The Big Dog Series - Part Two

Time to continue the big dog series, today, Argus. Argus (aka CH Caitland Eyes of a Hawk RA, ADC, DNA-CP) is my third aussie, and my third aussie from Cathy. I had known that I wanted my next puppy to be one related to Jurny somehow. I loved Jurny's work ethic and everything about him really, and wanted to be able to continue on with a dog similar. When I heard that Cathy was doing an awesome breeding of Jurny's half sister Deuce to a working dog Bayley, I had to think long and hard. I wanted to jump on the litter, but at the same time, I was starting my nursing degree in the fall. In the end, I decided to put my name on the list and sometime in March 2003, Argus arrived on the island.

Argus has the same traits as Jurny as I was looking for. He has great work ethic, incredibly biddable, but has a bigger sense of humor than Jurny, and I often call him my "peter pan" dog, as he will never grow up. Argus loves like, he loves everyone, and he loves to bark. I could do without the latter. I dabbled in some agility with him, he took to it like a duck to water, though he did also enjoy leaving the ring to visit with kids who were watching. Argus' true love in life is obedience. He LOVES it. He thrives on the rules and knowing exactely what I'm asking of him. The grin that is always plastered on his face gets bigger and bigger when we practice obedience. Sadly for him, I had lost my desire to do obedience and needed to take a break from it. As I feared, school did take up a lot of my time, and there is so much untapped potential in Argus it makes me sad that I didn't have the time that I needed for him.

Argus and I have recently compromised on the obedience aspect and are working on rally. Our first trial and I had never even watched a rally trial, let alone take classes, he only vaguely knew the commands, and off we went. The first trial was not stellar, which him scoring somewhere in the 80's...I never knew how much you could coach them! For the rest of his RN and then RA (finishing in 6 straight trials for both titles) Argus and Jurny jockied back and forth for who would place higher than the other, with one or both of them always in the top three. Argus loves rally. This year we'll try working towards Excellent...which means I actually have to work with him and teach him some new exercises, and I just might go for his CD.

2009 was a big year for Argus as he finally got to be a dad! He was bred to Impulse, my dark red girl and they had six beautiful babies, 3 blacks and 3 blues. There was a slim chance that Argus was red factored, but it appears he is likely not. Oh well. Argus very much threw his type in the boy puppies, where Impulse is stamped all over the girls. His one baby, who is available, Juice is Argus all over again, especially in temperment. He is going to be a lot of fun for whoever ends up with him!

At 7, Argus shows no signs of slowing down, or accepting the fact that he is officially a "senior" now. He is always ready for whatever he might be presented with, whether going for a run, working on some fun little exercises or hanging out on the couch. Although sometimes I wish he could just stop. think. and then do. I wouldn't trade him for the world. He keeps everyone here on their toes and makes you smile all the time.