My goal over the next several posts is to introduce each dog individually. I debated doing one big post with the dogs, but hey, let’s be honest, that’s not special enough for our kids!
Ty-Dye became part of my life in 2005. My agility trainer at the time knew of a litter of Border Collie puppies that were available. She kindly told my parents that I needed another dog to train because “this addiction wasn’t going away”. My parents were not fans of getting another dog, but they knew that my passion in life was not going to change any time soon…
On a warm summer morning, my Mom asked if I was going to go with her to take my Dad to the airport. I was confused until she mentioned, “then we can pick your puppy up afterwards!”. I was so excited. I had been training dogs for years, but this was going to be my first puppy! All of my dogs had been older rescue dogs, and I was CERTAIN that I was ready for the challenges of my own munchkin. Think again…
Ty was everything BUT the model citizen. The first day that I had him home I realized that I had made a mistake. This 4 month old puppy was reactive, food and toy aggressive, and fearful of people. He had no problem lunging at my face or attacking me over objects that were “his”. Being young, I didn’t want to tell my parents that I had a monster on my hands. I knew how hard I had worked to get a puppy, and I was afraid that they would feel like I wasn’t capable of training my own dog. I didn’t want to return Ty and not be able to get another dog. Let’s face it, at this point in time, I had NO connection with him. He was a JERK!
I worked vigilantly with my trainer, and I followed her instruction to a T. However, nothing worked until I took the reins of his training and did it my way. He became more relaxed, comfortable, and biddable. I taught him that I would keep him safe from others, and I would show him a clear path to success. I will share more about this in another post on another day, but Ty taught me how to earn a dog’s trust.
Ty was not a natural performance dog. He was highly independent and didn’t have a desire to please. As my first puppy, I was determined to do everything right! I was going to have a fantastically competitive agility partner, an obedience extraordinaire, and a well behaved pet. I had goals, plans, and dreams! I got none of those things. When he first started competing in AKC Novice Agility, he couldn’t make course time. I was disheartened and disappointed in myself. What could I do differently? What needed to change? What happened?
When I started thinking and training outside of the box, Ty became his best Ty. He learned to love the game and to appreciate our partnership. He became excited to run agility. When he retired, he had earned multiple championships, masters level titles, rally titles, barn hunt titles, and trick dog titles… But, enough about that…
Ty’s favorite thing in the world is a basketball. Actually, he likes any ball that is too big to fit into his mouth. He used to go out and play basketball with my dad on warm days. He learned to “keep” the ball and to “pass” the ball. He loves the game where you kick the ball (like a soccer ball), and he has to figure out which way it is going to go. He gets crazy eyes and makes the angriest growly noises.
He LOVES to swim! Give this guy some water, and he will be entertained for hours. He likes to fetch his toys and bring them out of the water, and then patiently waits for you to throw them again…
His favorite “chore” is feeding our pet rats. He watches them very closely. It’s quite funny, because he has to get extremely close to the cage due to his ailing vision. Sometimes, the rats will pull his hair, which sends Ty into a frenzy of snappy teeth. The rats love the game and always come back for more.
What a lot of people don’t know about Ty is that he was in an accident when he was 5 years old. Ty got out of our fenced in yard and was attacked by coyotes. Amazingly, he lived through the incident with minor injuries. He is missing his right ear and lost most of the vision in his left eye. He has always been an old soul, but this event caused him to be much more somber.
He loves to snuggle in bed with me. He lays up against your body and puts his head on your pillow. If a storm blows in, he will crawl on top of your head. That’s not always fun. I have to admit that I sometimes put a body pillow between us, because he gets too hot at night with the body heat. The body pillow suffices in Ty world.
At 14 years old, Ty continues to be his independent self. He rarely asks for attention, but will always accept an invitation. When we go walking on the property, he’s always off on his own, blazing his own trail. While he’s a little slower than he used to be, he continues to be my constant shadow. He’s mostly deaf, and has a very hard time with his vision, but he gets around well and keeps the doggy beds on the floors warm.
Man Human and I were just talking about how you don’t truly realize how much they have done for you until they are older. When you are faced with, “I only have a handful of moments left”, you start to appreciate things more. I hug him a little tighter and kiss him a little more. I tell him how much I love him every chance that I get. This dog has been with me through so much, and I couldn’t have done it without him.
Until Next Time,
Lady Human
Our 9 Lives 