Quirks

A friend of mine has a saying, "We're all a bit funny (except you and me!)". The same can be said for the dogs! Every dog has a different personality. Living with our dogs we enjoy their quirks…their idiosyncrasies. LuAnne is perhaps our “quirkiest” girl. She has always been this way, it is just that the idiosyncrasies have evolved over time…some are subtracted, and others added! As a baby when we bait trained her, she would stomp her feet and bark at us to demand the food! This was a very cute habit, but it didn’t last too long. I remember showing her as a puppy, and while she is one of our most correct Shelties, she didn’t have the Sweeps wins of some of our others. Perhaps it was her habit of jumping over cracks in the mat as she gaited, or cutting off the corners…or her problem of gaiting next to a wall! Jumping over the cracks she got over, however her cutting the corners and problems with gaiting next to a wall persisted. We were very lucky at the CSSA National in Winnipeg that the judge watched the dogs on the opposite side of the “wall” or in that case, boards of the hockey rink. As on that side, LuAnne was not gaiting on the mat, but slip sliding along on the concrete in the center of the ring! When we would get to the mat on the short side of the ring and join the others, she’d seem happy to once again be on solid footing and away we’d go…moving nicely along the long mat for the judge! She did take Best of Breed that day, showing well when the judge was watching. She continued that habit right up to her retirement at ASSA 2006. She did show very well outdoors in grass, but the Nationals were always indoors and we'd always hope that the rings were carpeted!

Now the anxiety with footing isn’t restricted to show rings. LuAnne is like that in our home. There wasn’t a problem at our previous house, as it was mostly carpeted. It is when we moved to Fox Hill. Our home has tile floor, save for a small area carpet in the living room. LuAnne will race for that carpet as if it is an island in an ocean of sharks! Sometimes to get from the bedroom to outside, she’ll hop from sofa to sofa and then run as fast as she can until she gets into the garage! If there is something blocking the corner to the laundry room, she won't go any further...it has to be all in one shot! Once there you can see the relief on her face! The other thing about LuAnne is, and perhaps this is her best “quirk”, is she is the one in most need of love and affection of our group. There could never be enough contact for her! She loves being hugged and scratched. We adore LuAnne, for all her eccentricity!