Tyler

Tyler is a special dog, especially to me. He is my dog (versus being my wife’s), and he is the first dog I had that I did formal training with. That training really helps bond the owner with the pet, and it definitely did that here. First, a puppy pic:

Tyler as a puppy

We adopted Tyler from a shelter when he was about 3 or 4 months old. After just two days, he became VERY sick, and we thought we were going to lose him (a story for another day). But after nearly a week, he recovered, and is now 12 years old. I took him for all the normal obedience training, and then since my wife was having success with her dog Tasha at agility, I started training Tyler for it. Here are the obligitory action shots:

Tyler over the A-Frame

 and:

Tyler on the Dogwalk

Tyler was never great at Agility – he did it because he got a lot of treats for it. He just enjoyed greeting people, getting petted, and begging treats from people (he is VERY good at that).

In some ways, this is a dream dog. He is quiet. He is calm. He is friendly. He doesn’t want trouble with other dogs – if they are good with him, he is good with them. He passed the test for being a Therapy dog, but I don’t have the time to take him visiting seniors or the hospitalized. He doesn’t play with toys, or chase frisbees, or even fetch sticks, but he does like walks in the woods and chasing small (and even large)  furry animals. All and all, he is a great dog.

Tyler is offically listed with the AKC as a Norwegian Buhund (go look it up!). He looks just like one, although he is rather large for the breed. Since we got him out of a shelter, we can’t be sure of anything. But I sometimes think he is part wolf:

What is he stalking?

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