Int
CH UAg 1 Liberty's Mission Impossible RN, OA, OAJ, CGC - "Winners"
A True Working Dane
by Joyce Guthrie
When they say attitude is everything, they aren't kidding. Winners was all play and no work in the beginning. If it wasn't fun, she wasn't doin' it! That was her attitude and it was a rough one to deal with-as far as performance was concerned. For conformation, it was a great attitude. She was, and is a Diva. She loves to be the one in the spot light. She loves for it to be all about her, so conformation was a great place for her, in the beginning. Obedience was way too much work, not enough fun. I started her in agility and she came alive. She
however, decided that this was more fun than conformation and decided not to
"show" for me. Attitude again. She made me a better trainer, for sure. I had
to learn how to take the extreme attitude and use it to my advantage. I had
to find a way to take her great potential and turn it into what I knew she
could be. It takes time and work to build a relationship with this type of
truly special Dane, but well worth all the effort, as she has proven to me.
A true working Dane is one that can excel in all venues, not just one. It
takes a Dane with attitude. It takes a Dane with heart. Winners proved that
she has what it takes. Winning 1st in most classes, 2nd in one, at the
National in rally, obedience, agility and conformation, Winners showed me
she could give 110%. She made mistakes, sure, but she worked, she did it all
in one week, and she had fun. She showed me what a Dane should be.
Danes are a working breed. They should be able to compete in multiple venues and hold their own in open competition. Danes are perhaps not suited as well to some sports as other breeds, so may not compete as well at that level, but that does not mean that as a breed we should limited ourselves to conformation. We should have intelligent structurally sound dogs that lend us to being able to hold our own quite strongly in any venue we chose to follow. Winners, as well as many other notable Danes have proven this to be true. I hope that there will be generations to follow that will continue to compete as TRUE WORKING DANES.
