PAWS ZONE’S SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE
CALL NAME: “REESE”
Breed: Australian Shepherd
Sire: Malpaso Spur’Em On Los Suenos (Slick)
Dam: Paws Zone’s Extra Credit (Bonus)
Breeder: Peggy Timm, DVM
Birth: July 30, 2007
Height: 18 inches
Weight: 35 pounds
Color: Red Tri with amber eyes
Favorite Activities: Meeting new people and dogs, running, playing with her brother Puzzle, and leaping straight up into the air (“boinging”).
Reese and her brother Puzzle represent the third generation of Paws Zone Australian Shepherds. Because Bonus was already seven years old when I decided to breed her, I knew that I had to pick a very special mate for her. When competing in obedience as part of the versatility competition at the 2006 ASCA Nationals in Wisconsin, I met Diane Bettis’s young male dog, Malpaso Spur’Em On Los Suenos (Slick). Slick is a stunning black and white dog who finished his conformation championship before he was two years old. He has a very outgoing personality and is descended from a strong line of dogs with both good working ability and sound conformation. His sire, Malpaso’s Chaps’n Spurs, is both a working trial champion and a conformation champion. Slick’s grand-sire was a versatility champion by the name of Gabrielinos’s Charlie Chaplin (Chaps). Chaps was one of my favorite dogs to watch in the stockdog arena, and I was always impressed by his handsome good looks. I arranged to breed Bonus to Slick in hopes of getting beautiful and talented puppies.
Reese (left) poses with her sire, Slick.
When the litter was born, I was immediately drawn to the only red, tricolor girl. At birth she was the second largest of the four pups, but after several weeks, I noticed that she was not growing as well as the others. Although she had no problem nursing, she just was not as strong as the other pups. When they were old enough to start climbing out of the whelping box, Reese was the last to make it out. Her front legs were much more developed than her rear legs. She could walk and run, but it was hard for her to stand in one position. I felt a strong connection to this puppy, despite her shortcomings, and I wanted her to have every chance to have a full, athletic life.
Perhaps because these developmental problems made me a little uncertain of her fate, Reese took longer to name than any pup I have raised. For the longest time, I just called her “the red girl.” But when friends insisted she deserved a name, she became “Regi.” To me, it was just an abbreviated form of REd GIrl, but it satisfied my critics. I knew I would change it if I kept her, and if I sold her, the new owner could do whatever they wanted. Once I knew she was staying, I started thinking of a proper name. But she already responded to “Regi,” so I focused on names with a similar sound. Inspiration came from literature when I came across a character named “Rhys.” A name of Welsh origin, “Rhys” means “hero.” Since I somehow knew this puppy would be my beautiful heroine, the feminine version, “Reese,” became her name.
Reese at 8 weeks of age
When Reese and her litter mates were five weeks old, I had them all evaluated by Dr. Sig Hansen, a chiropractor trained to work on dogs. He felt that Reese had sustained an injury just behind her rib cage that had hindered her development. After he adjusted her spine she immediately began to move more freely and the glint returned to her eyes. Dr. Sig proposed a series of adjustments that would determine if the problem was indeed from an injury, or possibly had a genetic origin. Though Reese remained the smallest puppy of the litter, physical impairments were no longer noticeable after the chiropractic treatments. She now has graceful, fluid movement and great physical ability. Reese can make a vertical leap of at least five feet, a maneuver Ron and I refer to as “boinging”. She will run continuously with other dogs and has a great sense of play. If no one will play fetch with her, she will take the ball to the top of the stairs and start a game of “chase the ball” all by herself.
Reese’s energy level was put to good use as I began her training for agility, obedience and stockwork at an early age. Like her mom, Bonus, she was initially worried about the seesaw obstacle in agility. We worked through the problem with time and patience, and now she happily slams it to the ground. She is showing good aptitude for obedience work and can perform an entire open obedience retrieve. I am most excited about our progress in the stock arena. She likes to work at a good distance from the livestock, and has strong instincts to keep them all bunched together.
One-year-old Reese, working baby goats.
Reese is a beautifully-marked, female Aussie. She is a little on the small side for the conformation ring, but she has good structure and movement. My goal is to have her become a versatility champion through the ASCA program. I have never yet had a breed champion, so we will be working hard to accomplish this goal.
The future is bright for the Paws Zone family! I know I will be writing about all of Reese’s accomplishments here in the near future.