So yesterday I got Fluke's show numbers for next weekend. We have been trying to get his 3rd leg - the last leg - for his utility title since June of 2007. He has 4 shows in November and I keep saying if he doesn't get it in these 4 shows we are done trying. He is almost 9.5yrs old and honestly most of utility stresses him way too much. I think I need to do right by him and have his senior years filled with what he loves to do. I hate to leave something unfinished...almost feel like we failed, but I try to look at the fact that we did get 2 legs.
When Fluke was less than a year old I was told by a few self called "experts" that Fluke would never be able to get anything! How discouraging! So I guess we've done ok...cgc, cd, cdx, rn and those 2 ud legs...a couple of those people now just shake their heads and wonder! I have always believed in this dog. He loves to work with me but he worries about floors and stuff hanging from walls and noises. Some of his fears we were able to train through but it is just who he is. He was from a backyard breeder, who never brought the pups inside and did not interact with them like he should have...maybe he just didn't know any better. When I brought him home and put him on the kitchen floor he froze (afraid of the floor) and then urinated blood...I wanted to bring him back even called the breeder and he said too bad it is a done deal. The blood in his pee was from a bruise on his you know what - one of the other pups bit him there..ouch!!
Then it was all about what to call him...I remember my sister trying to help me and then with her help it just came out "Some Kind of Fluke" and it made sense. So many people criticized my choice for his name. I always defend it by saving a fluke is a good thing and in my opinion a special thing. Here's the definition:
A
lucky or
improbable occurrence, with the implication that the occurrence could not be repeated.
here's another:
an accidental stroke of luck
Fluke has taught me so much - not just loads about training dogs, but about just letting go and enjoying what you are doing when you are doing it. He's taught me that is ok to love so deeply even though you know one day you will lose that love. He has taught me that somethings you can not change and you just have to accept them. He has made me laugh out loud more than anything in my life.
So I still have hope that we will qualify at one of these 4 shows, but even if we don't I still get to take my best friend home with me and what prize is better than that! I am so thankful that his breeder said it was a "done deal" and would not take him back. I would have missed out on the love of my life - a fluke indeed!
They do...they really do. They love to jump in it, burrow in it, roll in it and yes they love to EAT it!! These pictures are Stella enjoying the snow!
That's Zeus - just a good old boy. Oh he gave me challenges when he was younger and every so often he tries to pull a fast one, but all in all he's just a good dog. He is that dog that everybody wants...he follows you around, goes with the flow, isn't neurotic or hyper, loves people but yet knows when and how to be protective. In his younger years a couple of my old training friends dubbed him the rottie in the yellow coat...he really was a tough teenager especially for a lab - I just can't believe that was over 13 years ago. He is my first official obedience competition dog, my first cgc and my first (and only) therapy dog and also my first and only yellow dog. At 13 years 7 months and 9 days he is officially the oldest dog I have ever had in my life (and there were a lot). Yesterday I was reminded just how much I love this big old dog...I hope he knows just how much.
