Porter

DOB: 4/2/2000
Sire: Cheyandor Ivory
Dam: Cheyandor Gold Dust
Breeder: Gladys Hann & Leonie Spouncer
Hips: 8/3 = 11
Elbows: 0/0
Eyes: Cleared at 12 months old
Nicknames: Porty, Pokey, Porter-Poke

Highlights to date:
- SACA Top CD title 2002
- Finalist ADM class Agility Nationals 2003
- SA team member, Agility Teams Event 2003
- Winner CDX Class, Adelaide Royal Show 2004
- Winner CDX Class, Labrador National 2004
- SACA Top UD title 2004
- Finalist ADX/JDX Agility Nationals 2004
- SACA Runner-up Golden Dumbell 2005
- SA team member Agility Nationals 2005/2006
- Finalist JDM Agility Nationals 2006

In the beginning of 2000, we happened across an ad in
the newspaper asking for puppy carers for the Guide Dogs
Association of SA, and after much discussion decided to
apply. Puppy carers are responsible for teaching their
potential Guide Dog basic doggy manners, exposing them
to as many different situations as possible, and most of
all providing them with a loving home where they can
grow to be the confident, sweet-natured dogs required
for such an important role. Of course, the hardest part is
giving up a much-loved family member after that year.

When our application was successful, we turned up on the
appointed day at Guide Dogs to collect our puppy - this
being the 'P' litter, all the pups had P names. Porter was
the first to be brought out - the smallest of his litter with
the shortest tail, which also has a kink in it!

Porter settled in to his new home with no trouble, quickly
becoming fast friends with 'big brother' Nelson and, with a little
training, soon learnt not to chase the other members of our
menagerie too!

Porter accompanied us everywhere - to the shopping centre, to
the cinema, on the bus and tram, down Rundle Mall, even to
some of my lectures at Uni, and very rarely did anyone ever
know he was there. He always lay quietly under or next to my
chair, usually settling down to sleep (not all that out of place in
a Physics lecture!!)

Porter was always very quick to learn, and wanted to please. Through all the places we took him, very few
things bothered him (apart from a turtle statue with painted-on eyes in the K-Mart garden section which
he found most perplexing!) I always thought he would make an excellent obedience dog. He did very well
on all his Guide Dog puppy evaluations, and finally the time came when we had to say goodbye - a very
hard day, only slightly tempered by the hope that he could give new independence to a vision-impaired
person. After five months in the training program however, we recevied a phone call from the trainer at
Guide Dogs - Porter had been released from the program - did we want to take him back? We were
disappointed that he had not graduated as a Guide, but thrilled at the chance to have him home again.
When we arrived at the kennels to pick him up, we had barely gotten out of the car when we heard him
barking frantically in his excitement - when the trainer opened his door he barreled down the hall
straight to us. It was wonderful to see him again, and to see that although he had grown up a bit, he was
still the same old Porter. Of course, Nelson was thrilled to have his playmate returned too.

With Porter now my own dog, I quickly commenced formal obedience training with him, and very quickly
I realised I had been right about his potential. I wanted to join an obedience club that was actively
involved in trialling both obedience and agility, and since I knew one of our trainers from Guide Dogs,
Rebekah, was an instructor at Para Districts, we started making the trek up to Salisbury twice weekly. It
was certainly the right decision, as we recevied excellent instruction there and made many new friends.

When we finally hit the trialling ring, I was not disappointed. My aims for our
first year were to win the SACA Top CD award, have a crack at the CDX
award as well, and to finish at least one Open title, either agility or obedience.
At our first CD trial, I very nervously went through the test and with much
relief exited to ask my onlooking friends 'Did we pass?' Did we ever - 194 and
1st place! Porter followed that up with two more fantastic passes, 197 and
190 to finish his title in three straight trials. Three weeks later, he passed his
first leg of CDX with 184, then after a couple of near misses gained his second
leg on 190. Not to be outdone in agility, he finished his AD/JD in short order,
and, as if he'd read my mind, finished his ADX title at the very last trial for
the year (we had our Open title!) and I also received the letter to say he had
won SACA Top Novice obedience. All this from my very first trialling dog - to
say I was over the moon is an understatement!

2003 saw us making the trip to Victoria for our first Agility
Nationals. It was a fantastic weekend - beautiful weather, the
chance to see the top dogs from around the country, and Porter
himself gaining 5 Qs, 2 in Open Agility, 1 in Open Jumping and
his first 2 legs of ADM. One of those ADM passes was also a THIRD
PLACE - not bad for a little yellow Lab only just into ADM and
in a class which had 98 entries! I was never prouder than when I
went up to collect that ribbon. This also won us entry into the
ADM Final, and though we didn't get a clear round, what a thrill
it was to represent SA at that level.

