June 30, 1989 - February 2004

Dave

Black and White
VAADC VMSDC V-OAC V-OJC V-OGC FDCH
Certified Pet Therapy Dog

Dave was our first Border Collie (he was unregistered).  He was a rescue dog, and the reason I became involved with the breed.  He was a striking black and white male, that stood 22" at the shoulder. 

He didn't start his agility career until he was 7 years old for two reasons;  One, he was just to big to jump 30" (the standard class height at that time) for an extended period of time;   Second, I was busy training Jynx.  I threw him into a trial in the Veterans class, and by the end of that trial season, he was at the Advanced level.  Within a year, he was running Masters.  I never put any work into him, and his training had been limited to actually teaching him the pieces of equipment.  For all that, his goofy charm and fun-to-watch performances in the agility ring (generally at my expense!), quickly turned him into a trial favorite.  He became one of the best known Western Canadian trial dogs.  Generally his ring presence was accompanied by a cheerful "Dave Wave" and shouting from the crowd.

Dave stumbled onto his flyball career because we were short one dog.  He knew how to play tennis ball, therefore . . . the perfect candidate for our team!!  He learned in an afternoon, and went on to anchor one of our teams.  He was never the fastest, but was always consistent.

In December of 2001, Dave underwent a second surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his abdomen - a repeat of the surgery in 1999.  This time, they had to remove a lobe of his liver as a cancerous cyst had overtaken that lobe. 

He rallied from that, in true Dave fashion, and enjoyed a retired career of playing flyball the odd time, and doing the odd agility trial.

In February 2004, he started to slide, the same tell tale signs of the cancer that had hit him twice before.  As I drove him to Saskatoon, a Rainbow appeared in the sky (odd, considering it was February and cold).  Somehow, I knew Spud had sent it and was waiting for him.  The prognosis at the UofS, this lovely old dog now had bone cancer.  We could have had the leg removed, but his eyes told me it was time.  We drove back home, and helped him run across that Rainbow Spud sent just for him.