Shadrach – what can I say?  He was the dog of my heart.  He kept me on my toes.  He was the iron paw wrapped in velvet for the rest of my Aussie crew.  He was the entertainer of the year and wonderful Aussie ambassador, and yet, a solitary soul.  I miss him so much.

I got Shad from Gefion kennels through Kathleen P. Smith.  I was hunting for a male to breed to my Lucy.  I needed a dog with excellent conformation but still keeping a strong working ability to complement her.  After searching through several issues of the Aussie Times, I narrowed my search to 3 or 4 kennels.  All these kennels had consistently produced dogs that titled in conformation, obedience, and stock.  I liked the “look” of Gefion and so contacted them.

Originally, I was going to get the red tri male from Shad’s litter.  I really wanted a red.  But the day before the puppy was to be shipped, Kathleen (Kathleen P. Smith of the Florida Gefion kennels at the time) called me and asked the critical question, “Do you really want the red male or do you want the pick?”  It seems that she wasn’t very happy with how the rear was looking in the red male.  I sighed to myself and mentally kissed the red boy good-bye and told her to send the black tri male.  Maybe the world didn’t feel the shift, but that decision certainly changed my little corner of it!

So the little black ball of fluff came to Alaska in February of 1990 – a Florida dog that got dumped in 2 feet of snow at his arrival.  He promptly took over the house, which included my dog Lucy, my sister’s dog, and my parents’ German Shepherd.  We went to obedience classes.  We went and played with sheep and ducks.  We went to conformation shows.

Denton, Texas; March 1992 – the first USASA National Specialty;  even before we were officially AKC and still in the Miscellaneous class -   Shad, his son Luke, and I went to our first National.  Boy was that fun traveling from Alaska by plane with two dogs!  They were great – I was a nervous wreck!  Shad was UGLY.  He had totally dumped coat and was going through the final stage gawkiness of a 2-year-old.  I had him entered in the American Bred class and Novice B in obedience.  I seriously considered pulling him from the conformation, but decided, “What the heck!  We came all this way, might as well…”  I met Georjean Hertzwig (Gefion Kennels) and in the course of discussion, she told me that she would be willing to replace Shad.  Yes, that’s how ugly Shad was!  I said thanks but I was happy with him and she wasn’t seeing him at his best.  I have never regretted that decision.  Not to say that there haven’t been times when I would have given him back for free mind you!  Shad earned his first AKC leg on his CD at the Nationals.  This set him up to become the first Aussie in Alaska to earn any kind of AKC title!

Shad was a character.  He taught me that dogs are not wolves and that the theory of “being alpha” and making sure your dog knows who’s boss was just plain silly.  With Shad it was a partnership where the partners consulted with each other.  Most days Shad was willing to allow me 51% of the deal.  Some days Shad owned 75% of the deal.  I made the mistake of trying to be the “boss” in stock work and Shad retaliated by never working stock for me (or anyone else) in any consistent way to earn a title.  Don’t get me wrong, he could work stock with the best of them and even knew all the commands.  But I’d say “go by” and he’d do an “away to me.”  I’d think that I would try and outsmart him and say the opposite, and then he’d do whatever it was that would NOT accomplish the task.  As long as I totally left him alone, he’d get the job done, but if I tried to exert a little authority, he’d immediately split the stock.  Fortunately I learned my lesson with Shad and have not made that same mistake with his sons!

I could not show Shad in conformation.  He was trained with the “watch me” technique in obedience and so had the tendency to continue to watch me in the ring, which totally threw off his movement.  His heeling was so beautiful in obedience that people used to call out to each other to “come watch” when he went into the ring.  So Shad was shown to his Championships by other people – mainly by Kim Lehman.  And he loved to mess with her mind!   He liked to play the “foot” game where Kim would place his rear judge-side foot correctly and then move to place the rear non-judge-side foot.  Shad would promptly move the judge-side foot out of position.  It would be placed back.  He’d move it again.  It would be placed again with a firm “stay.”  He’d move it back.  There have been times when the audience watching was just about rolling on the floor laughing because of the quiet, strained under-the-breath swearing going on from Kim while Shad looked totally innocent.  She learned to be relaxed with him in the ring and not fuss with him.  If left alone, he’d perform flawlessly.  (Sound familiar?)  Shad earned 3 ½ Championships:  ASCA, USASA (from the Miscellaneous class), AKC, and half of a SKC/Int’l.  He earned several Best of Breeds and one time placed 3rd in the Herding group.  He earned his CD from ASCA and AKC.  He had three legs of his CDX in AKC but, alas, only two judges and I quit without finishing that up (due to health concerns).

He was the first Aussie in Alaska to earn the USASA Championship from the Miscellaneous class.  The Miscellaneous classes up here were so small that all the Miscellaneous breeds were shown together, both males and females!  I had to call Mildred Wilson up and ask how to send her results.  I think the board had to figure out how to tally points under these circumstances (Alaska has always been an exemption for everything it seems!).  When Aussies went officially AKC, he was the first Winner’s Dog and so took the first point (his housemate Tess, took Winner’s Bitch and has the honor of the first BOB).

In November of 1996, Shad became a star!  He was involved in the shooting of a commercial for GMC trucks.  If any of you remember seeing a black tri Aussie in a truck commercial with lots of snow, a moose, etc. – that was Shad!

Shad was the unchallenged lord and master of the Aussies at my household.  He ruled with benevolence.  He never started a fight but was willing to finish one.  He loved puppies and would lay down with them and let them crawl all over him and tug on his ears and coat.  When the pups got into little puppy fights, he would stand over the combatants and softly growl to break it up.  Shad was not a dog that liked to cuddle and be hugged.  But he was always right there whenever I was not feeling well.  He’d lay down quietly by my side until I felt better.  In fact, he showed best in conformation when Kim suffered from a migraine – wouldn’t play his foot games.  He was very nurturing.  Shad at home always surprised people.  Most people only saw his “public face” which one of an outgoing, highly energetic Aussie.  At home he was content to lie quietly and snooze or watch TV (loved TV).

I had Shad quietly put to sleep in August of 2004.  He had not been eating or drinking for 2-3 days and was having a hard time getting up and staggered when he did walk.  My vet said that Shad would have probably died that same day that I took him in – his blood pressure and all vital signs were dropping.  He died in my arms with me petting him and telling him what a good dog he was and always had been and how much I would miss him.  He was 14 years and 8 months old.  He set the standard and the goal I hope to meet.  And I will always hold him tight in my heart.

Copyright(c) 2002 My Company. All rights reserved.