Callee
I’m
a volunteer for GSRAW who specializes in working-line dogs (my
“outside” interests are Schutzhund training and herding). Those of us
involved in GSD rescue have been seeing more and more working dogs coming
into our foster homes over the years, often surrendered by people who got
hold of a lot more dog than they bargained for. The working German
Shepherd is a very special animal… having been bred over the decades to
serve humanity in a wide variety of functions, from herding to SWAT teams
to search and rescue. These dogs come “loaded” with drive and ready to
go to work.
And
they MUST be given a job to do.
Callee
is the prototypical working German Shepherd--with, I suspect, some Belgian
Shepherd in her as well. She had bounced from place to place in her short
life of 15 months, usually wearing out her welcome quickly due to her
inability to settle down and act like a "normal dog.” I knew about
her only from secondhand information—she was the dog that couldn’t
seem to keep a home. Finally she wound up with a man who claimed he had
trained working dogs before. Next thing we knew, she was slated to be
euthanized. Two rescue volunteers drove to Illinois to pick her up before
it could happen.
I
first saw Callee that weekend and it was love at first sight. I loved the
way she came bounding out of the van with a manic grin on her face, her
paws hardly even touching the ground as she flew around the yard greeting
everyone and simultaneously checking everything out. She had a wonderful
temperament and absolutely phenomenal drive. And, although I had not
planned on getting another dog in the near future—my retired male
Schutzhund dog is only eight years old—I knew that Callee and I belonged
together. She was the kind of dog I like to work with and I had no doubt
that it was just a matter of finding out the type of job she wanted to do.
It
didn’t take long. Before the weekend was even over I had already noticed
something about Cal: When I would take her outside, her nose would hit the
ground and stay there. She would literally pull me along the pavement with
her nose practically plowing a furrow. I mentioned this to noted trainer Ed
Frawley and he said, “Sounds
like you have a real find. I am way way way more impressed with a dog that
can track like this than a dog that can do good gripwork” (that was my
hunch all along, but it felt good to hear it from such an authority…)
Three months have gone by and I’ve had a great time
with Callee. She has her basic obedience down now and we’ve started
working on the more advanced stuff in preparation for her competing for
the BH title (a compulsory obedience title / temperament test a dog must
pass before competing in Schutzhund or Schutzhund tracking activities).
Although hard-headed like most great working dogs, Cal has been a quick
study and (after a breaking-in period <g>) shows a real willingness
to please. I’ve also started her formal training in tracking and will
take her soon for her herding instinct test.
That dogs like Callee wind up in rescue at all never
ceases to amaze me. It’s a sad commentary on our society and on our
growing insistence that even working breeds of animals conform to sedate
standards of behavior.
Pete Felknor