Shelter Dogs - John (1)

photo by emileefuss.com

     I sat quietly on a 4' by 4' platform in the agility yard. John, a 75 pound, two year old Catahoula leopard dog came charging across the yard dodging obstacles and leaped up on the platform. There was the sound of paw nails digging in as John slammed to a stop and the platform trembled. Now we were sitting together, shoulders touching. I produced a delicious snack and he accepted it between remarkably large jaws. Then he leaped off to continue exploring.
     The Catahoula cur is the official dog of Louisiana and according to Wikipedia, Jim Bowie and his brother Rezin each owned one. This is my first experience with the breed and John is a great animal, a dog's dog if you understand. He is full size with black, white and gray coloring and piercing blue-white eyes. John is intelligent, likes to hug, is utterly fearless and partially deaf. Deafness is reportedly widespread among the breed but it does not seem to be much of a disability for John. He is alert to things around him and responds to hand signals and claps.
     Many dogs are leery, suspicious or outright afraid of the 20' tunnel in the agility yard. John will explore the tunnel seeking snacks. He is the biggest dog I know who has completed in both directions the 18 yard elevated dog walk (kind of a balance beam for dogs). He started up the walk by himself in his eternal pursuit of snacks while another handler and I rushed over to protect him from a possible fall.When a dog barks at him - a challenge - John looks at them with genuine interest or perhaps distain but never anxiety. His attitude seems to be "what animal could be so stupid as to challenge me". Over the past three months I have worked with John over twenty times and taken him to obedience class six times. He is my friend - and my friend desperately needs some good person to discover him and take him home.