Radical Canines

Ryder is an Australian Cattle Dog, Australian Shepherd, Border Collie, Russel Terrier mix from outside of Post, Texas born around February 2013. I don’t know much about his beginnings, but I do know, at 4 months old he was picked up with his brother by some good samaritans along the highway in the middle of summer.

Initially, I went to the shelter with a list of 4 dogs that I wanted to meet that I had seen on Petfinder.com. The first was an Aussie that was bouncing non-stop in his kennel. I thought he was pretty cool but my roommate at the time quickly vetoed that. The second was a border collie mix, who was skittish and aloof, and not quite what I was looking for. The third was Ryder’s brother, Rowdy. A more obviously marked Australian Cattle Mix. He was friendly enough but was much more content to go off and do his own thing. The last dog on my list was a little white dog with a black mask named Sampson. He approached slow and low and immediately turned belly up at my feet with his tail tucked as tight as he could. He was unsure but unbelievably sweet. I knew he was mine.

Ryder is the dog that will try almost anything I ask him to and I love him for that. He is my go to demo dog for teaching classes, the best cuddler, and just an all around good dog but that wasn’t always the case. He was so unsure of everything when I got him. I spent a week sitting in the front seat of my car, encouraging him to approach it. Getting into the car was a whole other challenge. I had to teach him what stairs were and spent the first week carrying my 40lb puppy up and down a full flight of stairs. Needless to say that didn’t last long, and I found as long as we went quickly and he didn’t have a chance to think about it too much he did okay. It was scary for him walking over thresholds and through doorways. With time he gained confidence and has become the very best dog I could have imagined.

I was told (rather dismissively) by a trainer early on that he was “good for what he was” (read shelter mutt). Well, they were wrong and he’s great! He is the first dog I earned titles with in rally and agility and competed at the 2019 USDDN SuperPro Toss and Fetch World Finals. He runs agility with novice handlers and students in my classes when they need a dog that knows the ropes, so they can get a feel for handling. He plays disc with kids who need an easy going dog that will play the game with them. He brings smiles to patients at SNFs who miss their own dogs at home, and help relieve stress of staff members. He is happy as long as he’s with people. It doesn’t matter if it’s swimming in lakes, camping at events, or sleeping on the couch. I often refer to him as boy wonder and my perfect pup.

Ryder loves all people. He loves them so much he has jumped out a window to go visit people (don’t worry he was fine). He sheds the worst out of all my dogs, so everything is always covered in white hair. He’s great with puppies and loves the ball more than just about anything. Except maybe sticks, he does love those a lot, or food. He loves food. Any food. All food. You name it, he’d probably like to eat it. He’s a terrible bed hog, so is usually required to sleep in the living room on the couch but I honestly think he prefers it that way.

Check back next week to meet Rumor, the Yang to Ryder’s Yin.