An MTGRR Sucess Story

In America and beyond, Golden Retrievers are a well-loved breed. And for a Golden in distress, there’s no better friend than the Middle Tennessee Golden Retriever Rescue, headquartered right here in Franklin.

Ginger is a MTGRR success story who happily calls herself a Franklin dog. She’s part of the Waller family consisting of Gerald, Marcie, Aaron and Daniel.

Ginger’s “before” story is not a happy one.  Rescued in late 2008 by MTGRR, she was one of six dogs that had been used all their lives to produce litters.

MTGRR volunteer Sarah Sherck explains, “Over-breeding and lack of vet treatment caused them to develop painful infection called mastitis. The infection can kill the litter and cause severe swelling and huge tumors. In addition, the excessive breeding resulted in an aggressive form of malignant ovarian cancer for at least one dog. MTGRR paid extensive medical bills to treat these dogs and placed them into loving and responsible hands, where they are getting affection, care, and kind attention for the first time in their lives.

Marcie, the “mom” at Ginger’s forever Franklin home, says, “It has taken some time for us to win Ginger over. We have had her a little over a year and I think she is finally convinced this is her forever home and that we are safe and love her very much.”

As dog-lovers the Wallers are truly golden. After they sadly had to say good-by to their oldest Golden due to bone cancer, they added another to their family — Bama, adopted a week before Thanksgiving.

MTGRR is regularly in need of foster homes before dogs are placed in their forever home. You can access their website through our blogroll

Send your address to randy@franklindog.com and we’ll mail you a clear window sticker that declares you a “Proud Owner of a Franklin Dog.”

Your pet will be overwhelmed with emotion.

Remember our story about local musher Rodney Whaley? Well, Vickie , his wife, gave him an out-of-sight Christmas present: a 12-month-old husky. Koyuk (in the forefront of the picture) is already running with the team.

By the way, Rodney is one of the organizers of the inauguaral Music City Dryland Sled Dog Challenge. To find out more, contact Rodney at rodneywhaley@att.net or at www.tnsleddogs.com.

Are you starting 2010 with a new Franklin dog of your own? Let us know at randy@franklindog.com

About a week ago, our dog came down with an ear infection (I promise to make this a spiritually relevant story, so stick with me). We’ve had this pup for almost a year, but this was a new experience for us as “parents.” Thanks to several wrestling matches with a 45-pound dog who does not like to have drops put in his ear, I can report he is now healthy. But my friend asked yesterday how you know a dog has an ear infection. I explained that I noticed something was wrong because I could tell he just wasn’t himself.

Later last night, I was thinking about her question and realized that the bottomline answer is really pretty simple: We paid attention. We knew simply by observing him that something wasn’t right, and closer inspection revealed the problem. Here comes the spiritual part: People don’t always just say what areas of their lives could use a little tender, loving care. Sometimes you have to pay attention and take note of moments when they don’t seem quite like themselves. You don’t then have to pry into their private matters, but a gentle prayer or unexpected word of encouragement might be just what they need. Before you can offer that, however, you have to be paying enough attention to realize something is wrong. I encourage you this week to take a careful look at the people around you, whether strangers, friends or family members. Their pain may not be spoken, but that doesn’t mean you can’t notice and care.

Blessings,

Brooklyn Lowery

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Though she now lives in nearby Crieve Hall, Brooklyn grew up in Franklin and graduated from Centennial High School. As for Jersey, her handsome dog that’s pictured above…..well, he was fortunate enough to be chosen by Brooklyn at a puppy adoption day at Happy Tales Humane.

Brooklyn is an editor with LifeWay Christian Resources.

Send your address to randy@franklindog.com and we’ll mail you a clear window sticker that declares you a “Proud Owner of a Franklin Dog.”

Your pet will be overwhelmed with emotion.

Like the morning Tennessean or breakfast at Merridee’s, beagles are an essential part of a perfect day in Franklin for Lynn Pryor.

Lynn’s one of the many people who stick with a particular breed for much of their lives.

“I don’t know why I’ve always been partial to beagles. It may go back to my childhood affection for Snoopy and Underdog. Or,” Lynn theorizes, “it may be tied to my ambivalent attitude toward dog hair and carpet.”

During their first year of marriage, Mary Pryor’s dog-loving husband bought her a beagle. “We had already chosen the name Murphy,” remembers Lynn. “So when we met the breeder and her litter of pups, we called out the name Murphy. The puppy that came to us is the one that lived with us for the next 14 years.”

Even now, after Mary and Lynn’s two sons are grown and out on their own, the “pitter patter” of little paws is still heard around their home.

“After Murphy died, Molly joined our family. All was well until two years later, I came up with a bright idea: Molly needs her own dog. Apparently I caught my wife at a weak moment, because she agreed, and Madison (Maddy) became resident beagle #2.”