Needless to say, after that I was hooked, and we followed up the
next three years with trips to Nationals in Canberra (2004),
Perth (2005) and Sydney (2006). In 2004 Porter made the ADX
and JDX Finals, and in 2006 the JDM Final, a real achievement
when you consider he was up against some stiff competition. We
were also proud to be part of the team representing SA in the
National Teams Event in both 2005 and 2006 (gaining 3rd and
2nd places respetively).

Porter continued to excel in both agility and obedience. He finished his CDX title in 7 trials,
and once titled only continued to improve, going on to win the CDX classes at the Adelaide
Royal Show and Labrador Retriever National, both in 2004. Early 2004 also saw him in his
first UD trial - turns out the handler was over-eager, as he just wasn't ready. A few months off
for more training however, and we were back in the ring again, and this time it all went like
clockwork - despite one missed position in the signal exercise (and thus a loss of 7pts) Porter still
finished with a score of 185. From that first pass, it took him only 6 further trials to gain his
UD title, which also gave him the SACA Top UD title for 2004. Not content to sit on a 'simple'
UD, Porter went on to gain his Obedience Champion title with relative ease, and also to win the
SACA Runner-Up Golden Dumbell in 2005 (the Golden Dumbell is awarded to the dog who
achieves the best 15 passes in each of UD and CDX over the year). In 2005 Porter finished with
12 UD passes and 21 CDX passes, many of those with scores in the 190s.

His agility continued to improve too - he picked up speed, learnt to do more distance work, and
developed a habit of barking in place at the start line as I did my lead out. As long as I could
hear him barking, I knew he was still there!

Early 2007, Porter began limping on and off on his left hind leg. One moment he'd
be fine, the next he'd be off the leg completely. Erring on the side of caution, I
stopped all agility/obedience training and did my best to keep him quiet for several
weeks. However, on Anzac Day while playing with a toy, he let out a sharp yelp and
from then on was off the leg entirely. X-rays at our local vet confirmed it - he had
ruptured his cruciate ligament.

After careful consideration and discussion with the surgeon at the Adelaide Vet
Referral Centre, I decided to go with what is called tibial wedge surgery - a wedge of
bone is removed from the dog's leg to alter the angle and therfore make it more
stable. Once the bone is removed, a metal plate and screws hold everything in place
while the new bone grows. Although more invasive than the traditional cruciate
surgery, it also provides for quicker recovery and is recommended for very active
dogs - I didn't want to have to spend the rest of Porter's life keeping him quiet and
preventing him from running and playing. The surgery went well and Porter
returned home to 'enforced rest' - which meant he spent the next 6 weeks in a crate
(luckily my friend Anne was able to lend me her large one, so he at least had room
to get comfortable). As the leg healed, he was able to start some slow, short walks.
Close to three months after the surgery, it was during one of these walks that I heard
a funny clicking sound coming from his leg - examination by the surgeon suggested
he had damaged his meniscus, so it was back for more surgery and right back to the
beginning of the three month recovery period. It was an incredibly stressful time for
both Porter and myself. I hated seeing him unable to get out and be active, and I
greatly missed our obedience and agility, especially missing the chance to compete at
the Agility Nationals in 2007, being hosted here in our own city.

However, it seemed the second surgery had done the trick - Porter returned to his normal happy, bouncy self as eventually the three months
passed (AGAIN!). He is currently semi-retired from trialling. Although the tibial wedge surgery is suited for dogs returning to high impact
acitivties (such as agility), and our own surgeon assured me it would be okay, there is no guarantee that it won't increase the chances of
injury to his remaining 'good' leg. I was told that there is around a 60% chance his other cruciate will go too, so anything I can do to lessen
the chances of that (and avoid us both going through it all again!) is worth it I think. We are however doing a little UDX work, as this is a
class which requires no jumping, and it gives him something new to learn. Whether he will ever trial UDX I don't know, but for now I am just
enjoying his company during the training.

He also has a new friend now in Josh - though initially I'm sure mentally rolling his eyes at this new puppy, he was soon playing with his new
'little brother'. Josh's favourite trick is to cross underneath Porter's belly - not much of a challenge when he was a baby, but quite hilarious to
watch now that he has grown larger than Porter!