Willems Snopek - Great Dog Stories: Inspirational Tales about Exceptional Dogs

Roxanne Willems Snopek has been writing professionally for two decades and is the author of eight books and more than 150 articles. Her non-fiction has appeared in a wide variety of publications, from the Vancouver Sun and Readers Digest to newsletters for Duke, Cornell and Tufts universities. In 2006, her novel Targets of Affection was published by Cormorant Books. Written under the name RG Willems, it is the first of a new mystery series dealing with the human-animal bond. Short fiction by Roxanne is included in the anthologies Half in the Sun (Ronsdale Press, Elsie K. Neufeld, ed.) and Blood on the Holly (Baskerville Books, Caro Soles, ed.). Roxanne and her family live in British Columbia, where she is currently at work on her next book.

Also by Roxanne Willems Snopek

• More Great Cat Stories
• Great Dog Stories
• More Great Dog Stories
• Inspiring Animal Tales

To see all the books in the Amazing Stories series, visit www.heritagehouse.ca

Copyright 2011 Roxanne Willems Snopek

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, audio recording or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher or a photocopying licence from Access Copyright, Toronto, Canada.

Published by Heritage House Publishing Co. Ltd. in 2011 in
paperback with ISBN 978-1-926613-97-0-1.

This electronic edition was released in 2011.
e-pub ISBN: 978-1-926613-10-9
e-pdf ISBN: 978-1-926613-45-1

Series editor: Lesley Reynolds
Cover design: Chyla Cardinal
Cover photo: Nevin Giesbrecht Photography/iStockphoto

Heritage House acknowledges the financial support for its publishing program from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF), Canada Council for the Arts and the province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

www.heritagehouse.ca

LeeAnn OReilly glanced through the woods into the late autumn sky. Daylight was fading, and a dense chill was settling in the Newfoundland air. It was time to head back.

Dakota! she called. Max!

She searched the forest for a pair of friendly shadows ambling through the bush, but her Rottweilers were nowhere in sight. LeeAnn took a few tentative steps into the woods, and then she heard it: the telltale jinglethe bells she had fastened to her dogs collars to warn away wild animals. But the sound grew fainter even as she walked toward it. Again, she called for the dogs, an edge of annoyance in her voice now. This time they burst out of the trees, muscles rippling and tongues lolling as they flung themselves on her. They rubbed their massive heads against her legs and she broke into a laugh. Forgiven, she murmured fondly.

Then, as suddenly as they had arrived, the dogs tensed. Pulling away, they stood swivelling their ears, their noses lifted to the wind. A long, low growl rolled from Dakotas throat and her hackles rose. Max froze, his attention trained on a clump of bush ahead, his body poised to leap. LeeAnn could see no sign of danger, but she felt the terror rise deep in her belly.

As the snarls of the dogs began to build, LeeAnn took stock. She had no weapons, no phone and no radio. She had nowhere to hide. Max gave a single, short bark and it happened: the woods exploded with the fury of a beast enraged.

Only her two Rottweilers stood between LeeAnn and the black bull moose charging straight for her.

Chapter

From birth, Jammie was destined to be a star. Her bright eyes, elegant bone structure, luscious coat and regal bearing all pointed to a career in that competitive world of canine beauty contests: the show ring. Indeed, before her first birthday, Jammie (pronounced Jay-me) was a titled conformation champion, beautifully exhibiting the sought-after traits of the ideal silky terrier. She had already lived up to her distinguished registered name, Champion Kedwells Silk Pajamas.

But success didnt sit well with Jammie. When campaigning for titles, dogs and their owners might spend every weekend on the road, travelling to shows. They meet with hundreds of strangers in new surroundings filled with unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells. On the judging table, dogs must stand calmly while strangers handle them. If necessary, judges will touch every part of the dogs body.

It got to be too much for Jammie. Her owner, Ros Scott of London, Ontario, watched her dogs happy personality gradually give way to anxiety. Jammie began avoiding strangers. In competition, she would watch the judges over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Worst of all, she grew suspicious of children. As a result, Ros had to find ways to keep children from touching Jammie unexpectedly. She did what she could, hoping the problem was temporary. But Jammie became more and more anxious and unpredictable around strangersto the point of growling and snapping if approached by surprise. With great reluctance, Ros admitted that although her dog was a stunning example of the silky terrier physique, Jammies temperament was less than ideal. Jammie had an aggression problem.

Ros Scott had problems of her own. A decade earlier, shed had surgery to fuse two vertebrae in her lumbar spine. Now she was beginning to experience pain in her hip. But Ros ignored her increasing discomfort and redoubled her efforts to quell Jammies anxieties. Ros took the terrier out of the show ring and began agility trainingan activity involving a demanding obstacle course run by both dog and handler. It was just what Jammie needed; she was challenged both physically and mentally, but her exposure to strangers was greatly reduced. Within a year, Jammie achieved her Canadian Kennel Club Novice Agility title.

With the title under their belts, Ros sought new challenges. She had always toyed with the idea of trying musical freestyle, a type of obedience-dance competition often compared to pairs figure skating.

Music has long been a part of dog training; in obedience classes, it adds an element of fun to the task of perfecting rhythmic pace. Obedience drill-team demonstrations are often performed to music. But musical freestyle obedience only began to emerge as a sport in its own right in the late 1980s. Inspired by the musical routines of equine dressage, demonstrations of this new dog sport began to pop up at various dog shows across the United Kingdom and North America. Since that time, the sport has exploded in popularity. Audiences and competitors alike thrill over the delight the dogs take in performing their routines and over the vivid evidence of the bonds dogs share with their owners.

Ros thought that musical freestyle obedience, like agility, might be another way to help Jammie overcome her anxiety. Ros hoped she could find something they both enjoyed that she could manage in spite of her diminishing mobility. So, in January 2002, Ros drove with Jammie to a workshop in Michigan. There, they discovered that not only was the event a lot of fun, but that they were considerably better than Ros had expected. In order to compete, however, they had a lot of work to do. The best-case scenario for success in the sport of musical freestyle obedience involves two things: a temperamentally well-adjusted dog who loves to work (preferably a border collie) and an athletic owner (preferably 20 to 30 years old) with a background in dance. Ros and Jammie didnt fit these criteria. But Ros still wanted to give it a try, and she and Jammie started to develop their routine.