Fortunately, it’s been more than just a tolerant co-existence that Mary has shared with Murphy, Molly and Madison through the years. They both celebrate “all that’s good” about their dogs.

”I love my Franklin beagles,” Lynn says. “They are friendly dogs and they love to be around others. That’s why they make great company for each other.”

When Lynn comes home from work, he knows that Molly and Maddy expect the first order of business to be a visit into the front yard to sniff out the rabbits and occasional squirrel.

“We live on a busy street with lots of dogs being walked, and Molly and Maddy enjoy greeting the other dogs. They’re sort of like those older men who serve as greeters at church, but without the bad comb over,” Lynn explains.

Lynn and his “girls” are part of each others’ day – every day. “I love my Franklin beagles because I have no need for an alarm clock — even on holidays. Their internal canine clock knows when it’s 5:30 and time for breakfast — even on weekends and holidays. They know when I’m about to come home, and they know when it’s time for a walk. Molly gets so excited to see me that she pees on the kitchen floor.

“No one else in my family does that,” says Lynn. ”Now who wouldn’t love dogs like that?

“I could give you more reasons why I love my Franklin beagles,” Lynn offers. “But I need to go clean the kitchen floor.”

Training a dog for field trials and hunting events is a process that requires a lot of discipline and skill, on the part of dog and sportsman. During his years in the sport, Kent Patterson has fielded a number of dogs that certainly rank among the famous dogs of Franklin. (See related story on Kent’s involvement with the Music City Brittany Club.)

Pistol Pete (call name Pete) has excelled in both national and regional events. Pete was Runner-up Champion at the 2008 American Brittany Club National Amateur Championship in Booneville, AR.  Pete also was the top qualifier in the Deep South Brittany Free-For-All Championship in 2006.

Kent also trained a five-time American Field Champion, One-N-Only (call name Butch). His wins included the American Brittany Club National Amateur Championship in 2007,  back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007 in the Deep South Free-For-All, the Southern Open Brittany Championship in 2008 and the Region 19 Amateur Championship in Bonesteel, SD in 2006.

Tragically, it was while running the Deep South Free-For-All outside Selma, AL in February 2009 that 7-year-old Butch fell victim to an accident with a car….one of the great all-age dogs in the breed.

Being a supporter of a particular dog breed frequently includes participating in a local or regional chapter of the breed’s parent club. It is the national parent club that compiles the written breed standard honored by the American Kennel Club.

A favorite among sportsmen, the Brittany is celebrated in both field and conformation events. These versatile dogs have no better friend than Franklin resident Kent Patterson. Kent is secretary/treasurer of the regional Music City Brittany Club and also represents the East Central Region as a member of the board of directors of the American Brittany Club, the breed sponsor group for both the American Kennel Club and the American Field, two of the most significant breed registries in the country.

“The Music City Brittany Club is primarily a horseback field trial club with events held in mid-November and early March,” Kent explains. “We sponsor the Dixieland Brittany Championship in November.”

The club is made up of about 40 members in southern Kentucky and middle and west Tennessee. Kent himself has seven dogs and stays active in field trials and hunting.

http://www.musiccitybrittanyclub.org/

Helping owners fully enjoy their dogs is a goal of Franklin dog. As her Belgian Tervuren would tell you (if he could), Sarah Karafa has found so many different ways to do just that.

With obedience training, rally, agility, conformation ring work and just playing, Sarah keeps Wyatt — and herself — busy with a slate of activities.

Wyatt and Sarah didn’t meet up by accident.

“When I decided I wanted to get a dog, I did a great deal of homework first. I started my research on the AKC website (www.akc.org),” she explains.

“I read everything I could about finding the right dog for me and then developed a ’short list’ of dogs that I was interested in.”

Sarah then went to see breeds firsthand at conformation shows and talked to handlers and owners.

“Once I saw the Belgian Tervuren in person and considered ALL of the breed characteristics and temperament, well, as they say, that was it — I was hooked!”

Because the breed thrives on activity, Sarah says the rest was a ‘given.’

As the primary trainer, caretaker and playmate, it’s also Sarah’s responsibility to get everyone in the household responding to good and bad behavior in a consistent manner.

“I ran into a gentleman recently who had stopped to talk to me about dogs. He told me he had three children who had begged him for a dog. Part of his agreement with them, which they accomplished, was that he had all three children take the dog to training classes. Now THAT’S responsible dog ownership!” says Sarah.

If you were to run into Sarah and Wyatt walking in the Grassland area,  you’d think they’ve been at this for years. But this young dog started classes only last July, when he was a mere 12 weeks old.  “Even if you don’t end up doing competitive dog sports, basic obedience and responsible dog ownership classes set the groundwork for a well-mannered, happy companion that you’ll have a partnership and loving relationship with for years to come,” Sarah feels.

And being properly mastered is what it means to be a true Franklin dog!

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