Great schutzhund dog, companion and protector. I wish I knew then what I know now.
I was at the feedstore in Davis where I saw a flyer stapled to the bulletin board advertising a litter of Australian shepherd puppies. I had had an Aussie briefly (in my crazy days in Ocean Beach) named “Summer Rain” or Rainy, who was a shy, timid blue merle from the San Diego pound. I ended up giving her to a family that lived next door on Brighton Street who loved her, because my life was just too disconcerting for a timid dog.
But I thought maybe the time was right for an Aussie puppy. I talked with Warren about it, and he said “no, I don’t like Aussies. They bite.” But I talked him into at least taking a look at them…
I called the phone number on the flyer and asked if there were any puppies left. “Yes, there are two, a male and a female, but they’re both black tris” the woman answered. “That’s great” I said. “I want a black tri.”
I had to hold the phone away from my ears because the woman was yelling so loud. “I can’t believe someone actually wants a tri and not a blue merle with one blue eye and it has to be the left one because that’s what my … ” Needless to say, she was pretty happy to hear I wanted a tri colour.
We went over to look at the puppies, and the mother, a tiny little red dog, wasn’t happy that we were there. At one point, when no one was looking, she nailed Warren in the back of the leg. Yep, Aussies bite.
We went out into the back yard to play with the mother, Cedar, and the puppies. Cedar had a spark of intensity that neither Warren nor I had ever seen in a dog. Sure, she had bitten him, but man, was she a neat dog. To this day she’s the smartest dog I’ve ever met. So we took the little male home with us.
We still had a deerhound when we brought Logan home, and I mean no disrespect to sighthounds, but this puppy could think! What fun!
Logan had the inherent herding dog suspicion of strangers, but it was tempered with trust and acceptance. If a stranger walked up to us, Logan would position himself in front of me and wait quietly. As soon as I said “hi” and engaged the person in normal conversation, Logan would relax and accept the stranger as a friend. He really was perfect. The few times that I needed him to be more protective, he was. He really did have nearly perfect temperament.
I was a student at UC Davis then, and Logan went to school with me almost every day. As a little pup, I would lay my coat down on the floor, and he would lie on it and not leave, even if I got up and moved around the room.
When I started work in an automotive repair shop, Logan came to work with me. He was a smart dog, and quickly learned how to deliver parts to the mechanics by name (“take this to Jimmie”), help push in disabled cars, close doors that had been left open, bring shop rags to the mechanics on command and recycle beer cans into the trash can. He did everything for the chance to play tug with a piece of heater hose.
Logan introduced me to the world of competition obedience and Schutzhund. In those days, the general philosophy of training was “don’t let your dog get away with anything.” So while Logan learned scores of behaviours for a chance to play a game of retrieve or tug, it didn’t occur to me that I could use these same games to motivate him in obedience. Instead, I used the traditional methods of praise and collar corrections to teach and reward. After all, obedience is serious stuff!
Logan
Logan of Cheshire CD TD Std s,d
ASCA E-8578
August 17, 1977 – August 14, 1990
Throw the stick!
A thinking dog
Great schutzhund dog, companion and protector. I wish I knew then what I know now.
I was at the feedstore in Davis where I saw a flyer stapled to the bulletin board advertising a litter of Australian shepherd puppies. I had had an Aussie briefly (in my crazy days in Ocean Beach) named “Summer Rain” or Rainy, who was a shy, timid blue merle from the San Diego pound. I ended up giving her to a family that lived next door on Brighton Street who loved her, because my life was just too disconcerting for a timid dog.
But I thought maybe the time was right for an Aussie puppy. I talked with Warren about it, and he said “no, I don’t like Aussies. They bite.” But I talked him into at least taking a look at them…
I called the phone number on the flyer and asked if there were any puppies left. “Yes, there are two, a male and a female, but they’re both black tris” the woman answered. “That’s great” I said. “I want a black tri.”
I had to hold the phone away from my ears because the woman was yelling so loud. “I can’t believe someone actually wants a tri and not a blue merle with one blue eye and it has to be the left one because that’s what my … ” Needless to say, she was pretty happy to hear I wanted a tri colour.
We went over to look at the puppies, and the mother, a tiny little red dog, wasn’t happy that we were there. At one point, when no one was looking, she nailed Warren in the back of the leg. Yep, Aussies bite.
We went out into the back yard to play with the mother, Cedar, and the puppies. Cedar had a spark of intensity that neither Warren nor I had ever seen in a dog. Sure, she had bitten him, but man, was she a neat dog. To this day she’s the smartest dog I’ve ever met. So we took the little male home with us.
We still had a deerhound when we brought Logan home, and I mean no disrespect to sighthounds, but this puppy could think! What fun!
Logan had the inherent herding dog suspicion of strangers, but it was tempered with trust and acceptance. If a stranger walked up to us, Logan would position himself in front of me and wait quietly. As soon as I said “hi” and engaged the person in normal conversation, Logan would relax and accept the stranger as a friend. He really was perfect. The few times that I needed him to be more protective, he was. He really did have nearly perfect temperament.
I was a student at UC Davis then, and Logan went to school with me almost every day. As a little pup, I would lay my coat down on the floor, and he would lie on it and not leave, even if I got up and moved around the room.
When I started work in an automotive repair shop, Logan came to work with me. He was a smart dog, and quickly learned how to deliver parts to the mechanics by name (“take this to Jimmie”), help push in disabled cars, close doors that had been left open, bring shop rags to the mechanics on command and recycle beer cans into the trash can. He did everything for the chance to play tug with a piece of heater hose.
Logan introduced me to the world of competition obedience and Schutzhund. In those days, the general philosophy of training was “don’t let your dog get away with anything.” So while Logan learned scores of behaviours for a chance to play a game of retrieve or tug, it didn’t occur to me that I could use these same games to motivate him in obedience. Instead, I used the traditional methods of praise and collar corrections to teach and reward. After all, obedience is serious stuff!
Logan & Maggie