Shadow
is a 6 year old black typical loveable Labrador, he is so patient and just
loves being around people, he follows me around the garden and pushes his head
into my arms for cuddles every chance he gets, but also knows when I am busy
with something and patiently waits for a gap.
When
one of our older dogs passed away I decided to get a dog that I can do
competitive obedience with, I always loved German Shepherds but my family
wasn’t too keen as they didn’t want an
aggressive dog and German Shepherds have a reputation of being aggressive. I
realized that I was not going to persuade them so started researching other
breeds and all over the internet and books, Labradors came up as very intelligent, willing
to work and excelling in obedience, so I opted for a Labby, but if I didn’t get
the breed I wanted I am at least getting the colour I wanted, black that is, I
liked the black Labs and starting searching for black Lab pups.
I
eventually found black Lab puppies for sale in the newspaper, but it was not
from a registered breeder but rather it was either a back yard breeder or
someone whose dog became pregnant and now they have to get rid of the pups,
anyhow I had to go and fetch my pup in another town about an hour’s drive away
from where I lived and when we got there the pups were playing outside, the
people selling them didn’t even come out and sent their child out at which
point the pups all scrambled inside the doghouse, the boy grabbed the male pup
(the only black one left) and handed him over, I gave him a quick check over
and he looked healthy enough and that is how I got Shadow. Shadow slept all the
way back to the house and when we got home I introduced him to Menchi, when
poor Menchi got closer to give him a sniff Shadow gave a cry that sounded like
he was being murdered or tortured and Menchi got such a fright that he just
turned and ran away refusing to come close to Shadow for the next couple of
days. I must just add that to this day Menchi
is not as fond of Shadow as what Shadow is of Menchi. Shadow just loves
Menchi, he always checks where Menchi is and if he goes somewhere he makes sure Menchi is with, lies with him and
faffs over him whereas Menchi just ignores Shadow or barks at him as if he is
telling him off and does not often play
with him.
I
soon realized that Shadow was a very quiet puppy, didn’t play a lot and he was
not very naughty, actually he was not naughty at all no digging and chewing or
any of the usual puppy stuff, I thought I was lucky. Well now I know a naughty
puppy is a healthy puppy, poor Shadow had severe hip dysplasia and because of
his bad hips he also had a Hernia in the groin from his hips pulling away,
fortunately we picked it up early on and went to the vet, which informed us
that the X-ray alone would be expensive and the operation would be an
exorbitant amount, they do not accept paying for the treatment in monthly
installments or anything in that regard and the only other option would be
euthanasia, I was quite shocked but couldn’t afford the treatment right off the
bat but was not prepared to euthanize him, having just lost another dog and
also one earlier from old age so I took him back home feeling very distraught,
my mother thank goodness for her decided there has to be another way and
started phoning around until she found that the SPCA in Johannesburg has a
clinic, so we got the consultation times and off we went, they were brilliant
the place was clean and professional, the veterinarians were both older
experienced and new ones fresh from the university, the vet that helped us was
an ex-military vet that worked in the military’s dog breeding center and
explained hip dysplasia to us very thoroughly, he took an X-ray of Shadow’s
hips and showed us exactly what was wrong and that it was not a very good
prognoses as both hips were in a bad state, luckily Shadow was not 8 months old
yet so they decided to operate and remove the femoral head (the ball shaped
part of the leg bone that fits into the hip) and then the tendons would grow
around that joint so as to take the place
of that ball joint, they will also only do the one hip but if Shadow is
suffering they would then do the other one as well, poor Shadow had to go
straight into hospital, unlike other vets if they decide to do something it
gets done immediately, no making appointments first. He had to stay in the hospital for about a
week, I could phone every day to check on his progress and wait for the Ok for
his release, finally they said I could fetch him the next day and I was
understandably very excited. When we got there and all the paperwork and
payment (it only cost about a quarter of
what my vet charged and they fixed his hernia and neutered him)was done I headed towards the kennels, shame the
guy walking with me said Shadow cried the whole time and sure as nuts when we
got closer to him I could hear him crying I just sped up and got to him as fast as I could, when he
saw me he started crying louder but now it was more like excitement and I must
admit I cried a little, still get a little teary when thinking of it. The vet
explained again he won’t be able to walk on his paw for a while but after about
three months he should start even if we have to force him by putting a sock
with a tennis ball on his other paw so that he can’t put weight on it,
otherwise some dogs just never want to put weight on the operated leg. His
recovery went well and thankfully he has
a full life running , playing and even digging, an unknowing person would never
guess he has bad hips.
Due
to the HP (hip dysplasia) our agility career was out of the question as he
would never be allowed to jump and our
obedience career had a late start, but he caught up quickly and we flew through
elementary obedience and beginners with first and second places and happily
advanced to novice obedience and there we got stuck, as good as what Shadow was
he lagged in his heelwork and was slow going out with his dumbbell and fast
coming back, so every time I lost a lot of marks and I got a bit frustrated. I realized that
when Shadow learned something he never
unlearned it and because of his hip
issues I let him start up slower than other dogs when we started with heelwork
and thus he learned to lag, eventually he was so used to lagging that it didn’t
matter if I went fast or slow he would just keep the same pace, his stays and
recalls were perfect and he also always
fetched the dumbbell but would wander to the dumbbell and then run back,
if he would just walk out and back or run out and back I would not have lost
marks but no that’s how he did it and so every show was the same. Eventually I
just gave up and decided to stop going to shows and rather tried working on our
problems.
I
can see why they use Labradors for service dogs if you teach them something and
they click it, it is in their heads for life! I also decided Shadow is the dog
version of Adrian Monk from the T.V series of Mr. Monk, he has so many quirks
like he has to have something in his mouth when we go somewhere especially the
garden, my mom calls it his pacifier. If he cannot find something close by to
pick up, he would obsessively look for something, it could be anything, a
stick, toy,rock anything! Another issue he has is that he would decide he
cannot walk over a certain spot on the ground and then navigate in big circles
to get to the other side of the spot, but despite all of that he is the most
loving, patient dog and is a real social butterfly. I know I made a lot of
mistakes with Shadow, firstly on how I bought him, I know now that was not the
best way to acquire a puppy and that I could have avoided a lot of the
problems if I got a puppy from a proper
reputable breeder but then on the other hand I would not have gotten Shadow
which I would not exchange for any other dog and he would have ended up with
owners that may not have been so
determined as what I was and he would have been euthanized or just left to live
a life of pain, so for me it worked out fine although I don’t think I would do
it again. The other mistake is with his training, he was my first real
obedience training dog and I recognize a lot of mistakes I made just to name a
few, not using food as an aid to
training thinking he would do it out of
love, well he would but not as enthusiastic as with food,I know there are still
some members at the club that has that idea, well to each his own. Letting him get away with lagging and how
important timing is, so I will always be grateful to Shadow for teaching me as
much as what I thought I taught him and being there through all my
tribulations, I am still learning and consider myself as a newbie but I know a
little more now, every day I learn.
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