All Doors Are Open

AKC/ASCA CH Rista I Got My Stetson of Coolmoor

 We have so many doors before us to explore with Stetson.   I have been working with him and learning about him this week and trying to decide what we should consider pursuing together in addition to running.

Naturally, I am curious to see if he has good herding instinct.  I just can't imagine having a gorgeous dog like this in my home and not finding out if what he was bred to do makes him tick.  We have a date with Amy and some livestock next Sunday.  She is his co-breeder and has had him at her home for the past year and a half or so.  Luckily, she also has livestock and hopefully enough patience to guide Stetson and I through the very raw beginning of this adventure.  I'm okay if he doesn't have the right stuff for the job, I'm actually used to finding an alternative for a dog that just didn't get turned on by the job they were bred to do.  But I'm terribly excited to find out what's behind that particular door.

I stood at the back door earlier this week and watched him shoot across the yard like a bolt of lightening after a squirrel on the fence and had to pick my jaw up from the floor.  He is gorgeous when he moves.  He'll never have the opportunity to run full out with me on the other end of the leash.  It's not humanly possible to run that fast, not even for a minute.  Dave and I talked about the possibilities of an activity that would give him the opportunity to use his body and speed like that.  We thought of agility of course, and I'm tossing around finding someone who can meet him and evaluate a possibility for some Frisbee play.  I just can't help myself when I see a beautiful dog in motion, it is stimulating and relaxing at the same time for me.  I need to pursue that at some level and find a way to give him an opportunity to use that beauty (besides squirrel hunter).

Stetson has a great stand - I mean it is solid.  Of course we need him to learn to sit and down and do some other basic obedience commands.  Since "sit" is typically the easiest of the basics to teach, I began working it first this week.  The dog will stretch his neck back over his spine and almost start a back bend in pursuit of a cookie, but he will not for one second lower those haunches and put his butt on the floor.   Instead of being frustrated with the situation, I quickly realized that it could be beneficial to us, if we were going to pursue some obedience titles.  Mira would flatten her ears, wag her tail and bounce to whoever was going to examine her so this solid stand is looking pretty sweet to me.  It didn't take long for me to redirect and teach a down first. I figured once he was down and we were solid with that, I could take him up to a sit from the down position...and we would work "stay" in with both commands as we go.  It's working great!  He will "down" and we have begun to work on "stay" as well.  The exciting thing about this is that his "down" is straight, he doesn't roll onto either hip, and that is a pretty piece of precision I want to capitalize on if I decide to pursue obedience titles.  Obedience is new to me, so I see some classes in our future.  Maybe what I see as potential isn't, but I hope I am right.

I started to look up Versatility on the AKC website yesterday evening, but decided my head was already spinning with options.  The one activity that is mandatory between us, is running.  He is here primarily because I am determined to have a dog alongside me on trails and at night on the road.  His endurance is building, but best of all he seems to have grasped the association between sneakers on my feet and a fabulous adventure.  This is one door that I know how do get through and I'm glad he's open to the adventure.