Troy and the day I broke my leg

Hi Ray. Great you are working on a new book! Here is my story. Troy was a Christmas present from our children He was born on Dec. 25, 2005 in Canada and had to travel when he was 9 weeks old all the way from there to the Caribbean. He made the 10 hour flight remarkably well and we soon discovered that he was a strong alpha dog. As there are no dog training courses on our little island I started looking for good information about how to train him and Dog Training Mastery, an owners manual by Ray Coleiro turned out to be a great alternative. We started training right away. It was so much fun and it although we have to be patient but we enjoy it. Troy is now six month old and the training has become much easier. He isn’t distracted so much anymore and he is listening most of the time! On July 19th I decided to take Troy on our daily morning hike in the rainforest. This hike takes normally 45 minutes with 10 minutes training at the end of the trail. When we had been hiking for about five minutes I slipped on some rocks and broke my leg. My foot was making an angle of ninety degrees and is was quite obvious that I couldn’t walk anymore. I was too far away from the main-road to be able to call someone so I had to push myself back up the trail. Troy first thought that it was a great idea to sit down and play with him and he jumped on me. I told him to be careful and he looked like he understood right away. He sat down next to me and listened to my sad story. Than he started running up and down the trail to see if he could find someone. He stayed close to me all the time that it took me to get closer to the main-road. Finally I was close enough to hear a car stopping and after yelling loudly I was saved. Can you imagine how good it looks when a bed with white sheets and pillows comes to you on the trail. Six strong man carried me in the ambulance and while I was air carried to the hospital in Sint Maarten Troy went with my savior to our house where friends took care of him. It wasn’t a nice experience but our puppy Troy made it so much easier for me, thanks to training and just because he is a great dog!

Labs learn fast

I used to have two dogs one Sadie who was just a young chocolate lab puppy and a collie named Penny who was 5 at the time. Now Penny just LOVED to dig lots of holes in our back yard ,she would digg from dawn to dusk and sleep durring the night. Sadie who was the opposite of Penny was an indoor dog but we would let her out durring the day to play with penny and run around in the 3 fields we own. Sadie was a puppy was learning manny new things especialy from Penny. One day i went outside to call sadie in for supper and feed penny but i could not find Sadie. So i got my mom, dad and brother to help me look.We looked and looked and looked until my Dad noticed how penny keep on whining and runing to the chicken house and back to him. My dad called us all back to the chicken house and we all stood there quitly and then we heard sadie whining. But we still couldn’t figure out were she was. She wasn’t inside of the chicken house or around it. Until i found a small puppysized hole right behind a bush leading UNDER the chicken house! I called my family over and imediatly my dad and brother found shovels and started digging. Then finnaly we got her out. Later we figured out what she must have done. She must have digged a hole and kept on digging forwards and downward untill she got tired and tried to get out but she could’nt turn around or back up because of the dirt she left behind while digging. We were all amazed she learned to dig so fast and deep. Our chocolate lab puppy sure learned fast and we are all happy we got her out of there and we always keep a close eye on her now. Sadie is now 11 and still digging and Penny sadly died of old age in her sleep at age 13.

I was born in a wee place called Kilkeel and came to be with my present owner Jackie Redmond when she came along with her aunt who was looking for a girl puppy.  I gave her those sad puppy dog eyes and she ended up taking me to my new home in Banbridge. Things where going fine until one day I noticed that my new mum wasn’t about for a couple of days. Then one day I was put in the car for what seemed like a very long ride; I had no idea where we were going. When we stopped I was carried into this big strange building with a funny smell only to find my mum in an odd looking chair with wheels on it. I couldn’t wait to rush up to my mum and give her lots of kisses and she gave me loving hugs, but then it was time to go and I was very unhappy that she didn’t come with us. I later found out that the place was called a hospital. Not soon after my mum was home with me again and things were well my mum started to play and teach me a lot of new tricks like sit, down and give paws. Then mum took me to this building where a strange man stood in the middle and told everyone what to do which I was told was obedience. Who did he think I was? I was obedient and I always did what was asked of me. One day my mum took me to this big field and there was lots of funny looking things in it which I heard them say was Agility equipment and I had to learn how to do it.  I didn’t mind as it was fun and it kept me fit jumping over those things called jumps and a dog walk and a thing called an A ramp as well as a tunnel and, oh yes, a seesaw; yes those were good times and we all had fun.

