The Reason ...

1 week

2 weeks

On January 26, 2014, a litter of eight Nova Scotia Duck Toller pups was born.  The puppy I would get from this litter would be my second Toller and a full brother to Arson, my first Toller.  One by one the breeder posted pictures of the wee pups from basically minutes after being born.  We got weekly updates of their progress and new pictures to see how they were changing.  In the beginning, I was stuck on the tiny little girl from the litter and I was sure she was going to be mine.  Clearly the universe had different plans.

3 weeks

I have always trusted my breeder to match me with the best pup that matched what I was looking for and it has never failed me yet.  The wee girl was actually was the match for me even though a boy was one of my criteria.  At 7 weeks when the pups went for their vet check up the wee girl had patella issues that could have posed problems for the dog sport path I plan for my dogs.  The new pup was following in the footsteps of six agility dogs before him.  When Diane, the breeder, called me to tell me the news she followed up with the pup that was the next in match process for me.  Gremlin was the little boy that would be coming home to me and joining the family.  I won't lie he was my favorite boy so I was pretty excited.  Before the pups were even born I had my name picked out, this pup would be forever known as Sniper.

4 weeks

5 weeks

I had already been watching Sniper grow over the first seven weeks of his life and I was very excited that the little boy with the "naughty patch" of white fur on his nose would be joining the pack.  There were already four dogs at home before Sniper came.  Porter, the old man, a 13 year old White Shepard, had very little tolerance for poor manners and overly confident dogs.  Any dog that came into our house needed to respect his authority and place in the family. Slice, the only girl, a 7 year old Papillon that rules the house really.  Pint, the quite but mighty 5 yr old Papillon. And Arson, Sniper's full brother, a 3 year old NSDTR.  From the day Sniper arrived he fit into the family and his best quickly became Porter.  The last match I expected but the two of them bonded quickly.  The old man had great patience for this last little pup that he would "father" in his lifetime.  Sniper respected him and didn't pull any stupid puppy tricks around him.

6 weeks

7 weeks

Also, on his journey to Edmonton, came his brother Dragon.  His brother became the chosen one for my dear friend Amanda.  Lucky for the brothers, Amanda and I work together, and they would get to see each other every day.  I am the proud owner of See Spot Run Doggy Daycare.  What better way for a pup to be raised than playing everyday and hanging out with your family.  Dragon and Sniper have been best friends from the start and Dragon continues to be one of the only dogs Sniper will play with aside from Arson.

Sniper and Dragon (5 months)

Sniper was a super cute puppy with the right balance of naughtiness and respect.  He kept me on my toes and always brought a smile to my face.  I just could not look at him without thinking how cute he was.

As Sniper grew and his personality developed over the next year, I knew he was different.  This boy was going to tap into all my trainers knowledge and probably open my eyes to knew techniques.  He had energy to burn!  That didn't surprise me as I knew I was getting a high drive dog, that is what I wanted.  The difference was how his energy and brain worked that were different than my other dogs.  I have trained all different breeds of dogs in my business and I have trained through issues with my own dogs.  Porter had severe separation anxiety which led to me opening my business.  Pint had confidence issues from some bad experiences as a pup.  Slice was an incredibly fast and talented agility dog that took me to the highest level of agility there is, world champion.  Arson, a bit head strong but so willing to please.  All these lessons, gave me pieces to work with Sniper and for the most part it was working but I needed help.

At around 12 months, I really started to put some more serious time into Sniper's training.  I could tell he was brilliant but could see that the pattern of learning was not like anything else I had every dealt with.  I started working with different trainers and paying closer attention to what made him tick.  And this is where the story begins....

18 months