Buffy

Our first family Brittany, Buffy, was born in 1972. Buffy and I learned the basics of grooming and handling. I think I showed him in a million matches. He endured a zillion handling classes in both obedience and conformation. I entered my first specialty show with him in 1977. We were first in Novice (who enters that class anyway????) and we won the class. We were alone in the class, however. Together we flunked Novice A obedience for four trials in a row. Buffy even jumped out of the ring once. I was just a kid, and my mother swore off dog people and dog shows after that. "It's a rat race!" she'd tell me. Regardless, I was hooked.

Buffy loved to ride in the boat, and wouldn't come out after the day was done. We'd leave him there looking forlorn, and he'd eventually jump off and swim in. He was a tough dog, and introduced me to the power and ruggedness of this breed. My friend and I would take him hunting. Buffy didn't like the sound of the gun, but we had fun.