F E AT U R E A RT I C L E our future. Blackberry would lick the tears from my cheeks. He got it. He understood I needed him – and he was my rock, the strong set of shoulders I needed to cry on. Blackberry was always there for me. A friend who lived close by built a new training facility and was offering obedience, rally, and agility classes. In the past, her daughter had used Blackberry as a Junior Showmanship dog for a short time. The girl and Blackberry made a great team, and she moved up quickly earning a dog of her own and leaving Blackberry without a “juniors” job. My friend knew my situation and insisted that I bring Blackberry to a beginning obedience class. She said I owed it to him to give him a chance since he had to spend so much time at home alone. She promised if he didn’t like it, she would never mention it again. So I went, and Blackberry loved it. He was incredibly food motivated, loved the one-on-one attention, was eager to please me and he actually was darned good at the obedience exercises. The house sold. Most of my belongings were sent to storage and Blackberry and I moved in with my mother. Mom made her house as dog-friendly as she could and welcomed Blackberry and me home. Blackberry settled right in and within a matter of days he had turned Mom into a “dog person.” The two of them spent days together on the sofa watching TV. She talked to him just like he was a person. I think she enjoyed the companionship as much as he did I began showing Blackberry in Rally Novice B, and he excelled. That year, he was the #1 GWP Rally Novice B dog, the #1 Sporting Group Rally Novice B dog, and the #2 All Breed Rally Novice B dog. On top of that, he won High In Trial at the GWPCA National Specialty Obedience Trial. Suddenly there was light and happiness back in my life - I was moving on and enjoying life again, thanks to Blackberry. My friend and instructor urged me to continue with him and give him a try at agility. AGILITY? Seriously? There was no way Blackberry was going to have anything to do with all of that equipment, climbing and jumping. After all, he was getting a late start at this sport – he was already seven years old. He took right to agility, loved it, and even learned the teeter-totter easily. After a few months of training, he was ready to enter his first agility trial. All of those months of training paid off. In two weekends he earned the two agility titles we were aiming for.
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©2013 GWPCA
We had one more goal left. The Golden Jubilee GWPCA Nationals were to be held at Rend Lake, IL, not far from our home. My plan was to show him in obedience and rally advanced and excellent, and that would be where he would retire. I held no big expectations. I just wanted to show him one last time. Before our trip we just brushed up on his obedience training – we didn’t really train. When we went in the ring, I had a hard time keeping my emotions in check and so I had no idea what a great job he had done. He won his class and scored 198 1/2 (out of 200) for another Nationals Obedience High In Trial He also won Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent. Blackberry retired in style! I couldn’t have dreamed of ending his career any better. As we loaded up for the trip home, Blackberry climbed to his usual spot in the passenger seat up front, but he seemed a little concerned about the airline kennel in the back seat. Inside was a Wirehair puppy who was going home with us. I’m sure he had no idea that she would be staying. Blackberry was just settling into retirement when my grandmother moved into an assisted care facility. She had not been there long when he stepped back into his role as a Delta Therapy Dog. Without missing a beat, he visits a few special friends at the facility, but now he tires more easily. Though my other Wirehair “Cougar” is transitioning into the full-time therapy dog at the facility Blackberry is still their favorite. On June 30th, Blackberry turned 11 years old. The facility is hosted a birthday party for Blackberry and what better way was there than to celebrate his birthday eating cake with 50 of his “special friends”? Blackberry brought me back from the brink of despair, and taught me many life lessons. He has opened doors for me that I never thought I’d go through, and as always, given me unconditional love. Blackberry is truly my best friend and my soul-mate, and I can’t bear to think about life without him. I have frozen semen from him and I hope someday I’ll have a Blackberry puppy. I know that when I look at that puppy’s face, I will see a twinkle in his eye and I’ll know that he knows how special his dad was and that he has some really big paw-prints to fill! I think God kept Blackberry in my life for a reason – he was not the dog I thought I wanted – but I’ll never again question why I was “stuck” with him. Blackberry, you are my hero. JOB WELL DONE.