I know I have spoken ill about my crazy dog, Enzo, but I wanted to share that he isn't always as nuts as I like to describe, well at least not all of the time!!!

This weekend, Enzo, competed in his first event for Splash Dogs earning two blue ribbons (First place), for both waves he entered! His two jumps were 17.5" and 18.5". I am so proud of my boy! This wasn't a winning jump, but it still is pretty!







Edited by Tanya Moyer (05/22/2012 06:03 PM)
Edit reason: Resize pics

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Tanya

Everybody's dog is crazy in some way, that's why we love them so! Congrats to you and Enzo!! What a great thing to do with your pal!! Thanks for sharing!!

Jon

Thanks, Jonathan! You're right! Who would ever suspect that sweet face Of Enzo's would want to rip your lips and limb off!!!

I haven't read any of your posts about Enzo, so I don't know his history. Is he aggressive? Reactive? Seems like he must have pretty good manners to compete in an event like that, no? He must have been around tons of people and other dogs?

I haven't posted Enzo's story in whole or even in part, I've just made a lot of comments about his nutso self.

In a nutshell - I received Enzo as a gift when tragedy struck my home. A friend who has been breeding champion hunting labs for the last 25+ years felt so bad for me, that he offered a pup from a current litter (Dec 2009). I wasn't keen on labs, having had one that lived to 19 yrs and was as dumb as her blond coat! At that point in my life I was an Australian Cattle Dog person, but the offer was so generous I couldn't say no to this person (and who can say no to a 4 month old pup!). On day two Enzo was with me, he attacked a 4 yr old pitbull/lab mix who tried to get close to me. He literally flew over my lap and attacked this dog. I should have known there was an issue . As his behavior became more antisocial to both dogs and people I began him in puppy classes (the first time in all my 32 yrs of dog ownership). Needless to say, his horrible behavior and attitude escalated to the point I had to go to higher level training. (By 1 yr old - Enzo had bitten a child, 2 adults drawing serious blood/injury, and would aggress toward anyone who came close to him, his property or myself. He literally had no filter, no fear and wanted to bite anything he could get his teeth into - dog or person).

At this point in my dog existence I had never done any type of dog sports, nor did I know anything about them. However, I quickly began enrolling him in different venues to keep him focused and working. Unfortunately he always had an encounter with another dog. I warned all the trainers who my dog was and yet they lost control of their classes and the results were always unpleasant. I always kept Enzo under leash control and close to me, however, being a lab, everyone thought he was friendly and would allow their dog close to him. Bad idea. I warned everyone to keep their distance and did everything I could to keep my distance, but as you know, most people think dog training classes are for their own personal social hour and they would quickly lose sight of the purpose of such gathering and soon we would have an all out blood bath with Enzo in the middle.

After several hit and misses with different trainers, it occurred to me that I should consider schutzhund training - Enzo likes to bite maybe if I taught him it's ok to bite when I say so. So I met a world class competitor and started working with her. We had a few sessions, and then I found someone more local. This person was very much into personal protection dogs and obedience. We began training with him, which was ok, but as time went on he didn't recognize Enzo's potential and I got tired of being pigeon holed and the cookie cutter training with all the other dogs in class. At this point, Enzo's aggression was still in full force and the trainers idea of correction didn't agree with me (I was using an e-collar at this point but never 'really' trained on it). One thing I thought was missing was his lack of understanding Enzo's ability to learn and channeling it productively.

So I got on the web and found Michael Ellis (his school being about an hour from where I live). From that I ate up all that I could in reading and DVD's. I met with Michael, which in turn led me to the trainers I am currently working with, all of which are high level dog sport people (one being a certified mondio decoy). Since working with this group, Enzo has changed 100% for the better. His obedience tightened up, his drive has been channeled productively, and he tolerates humans and no longer wants to bite them if they come near; he can totally ignore them for the most part. However, if someone shows any sign of offense towards him he will attack. With dogs, he is able to tolerate them as long as they are at a distance and do not get into his face. If they do - he will attack, without warning and he will do everything to draw blood. However, once he 'knows' you and allows you or a dog into his space, he will never again be aggressive towards either dog or human. He literally likes (and when I say likes it means he will allow you to touch him) 8 people and 6 dogs. Other than that no one is allowed to touch him and strange dogs are not allowed near him.

For him to be my first 'sport' dog - Enzo is amazing. There isn't any sport I haven't done with him that he hasn't excelled. The last year we have participated in agility, nosework, dock diving, tracking and now ring sport. The only thing holding us back from trialing is still his aggression issues. Enzo definitely does better with independent sports (nosework/dock diving), however, he is getting better all around and I am feeling more confident in his ability to stay focused in uncontrolled environments. For instance this last weekend at dock diving, Enzo was the only dog who watched for 4 hours all the other dogs jump and I think it brought out a competitiveness in him that I've never seen.

On the other hand - I have to keep my eyes on him 24/7 and always be aware of what's in our environment. Recently my neighbor was having work done on his property and let a worker into my yard to do something. My neighbor (who is actually my brother) "forgot" about Enzo and the poor guy about keeled over dead when he met the black dog around a corner. A testament to his training - Enzo bared his teeth and held his ground while the guy slowly backed out of the yard. In the past, Enzo would have charged the guy and without hesitation attacked him. So I know the training is teaching him control and filtering. Thank goodness!

Ok, so that's Enzo's story in a nutshell (kind of a big shell ) Of course there's a lot more I could say, but you would cringe!

I don't remember the kennel name but some black lab breeder in Mn/Wisconsin was banned from field trails due to temperament. The dogs were tall, very leggy compared to the traditional shorter square bodied lab.
Maybe this type of lab has become common now, but I thought it was super rare years ago.
The client sought medication for a stud dog to try to control his aggression. My boss referred them elsewhere. My understanding was that the client had a LOT of money tied up in the dogs, that the dogs abilities were unbelievable--
If you have one of those 5 generation type pedigrees I'd be really curious about some of the kennel names way back. If you had time perhaps you might PM a few of them to me.

Wonderful story. Thanks for letting us see a bit of your world.

Hey Betty - I will scan his pedigree so you can take a look. Enzo's abilities are unbelievable. And I've heard the same about his siblings. In fact one of my vets has a brother from the previous years litter. Her husband is a hunter and no one could believe what this dog accomplished at 10 mos. of age.

Several trainers who have met him have offered to purchase him from me, suggested I "donate" him to the nearest police department, have been disappointed that he was neutered, and/or couldn't believe what he was capable of doing because of his age or just by default. The triple retrieve in hunt trials (which I know nothing about) - Enzo does a double retrieve with barely any instruction. Just go get it and now go get the other one. There isn't anything he doesn't learn in 3 show me's or 10 minutes. What's really cool about him is he is so forgiving when it comes to training and correction; a great handler could do amazing things with this dog.

FWIW, the triple retrieve is amazing to see!
The dog watches three dummies thrown out, then can be sent to any of the three, or all three in order, or any variation. Also, the dog can be sent to one, then called up short on the send-away; he will then turn and face the handler, who uses hand signals to redirect the dog to any dummy he wants retrieved. The dog remembers where they are. If he doesn't locate, he will again turn to the handler, who directs the search with hand signals. It is a beautiful display of long-distance nonverbal dog/handler communication.

You could begin playing with the double by having Enzo retrieve out of order.

Thanks, Duane. I'm going to have to look into field trials as this sounds like it would fit in Enzo's repertoire quite easily. Right now I'm trying to teach him directional hand search to find 'lost' items on the field.