NWPBanner
Welcome! NWPphotoforum.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Who Woulda Thunk? #37052
10/29/11 09:10 AM
10/29/11 09:10 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Jim Garvie Offline OP
Addict
Jim Garvie  Offline OP
Addict

Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
I've discussed how difficult it is to pick what a puppy is going to grow up to be yet that's exactly what breeders try to do with each litter. Here's a photo that shows Rowdy at 12 weeks of age when he arrived by plane from North Carolina and one of him at 10 years of age. Who woulda thunk that that scrawny, light-eyed puppy would grow up to be A/C/UCI Int'l CH Loral's Der Terminator CGC, TT, HIC, TDI/Delta Certified Therapy Dog?



I'd also like to point out that several "friends" and "experts" looked at Rowdy at 12 weeks of age and basically said "that's a terrible puppy. Send him back to the breeder." When Rowdy arrived on that plane, he came out of his crate and onto my shoulder and we both knew he'd never leave. His "transformation" was God's work; not ours. All we provided was a good home with tons of love. As he matured, we realized that Rowdy had a very special gift -- not in terms of looks or unique athletic ability but in terms of his temperament. He was truly bullet-proof. So we started his Therapy Dog work: we structured a school-education program in cooperation with our friend Dr. Jane Leon where we'd teach children how to deal with large, potentially dangerous dogs in a playground or public environment. And, of course, we also taught them that not all large black & tan dogs are dangerous despite what the image the media has created. Here's a photo of Rowdy doing one of his "Doggie Education" visits in 2001. He loved the children and they, obviously, loved him.



He also provided love in children's cancer wards at the Arnold Palmer Hospital here in Orlando and with special-needs children -- MS, MD, Autistic. His skill was an almost magical empathy -- an ability to understand who needed him most and give them the emotional support they needed. Those types of skills are certainly more than skin deep and vastly more important than how handsome a dog is. And it takes a lot longer than 8 weeks to discover those talents. Here's hoping whichever boy we decide to keep can follow Rowdy's footsteps in Therapy.

Jim


Jim Garvie
www.jagphoto.biz
Re: Who Woulda Thunk? [Re: Jim Garvie] #37055
10/29/11 10:19 AM
10/29/11 10:19 AM
Joined: Jun 2011
San Antonio, TX
FretlessD Offline
Journeyman
FretlessD  Offline
Journeyman

Joined: Jun 2011
San Antonio, TX
Jim,

I don't envy you in the decision you and your wife have to make. You have a great litter and your final choice will be "splitting hairs" since the boys all show great potential.

Don't sell yourselves short. Yes, Rowdy was special and maybe his temperament was God given. But it was the love and attention given that created his human bond.

In my years of training dogs, I learned that probably the most important period of a dog's development occurs during weeks 9-16... the imprinting period. It is then that the bond (human, dog, or none) are developed according to the amount of interaction during that period. If one gives a puppy the ability to spend unlimited time with another dog, it will bond to that dog. If however, one limits the interaction insuring that the human is the primary, the dog will bond to the owner and seek the attention of humans more than a dog's. I learned this the wrong way (anecdotally) with my second dog and correctly with my following pups.

Surely the attention and human interaction you gave Rowdy early on laid the foundation for his therapy excellence. Whichever puppy you choose, the road ahead will be filled with the joys and benefits of the human-animal bond.

Good luck, Doug


FOR THE LOVE OF DOG!!!
Re: Who Woulda Thunk? [Re: FretlessD] #37064
10/29/11 02:49 PM
10/29/11 02:49 PM
Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Jim Garvie Offline OP
Addict
Jim Garvie  Offline OP
Addict

Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Thanks Doug. We've always tried to bond our Rottie puppies as much to us during those first 8 weeks as their mom so that they would want human interaction. Because mom Juneau got a little tired of this crew fairly early :(we've had an even more intense bonding with these puppies and it shows when they meet other people. Plus, we've had the joy of Moxie -- our Juneau daughter from a previous breeding -- who adores the puppies and has worked her little nub off to give them the canine affection they need. We know there is no wrong answer with the boys. And we're anxious to be able to focus all our attention and training on just one puppy and get the other dogs in the house the kind of attention they deserve.

