The John Wayne Of The Dog World

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166 – November/December, 2024

By Lee Connor

I always try, wherever possible, to give a personal account of the breeds I cover; and I first encountered this particular breed back in 1992, when they were still relatively unknown in the UK.

A gorgeous, teddy bear-like puppy suddenly turned up in my village. It belonged to a newly moved-in family. The woman had three unruly, school-age children and a new baby, and the little pup was basically allowed to run wild with the children in the large front yard.

I assumed the pup to be a Giant Schnauzer and he was absolutely adorable, bounding up to the fence as you passed, yapping away.

Adorable, even amusing, when a little baby, but his behavior remained completely unchecked and as he rapidly grew out of his cuddly, chunky, baby gorgeousness into a big, leggy adolescent, passing the garden became something of an ordeal.

He would come bounding over the once neatly kept front garden (which had quickly turned into a dustbowl) barking at anyone passing.

His owner would yell commands and threats to the barking dog from the doorstep–all to no avail.

His puppyhood friends, the family children–now bored with their (by now huge and very shaggy) ex-playmate–had also abandoned him.

Eventually he was given to a retired man in the village who had trained police dogs.

The transformation in this dog was staggering to witness.

Click here to read the complete article
166 – November/December, 2024

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=309720

Posted by AnthonyA on Nov 20 2024. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.