A JAPANESE CHIN? IN PERFORMANCE?????
by Ronda Agrue
G rowing up, I loved Arabian horses and Collie dogs. As an 11-year- old military brat living in Alaska, I wanted a horse so badly, I kept manure in my closet so that I could get a whiff of “horse perfume” when I was in my room. Since I didn’t have a horse, I decided to train my dog to be a horse. “Linus” was my Pomeranian mix and the first dog I ever trained. He would carry my Jane West ac- tion figure tied onto his back while I “lunged” him. He learned the com- mands for walk, trot, and canter. I also found a book in our school li- brary by Rudd Weatherwax, Lass- ie’s trainer, describing his training methods. I taught Linus many tricks from that book, and it inspired me to learn more. My horse-crazy friend and I would play training games. We could not say a word while one of us tried to teach the other a trick. This game showed me how confusing it is for dogs to understand what we want them to do. It is apparent to us, but it’s a complete mystery to the animal. Fast forward 25 years: Several dogs later, my Lhasa Apso of 13 years went to The Bridge and I began looking for
‘Wally’
another small dog. I had shown Collies in conformation, and I told one of my breeder-friends that I wanted a small dog that did not require massive grooming like a Lhasa. I also wanted a non-yappy breed that would be better-natured than my previous dog. She just happened to have a single Chin puppy and said that a Japanese Chin would be the perfect breed for me. “Wally,” my sable Chin, made me fall in love with the breed. I was teaching Special Education at our local high school at the time and I found a Therapy Dog group, K-9 Friends, to get Wally certified to come to school with me. Wally became the star of the school… but that’s another story.
54 • T op N otch T oys , S eptember /O ctober 2022
Powered by FlippingBook