Jim


Jim Garvie
www.jagphoto.biz
Re: Who Woulda Thunk? [Re: Jim Garvie] #37069
10/29/11 11:01 PM
10/29/11 11:01 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Manhattan, New York, New York
James Morrissey Offline
I
James Morrissey  Offline
I
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Feb 2005
Manhattan, New York, New York
Hey Jim,

That's a pretty amazing story. So, if you don't really know how things are going to turn out at 12 weeks (or whatever), what are your big determining factors? For example, if others were saying "Send Rowdy back..." what intangible things made you say, "That's my guy?" Also, what does that mean for this crop?

Cheers
James

Re: Who Woulda Thunk? [Re: James Morrissey] #37083
10/30/11 11:00 AM
10/30/11 11:00 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
Jim Garvie Offline OP
Addict
Jim Garvie  Offline OP
Addict

Joined: Mar 2005
Florida
James,
for us, there was never a chance that we'd send a puppy back unless it had real temperament issues. When Rowdy came out of the crate and onto my shoulder, I fell in love and he was going to be our dog for his entire life. Regardless of whether or not he developed into a show dog. However, to put it in context, Rowdy had dug into a fire-ant mound the week before he came to us and his body was covered with scars, his eye was almost yellow due to the stress of the bites. He was not a very pretty puppy smile. Some of the people who looked at him could only see the flaws. Some felt we should have gotten a better-looking puppy. But when we showed him to the handler we used here in Orlando -- one of the top Rottie handlers in the country -- he looked at him stacked, watched him move and said "he moves great which means he's structurally correct. As for the rest, let him grow up and let's see what he becomes." So, that's what we did.

At 7 months of age, Rowdy went into his first show with our friend and primary handler, Kimm McDowell. The show was in Miami and it was a Rottweiler Specialty. Rowdy won his Sweepstakes class, won his Regular Class and then went into Winners. It was his first show and he couldn't understand why he was the last dog in line so he spent the entire time in Winners trying to catch the Open Dog at the front of the line. The crowd kept cheering for him and he kept flying after that lead dog. The judge, Mr. George Heitzman, was so charmed that he awarded Rowdy Reserve Winners Dog -- to a 5-pt. major. At that moment, any question about whether he was a show dog had been definitively answered.

Ten years later, we showed Rowdy at the Louisville Cluster. The judge was once again George Heitzman. Rowdy was competing as a Veteran and he was competing in Best Of Breed against 3 dogs that had earned Best In Show honors that previous year. Mr. Heitzman selected him for an Award Of Merit and, after the photo had been taken, we told Mr. Heitzman that he had given Rowdy the RWD at his very first show. George, a grizzled ex-Army guy, growled "I didn't give him the AOM because I felt sorry for some old dog. I gave it to him because he's a damn fine show dog." A few months later, George Heitzman passed away. He was a damned fine judge.

Here's a composite of Rowdy's Sweepstakes photo from that first show and his AOM photo with Mr. Heitzman.



James, nobody can tell what a puppy will become. You look at them at a moment in time and sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong. But, for us, the puppy we pick will become as good a dog as he can. Whether or not he's a show dog is up to somebody else. And, ultimately, who cares? Being a show dog does not make a great dog. But there are some great dogs that have been excellent show dogs. Hopefully, one of these boys will be one of them.

Jim


Jim Garvie
www.jagphoto.biz
Re: Who Woulda Thunk? [Re: Jim Garvie] #37084
10/30/11 12:40 PM
10/30/11 12:40 PM
Joined: Oct 2009
Wisconsin
Welshfilly Offline
Tracker
Welshfilly  Offline
Tracker

Joined: Oct 2009
Wisconsin
I sure enjoyed reading this story, thanks for sharing it and the photos.

Polly

Last edited by Welshfilly; 10/30/11 12:40 PM.


Who's Online Now
0 registered members (), 559 guests, and 2 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
CTiefisher, DrSuse BlueDevil, airphotog, dwilson7878, carters paul
3317 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums6
Topics627
Posts989
Members3,317
Most Online629
Dec 4th, 2019

Copyright 2005 - 2020 Nature, Wildlife, and Pet Photography Forum. "NWPPhotoforum" and "nwpphotoforum.com" are the property of Nature, Wildlife, and Pet Photography Forum. All Rights Reserved. Wild Coyote Studio, New York Pet Photographer

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1
(Release build 20190129)
PHP: 5.6.40-1+hw4 Page Time: 0.039s Queries: 14 (0.013s) Memory: 0.9168 MB (Peak: 1.9688 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-29 07:46:27 UTC