Shop Dogs

My Dane Sophie and I.

She likes handtools and long walks.

Darnell Hagen, Saskatoon Saskatchewan

This is my wonder dog, BUDDY.

He has been just amazing since bringing him home from a good friend's farm in Jan/08. He was 1 of 10 (border collie & a little something else in his background) born on Halloween but the only people he scares is the ones that don't know him and come too close to the house or garage. Everyone that knows him just loves him. He has been such a loyal friend to me as well as my wife, who does most of the exercising of him. I have never had a more intelligent dog before, and I've had a few very good ones. He ****s his head back and forth when I talk to him and I'm sure he understands most of what I'm saying. Buddy trained himself and let me think that I did a very good job. We were kind of lucky in a way as we are getting older and wouldn't be able to keep up with him but for the fact that he tore a ligament in his back knee at about 5 months, so he had been pretty calm as he was healing. He is starting to get a little more active now but is used to a laid back style of life. I don't want to think about not having him around as we spend a lot of time together, both in and out of the shop.

Wally, Calgary

We rescued Bindi from the pound. She was under-nourished, abused, and picked up as a stray. Someone had tossed her out in the country. She was only four months old at the time. Bindi soon made herself a devoted part of our family and would rarely leave my side. Bindi was thought to be a shepherd/lab cross but a breeder says she is pure King Shepherd whose ears never developed because of the abuse she suffered as a pup.

Going on nine years old, she has developed arthritis in her knees and can't make it to down the stairs to the shop anymore, but she waits for me to emerge at the end of a night's work.

Richard in Smithville

Casey was a rescue from the Weimaraner Association of Canada; she came to us when she was 13 months old. She had a huge heart for walks and tracking in the bush and loved to be with us always when she wasn’t sleeping on the sofa or stalking the sprinkler in the yard.

She brought a lot of happiness to all who knew her in her 15 years. We miss her dearly, a Life Well Lived, God Bless You Casey…

Jim Shaver, Oakville Ontario

I got him as a pup from a Border Collie breeder near Peterborough, Ontario back in early 1996, which was also a working sheep farm. I had always loved the incredible intelligence of the breed and knew that's what I wanted. When I went to pick him up he was the only puppy chewing on a raw sheep's leg...was kind of gross but I knew at that moment that he was the dog for me so I took him home.

His intelligence was beyond belief, he was incredibly agile and fast, was great with the kids and never left my side (and did a pretty hammed-up version of play dead in his prime and was wicked with a Frisbee). I've had some great dogs in the past, but he was really a step above. It was like talking to a person when I was with him. Through his entire life he had no health concerns until in the spring of 2009; his health finally started to affect him and in Aug we were forced to put him down. It was one of the saddest days of my life. I stayed with him until the end and I am glad I did. Here's to the smartest and most loyal dog I've ever known.

Funny story. When he was about 2 years old, I taught him to grab the newspaper off the front step so I wouldn't have to get dressed up in the cold weather (and I'm lazy). He was very good at it. Then one day I was outside shoveling my sidewalk with my neighbour and we were chatting away and my wife let Casey out to play in the snow while we shoveled....but he didn't play.....he walked right by us, walked up my neighbour's front door, grabbed his newspaper from his step, walked right by us again, brought it to my front door, dropped it and then barked to be let back in...... what a look I got from the neighbour, but I swear he had never done that before.....

Ken Rozema, Whitby Ontario.

Boomer’s been with me for two years now and we’ve formed a bond that would be hard to beat. He’s a Dogue de Bordeaux. If you ever saw the movie Turner and Hootch you have a very good idea of his character. He has a heart as big as his head, which could swallow a bowling ball!! He’s also very protective of me, the house and the shop.

He has slacked off a bit on guarding the east edge of the property though. The neighbours there just brought home an 8 month old female Standard Poodle…I think he’s in love….talk about Lady and the Tramp.

He’s in the shop with me every day except when I’m running a router or a shop vac….he really doesn’t like either of them. It’s taken a while, but I think I’ve cured him of using figured wood as a chew toy although Pine is still, as far as he’s concerned, up for grabs. I’ve had some great dogs in my life and Boomer fits right in there with them. Couldn’t ask for a better friend or roommate (except when he’s drooling LOL).

Brent Smith, Montreal

Maxie isn't really my dog, but she does come visit me on a more or less regular basis when she can. She is a smart, funny and loves to get attention. After a snack with a huge side order of attention, I can get back to work and Maxie will either curl up on the carpet by the open door for a short snooze or head home before she gets in trouble for being away...

Tanya, Vancouver Island

I've had mostly German Shepherd buddies over the years, when Sumo was twelve I started a search for a rottie/shepherd mix. As fate would have it, I found Max a year later on the day Sumo passed.

Max's mom was a Rottweiller and his dad was their neighbour's uninvited German Shepherd.

Max was the only male in a litter of six, hence the broken ear. Max comes by his nickname honestly, no matter what I've tried short of pouring cement, he continues to excavate a cool hole to lie in under the front deck, to the point he's almost under the house foundation. He digs it out, I fill it in, even with gravel which didn't delay him at all. To date this is the smartest dog I've had the pleasure to share my time with.

He has me well trained. Here he is hiding from the big black camera...

Don Kondra, Saskatoon

Shadow was born in the Ahousaht Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island, a remote community only accessible by boat or float plane. She came to Port Alberni at the age of 9 months where we adopted her.

She is intelligent and eager to please - especially if there is a treat involved. She is extremely gentle when accepting treats and loves to make new friends, especially cats and other dogs. She prefers to watch the shop from a distance from one of her many favorite lounging spots in the yard. Her favorite activity is to play hard, and then sleep the rest of the day.

Ever fashion conscious, she is rarely seen in public without one of her stylish bandanas and a friendly smile.

Michael Kampen, Port Alberni BC

I met Jenna when she was just 5 weeks old and it was love at first sight. She was the runt of the litter but I knew the moment I saw her we were meant to be together.

Jenna and I have been constant companions for the past ten years and our relationship is 'not' one of master and pet, it is a relationship of friends. She spends countless hours in the shop with me sleeping on her mat and occasionally lifting her head to take a look to see what I am doing.

Jenna is not just a dog, she is my best friend.

Gord Graff, Newmarket Ontario.