A Dog
A theatre, a man – a dog? Well, in my story so far, you have seen how that first visit to the Regent Theatre as a small boy was to be a major influence on my life. But, in showing slides of both the Regent and Capitol Theatres at conventions of the Theatre Historical Society of America, I said that the second best decision I ever made was to go into theatres in the front-of-house managerial area. The best decision I ever made? Well, after my mother passed away (having been pre-deceased by my father), I received my share of a modest estate which just got me out of the dreaded mortgage. I then said… "I’m going to get myself a German Shepherd!"
In 1979, while I was planning to get my first GSD, I was on a visit to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. I was looking down on the old part of the city, toward the Tagus River that flows past this historic city. Wide? It was so vast that you wouldn’t recognize a person on the far bank! As I said to myself, what a mighty river this was, the thought struck me, ‘Mighty river, mighty dog – Tagus is his name" – as a tribute to the mighty German Shepherd breed. Some months later, I chose a puppy from a litter with the breed name of Ashlon Rommel. I can still picture this gorgeous furry bundle on the front seat of my car as we drove home. I joined the German Shepherd Dog Club at their Malvern branch, and now, almost thirty years later, am still there with my third Shepherd!
After basic training with Tagus, I became interested in entering him in obedience trials and was able to achieve his first title of CD (companion dog) soon after. The next step up the ladder was CDX – dogs had to retrieve a dumb-bell over a solid jump up to a maximum 900 mm. But somewhere along the line Tagus had hurt a ligament which prevented him doing this, so I regretfully retired him from trialling. I was also a member of the Knox Dog Obedience Club and took up instructing for a while. One morning, during Tagus’s eleventh year, I noticed a drop of blood on the carpet where he had been sleeping. I set off quickly to my vet, Ray Ferguson of Monash Veterinary Clinic at Clayton. It appeared to be a form of cancer in his throat, which would have meant major surgery with no guarantee of complete recovery. There then comes this time of thinking only of your pet’s ‘quality of life’ – or lack of – so it was kinder to have him put to sleep without any more suffering. After all, it had been eleven wonderful years. I had him cremated and have kept his ashes.
Those next few months till I was able to choose another bundle of joy were quite morbid around the house. I didn’t want to open the kitchen door when I got up in the morning – no furry monster ready to rush in with that ever excited greeting. But soon I was able to select another puppy, this time from Pat and Terry Shaw’s Elvarado Kennels at Croydon – Elvarado Top Gun. Great breeding too: his sire was Iniff Vagrant (‘Tramp’), many times the top GSD in the country in conformation work. How to keep the ‘mighty’ theme? No problems! The English had stolen the word Regent from the German language, but the original German pronunciation was with a rolling R-Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr Gent (hard G!). A bit hard to say when calling your dog in obedience trialling, so I made it ReGGent – mighty theatre, mighty dog!!
Reggent had a great start in his obedience trials, CD in successive trials! CDX Open, took a bit longer, but that meant CDX after his name. UD - Utility title training went ok, but he seemed to read my body language just a bit too well. One can always be a bit nervous when trialling, and whilst Reggent could do UD work standing on his head, on the day he would often decide to muck something up - like when being sent out to the other end of the ring for a recall over jumps. Well, he sometimes went out half way, turned around and woof woof to you! Or when seeking the scented article (wood, metal or leather) amongst a mix of twelve items on a canvas mat, he would stuff around, pick one up and maybe drop it on the way back to me - tuff!!!
Reggent was about ten years old when I decided to retire him, but then... I wouldn’t be able to go trialling till I had myself another GSD! So I took the plunge and whilst one dog is plenty for me to look after, being on my own, I ventured out and chose another furry bundle who was to come home to Reggent and me at the tender age of eight weeks. I was able to get in before the breeder registered him and was able to choose his registered name. The breeder's kennel name was Kanekara, and her chosen theme for each of the eight puppies in this litter was that the names would all begin with a 'C'. No problem, I said – CAPITOL, for the Capitol Theatre! I wanted to have Kanekara Capitol Magnificent, but this was too long for registration, so I looked up a German/English dictionary at the library. The word ‘horsaal’ was shown as meaning ‘auditorium or hall’. So there it was - Kanekara Capitol Horsaal. The mighty theme was also continued with his pet name Frisco - mighty city, mighty dog. Where else!!
Well, back to child rearing!! A cage in the lounge for night sleeping, changing the sheet from pee spots, and the other ‘stuff’!! Also I had to put a board down the steps outside so he wouldn’t automatically jump and hurt himself. Reggent and Frisco got on quite well, but previous walks to the park now meant a drive down; no way to handle two dogs wanting to go in different directions. From the word go, Frisco showed no reticence in going up to other dogs, more rushing in unless the other dog showed quickly that it might just ‘have a go’ back at him! He was a fabulous learner in obedience, the best of my three GSDs. Only occasional glitches in his CD trialling, with his friendliness and exuberance a drawback.
Frisco and Reggent enjoyed each others company for about three years when it became apparent that time for Reggent was running out. He started acting strangely, going into the space under the desk or under the computer table; hardly settling down then coming out again with a worried unsettled look on his face. I had him on tablets to help settle him, but it was increasingly obvious that this was only a stop gap measure, and was not relieving him of the probable mental stress of his condition. I could only come to the conclusion that 'it was time' and made the appointment to give him the permanent peace that he so richly deserved. I knew that my regular vet, Ray Ferguson, was off that day, but he appeared at the door when I took Reggent down. I didn't know then, but he had come in especially for me, a generous gesture that I believed he does for his regular clients. For Reggent, a great innings, getting to fifteen years!
But it is his tracking that Frisco has so far excelled." Me - the amateur, first time up in this field. Training was with a group on rough ground behind the Knox shopping centre..Eventually, entering in tracking trials meant firstly, tests 1 and 2 of 800 metres each for his tracking title (T.D.) Then tests 3 and 4 of 1000 metres and test 5 of 1200 metres for his TDX (Tracking Dog Excellent) title. Each test was progressively harder (initially two turns in test one up to five turns in test 5) . His final Track 6 success (1200 metres with six turns!) earned him his T.Ch. – Tracking Dog Champion! – and this was before he turned three. (Lesson: If you want a good tracker, get a GSD!!) In all tests, the tracklayer has had some socks down the front of his or hers 'personage' for at least thirty minutes to absorb some body odor. . One is then laid out at the beginning for the dog to sniff as the handler gives the command to 'FIND!', with the other two somewhere along the track which the dog must find.
His training in normal obedience work is a different story. A very hyped up dog, his excitement in the ring leads him to mess up some of the exercises, but - - - - - - if the power of prayer means anything, - - - - watch this space!
Well folks - that's the story of the 'Regent and I', my life in a nutshell; and the four legged friends that have made life liveable since the demise of the era of the movie palace. (With the tag 'E & O E' in case of unintentional errors!!!)