Jamie.
OTCH Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Pup OM1 BN VER RE JH NAP NJP THDX
Sire: NAFC FC AFC Cody Cut A Lean Grade
Dam: Wishful Thinking II QA2
Jamie was an impulse puppy…I didn’t need (or want!) a puppy; I already had 4½-year old “Hope,” and I was focused on getting on *her* OTCH. I was leafing through ‘Retriever News’ and, as always, looking at the upcoming litter ads. I noticed the dam’s name on one of the ads was…HOPE! With my own dog having that same name, well, it seemed like kismet. The pedigree was gorgeous…with the sire being a FC/AFC and the dam being qualified all-age with placements in Canada. The rest of the pedigree was equally impressive. I called breeder Harry and discovered that his Hope was used primarily for hunting, with field trialing being a small part of their lives. My intention was just to chat with him but, two hours later, I hung up the phone with a, “I’ll put a deposit check in the mail to you tomorrow.” I flew up to Washington to pick Jamie up at 8 weeks and our trip home was prophetic…about 45 min. before landing she started screaming in her soft crate, which was stashed under the seat in front of me. Soon, the flight attendants were walking up and down the aisles. One stopped at my seat and asked me if I knew where the noise was coming from. I pointed wordlessly to the crate under the seat and could see her visibly relax. “We thought there was something wrong with the plane!!”
Jamie became a therapy dog at 11 months of age, and began functioning as my service dog shortly thereafter. She visits hospice patients in their homes on a weekly basis and acts as a reading therapy dog for kids at two libraries. As bouncy as she is in her “regular” life and in obedience, she becomes a different dog when doing therapy work or doing her job as my service dog…slow-moving and calm. Jamie was the first dog in AKC history to earn the new Therapy Dog Excellent title for 200 visits. Since she began her career in Novice she has been one of the top 25 Labradors in obedience every year. She completed her CDX and UD in six straight trials and got her first OTCH points when she placed 2nd the day she finished her UD. On the path to her OTCH she won four Open classes, sixteen Utility classes, got six High Combined and five High in Trials. None of this would have been possible without Dee Dee’s patient and insightful coaching (THANK YOU DEE DEE!!). Jamie is my third OTCH dog and it doesn’t get any easier. This has been a fantastic journey and having Dee Dee’s help (along with plenty of laughter, fun and just the occasional frustration) has made it all possible. I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank Kevin Anderson for expertly guiding Jamie to her agility titles. Thank you Kevin!
P.S. I’ve *never* regretted that impulse phone call to Jamie’s breeder.