Then our neighbour asked my mum if she would like to try me at retrieving for him at the local shoot and my mum started to train me to pick things up which I had already been doing for her but this was different. We went along to see what it was all about and I soon got involved retrieving whatever he shot, from hedges or water.  But there was a problem - my mum didn’t like to take them from me and even wore gloves so she didn’t have to handle them as some were still alive. We did this for a couple of shooting seasons but mum never liked it so we never went back.

Suddenly it happened! One day my mum came home with a small black thing under her arm and told me it was my baby sister! Yes, a new black Labrador puppy called Tina. Well, things where a little hectic for a while but between us we soon got her sorted into shape and I was happy learning my agility. It wasn’t much later, September 1997 I think, that I had my first competition win in starters and I also had a 4th place in Novice that day as well. Things went from strength to strength for me in my agility and it kept me out of doing obedience which my new sister was now doing as she was always at mum’s side no matter where we went.

1999 was a good year for mum and me in Agility. At one show I even took three firsts at Castlereagh and all in all it was a good time. Then it happened again! Another black puppy (Sophie) arrived and I knew I had to do something special to keep mum wanting to spend time with me and not those girls. On 18th September 1999 I got lots of attention and praise when I won Northern Ireland Agility, Senior and Jumping Dog of the Year and my mum was very proud of me winning all three. It was the start of a run of major prizes for us and we kept getting into the top four or five which isn’t bad for a Labrador when there are so many collies in the sport.

Halloween 2001 was a bad time for me as I got really ill with some kind of poisoning and it was so bad my mum had to sleep on the floor with me at night to make sure I was O.K. But after a while I pulled through it and in late November  was given the chance to become the next “Lassie”. Well maybe not that famous, but I did play a major part in the “Annie” production of the local choral society Christmas play; don’t anyone say that I am a scruffy dog; I was just acting of course. 

Things went well for a couple of years until one day in May 2002 we were running a course when I got in my mum’s way and she fell and broke a weave pole and I knew I had to do something special to make it up to her. Well, it just so happened it was the day of the first ever standard dogs Championship Agility to be held in N. Ireland into which I had been entered along with some local dogs and a couple of Scottish one’s. We had to do a round of jumping and a round of Agility and the dog with the quickest and clearest round won, which to everyone’s surprise I did but I am not sure if I did the right thing as it only made my mum cry. That night we went to Scotland to compete in another championship show at the SKC only I was beaten into fourth place by three collies.

Mum told me later that I had to go to England and compete because of that win and I would be up against fourteen collies, so off we went to this big place called Crufts. It was full of people and I found it very hard to move around as the people kept trying to push past us. On the Saturday, the competition started and it was nice to get out and do something. We had to do two rounds again and all I am going to say is that I didn’t let my mum or myself down. We finished tenth which isn’t bad for a Labrador who was pushing nine.

Things were going well except that my sister Tina, who was trying to do Agility, had to give it up and become a lady of leisure as she was told she had a heart problem and couldn’t do it any more. My other sister Sophie was starting to get the hang of it but was a wee bit fussy on learning it; I on the other hand was still working away with my mum and still producing good results.

In May 2004 it happened again. My mum and dad came home with what I thought was a wee brown toy but it turned out it was another girl Labrador (Tara)  and she’s a chocolate one who has turned into an elephant  as she is bigger than me and keeps all hell going.

In September 2004 we were at the two day show in Lisburn and at the end of the first day’s fun at which I had won a rosette or two, my mum and dad were up the field playing and chasing the ball. When I went in to get it I got up but there was something wrong with one of my back legs so I went down again and when I tried to get up again I couldn’t, so my dad carried me which I don’t like anyone doing. The next thing I know I was on the back seat of the car with my mum and she was crying while dad drove. We arrived at a strange building which I later found out to be a vets and he looked me all over and stuck needles in me and put me into a cage where my mum left me. It turned out that I had dislocated a disc and had to have a big rest and take medication, but the worse thing was that the vet told my mum that I would not be able to do agility any more. After some rest and special treatment by mum, I am now fully recovered and am able to go on walks with all my sisters and even go swimming and running on the beach with them, although mum keeps a sharp eye on me.

The sad thing is I cannot do Agility anymore and have to watch my sister Sophie compete who I am very proud of as she is doing it quite well but oh how I wish it was me, still I suppose at  eleven I should sit back and enjoy my retirement like all old gentlemen.