PROGRESS REPORT ON TILLEY THE FISHING DOG

BY JOHN BERRY

As many of you know, we lost our beloved yellow Labrador retriever last spring. She had been our constant companion on stream for fourteen and a half years and she was sorely missed. Her health had failed in the last few months of her life and we began a search for a new puppy before she passed. We found one, Tilley, but she was not ready for pick up before Ellie was gone. We had wanted the two to bond but that was not in the cards. Tilley arrived on the scene a few days later and was a welcome sight. The best way to handle the grief of losing a beloved companion is to acquire a new one.

She was seven weeks old when we picked her up from a respected breeder in Little Rock. She was a perfect specimen of what an English Lab should look like. She had a nearly white coat, a black nose and weighed eight pounds. She whined all the way home and most of the first night. In a few days she settled in and became part of the family.

The first order of business was to house break her. This was at best a challenge. We took her outside every two hours night and day to do her business. There were several accidents but our perseverance paid off and she finally figured out that she was to go the bathroom outside. The process took two months but it was worth the effort. She can now go eight hours at night with no accidents. When she needs to go she sits by the door.

She is very active and rambunctious. We began her obedience training the week after we received her. At first, it was private lessons but once she was old enough we signed her up for a group class. We thought that it would be beneficial for her to interact with other dogs. My wife, Lori, took the lead on this project and really worked hard. It was a challenging situation but Lori was patient, consistent and worked with Tilley every day. She learned to sit and stay fairly quickly but had trouble on the long downs and the leash work (she wants to bite the leash and play a game). Lori began to think that she would never get it and went so far as to call the trainer and ask if Tilley could repeat the course if she failed.

The day of the final exam came and Lori was concerned but decided she would do her best. Before the exam, Tilley was wild and crazy. Once it began, Lori gave her the get serious look (I have seen it before myself). Tilley pulled it together and performed flawlessly. She received a perfect score of two hundred out of two hundred, the top score in her class. After the exam she was wild and crazy again. She has been enrolled in the next advanced class and is progressing toward her canine good citizen award.

We have begun her water training. We take her to Cotter Big Spring Park several times a week. We get in the water with her and have her retrieve bumpers. I must say that she is a natural retriever and just loves to do it. She is becoming more comfortable in the water and can swim well. I have my own training program. I am training her to retrieve the Baxter Bulletin. Every morning (Monday through Saturday) we go out and get the paper, bring it into the house and lay it on the love seat in the sun room. She is rewarded with a dog biscuit and fed her breakfast.

She had her first dog how a few weeks ago, a fun show in Cotter that was part of the Bridge Bash event. Tilley came in second in her group. Lori was a bit disappointed but I told her that Tilley is still a puppy and she may be expecting a bit too much. She has her first real dog show in Springfield on November the eighth, my birthday. The fever is high and Lori is working on getting her ready.

Tilley has progressed far in her six months (she now weighs forty five pounds). She is still a long way from being obedient enough to go fishing with me. I look forward to the day when she can sit beside me on stream.