A Well Rounded Dog

One thing I was expecting during our Winter of Herding was for Haku to hurt himself. Herding across uneven ground with stumps and holes and trenches – I was sure he was going to at least slice open a pad. But no, we managed to go through the entire break with no issues at all. Then we went to the park this week and he comes up lame – go figure.

Not entirely sure what the issue is, I want to say wrist. But he’s been wrapped in Back on Track paraphernalia for the last couple days, I found his old wrist wraps and everything. He does seem better, but the test will be when do some herding tomorrow whether it was just a tweak or something that is going to take longer to heal. So we shall see if we make it to the trial this weekend, I was really banking on fixing all our issues in two practices we have between now and then! Just hope he’s feeling back to 100%, poor little guy. Though he does look like a cute 80s dancer in his wrist wraps and jacket.

Set up some fun courses for classes this week based on the ISC class at Rose City, a lot of running. I’m out of practice! Dogs did great though, I’m happy with their skills when I cue them correctly. Our issues were just pretty much me, unfortunately. I always hate being the weak link. I will say we do not have a verbal turn away with me really far behind and they can’t see me.

I also have a new papillon I’ve been running in classes, and will theoretically run in some trials at some point. Fun little girl, and very secure, not at all worried about where her mum is, just happy to play with me. Lovely skills, nice independence so easy to run for the most part. SO different to run a tiny dog! If I ever ran across a small dog that spoke to me I’d definitely get another, but there is no particular breed out there that is calling my name to go actively look for one. A lot of advantages to a smaller dog though!

Some random video – see, we can still do agility!

Been practicing obedience recalls with Navarre, just in a surprise, random, one or two off kind of way. They are much improved in this sort of presentation. Going to enter a fun match in February to see if we’ve improved with them. They were our weak area at the last match. Also need to get some opportunities for group stays to make sure he doesn’t start sitting pretty again. He looks good though, and honestly seems to be enjoying obedience training. I think that’s about right, it takes about 4 years for a dog to be ready to compete in obedience. It’s not about the behaviors, but the mental pressure. Really happy how responsive and happy he’s become about the exercises. His pivot to heel is fricken adorable.

Love the age that Navarre is at, and fun that he has so many activities that enjoys and is pretty good at. Never had a dog that could do so many. Fenwick could DO all the activities – all the activities did not want Fenwick though. The barking kicked us out of his rally/obedience career, and Fenwick thought flyball was stupid, though we did it for many years. London did many things, and I’m glad we had his late in life obedience career – but he definitely found it stupid when he was younger, and herding was one of the hardest things for him and his pressure sensitivity. London loved agility, all other activities were extraneous in his mind, for the most part – though he probably would have been happy to keep flyball. Haku has done many things, but has not been particularly good at any of them, and just one activity at a time. Which is not a requirement to having fun! Navarre is my first dog that actually enjoys and can train in multiple activities without any big issues. It’s novel.

As to how far he’ll actually go in any of them, that’s another question. Assuming we actually trial enough, I’m sure he could do a lot in agility, nothing holding him back but the occasional running around jumps and a handler that is attempting to run him like he’s a tight turning dog (which he most definitely is not!). Obedience we shall see how he handles the environment, but I really do assume he’ll be a hell of a lot easier than the ever erratic Haku. And herding, well, the herding people really seem to think he could do well – if he had a good handler. Whether I will ever be that handler is a whole other question, but I have Haku to practice on before I attempt to ruin Navarre. We shall see. Just fun to have a dog that we can do all the things I’m interested in, with no particular issues that we have to overcome.

I guess the unfortunate part about having a dog like Navarre that is all stable, easy to train, easy to live with, gets along with everyone and has a lot of hobbies is that he may be setting unrealistic expectations for the next puppy. They don’t all come that way. Some dogs don’t want to do any activities, are not easy to live with, don’t deal well in public, hard to train and don’t get along like a giant floppy puppy with everyone. Heck, Navarre is even the world’s most perfect intact dog – he’s got all the benefits with none of the drawbacks. Well, assuming you don’t actually want sperm.

He’s going to be a hard act to follow, my Navarre. Yet, let’s us remember, I don’t care one bit that my other dogs are not as ‘well rounded’ as Navarre, I love them for who they are wouldn’t change a thing. Heck, Haku is totally my favorite, he’s terrible to train, the hardest to live with and kind of structural mess. Bring home the puppy you love and the rest will take care of itself. It’s only when you’re thinking about theoretical puppies is that we start getting all wrapped up in finding the perfect dog with all these mythical qualities. And then, sometimes, you get a Bright – who I would never have picked out in a million years, and I didn’t even like her as a puppy, and I adore that girl now beyond reason and I never expected her to do a damn thing. The perfect puppy will present themselves and it will all just feel right. But they damn well better be nice to my cats.