Amber's Story - The Accidental Agility Dog

Almost three years ago I was visiting my current employer here in MS for a trainer’s course. During the course there was a litter of Belgian Malinois puppies, I think they were about 4 months old. There was a little female that caught my eye and right before the end of the class Randy offered her to me. I then spent several days paralyzed with indecision (people who have gone shopping with me for boots or cars or paint know this state well). However since I had three dogs at the time I decided to forgo adding another dog to my group. Upon returning home I lost Dugan unexpectedly to a brain tumor and I then acquired Jill as his potential replacement. 

Amber and her Siblings...

Fast forward about two years and I returned to MS to work here. The little female malinois was still here. Older but essentially a kennel dog and had hardly been off the kennel property. Although she and her siblings were the offspring of two extremely high drive detection dogs, they themselves appeared to have practically no drive. Amber was the only one even remotely interested in a ball and was a half hearted interest at best. During her evaluation she was much more interested in visiting – but only with the three people she knew and trusted and only in her secure home environment.

So I decide to get her some socialization and find a pet home for her. Last December as I was heading out to a training clinic I threw her in the van with my dogs and took her along for the ride. I’ll never forget that first night when I stopped at a hotel and she was terrified of a fire hydrant. Then she was afraid of the flags blowing in the breeze. Having never left the property she was basically afraid of everything and everyone. The next night we arrived at my friend Dawn’s house in Roanoke which in turn brought on a whole new set of novelties. Turning on the TV caused her to bolt for the kitchen. Her natural curiosity overcame her alarm though. First the pointy little head and ears peered around the doorway like a hand puppet and then she very slowly tiptoed back out into the living room. That may have been partly because of another initially new but much less alarming novelty that she had discovered though....

Dawn's Living Room Couch!!

To Be Continued…..