SUPER DOGS
Copyright © Malcolm Croft, 2014
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For Clemmie, and for all the other undiscovered super dogs out there who deserve our love and recognition
CONTENTS
Introduction
Heroic Super Dogs
Record-breaking Super Dogs
Super Dogs of Myth and Fiction
Iconic Super Dogs of History
Super Dogs of All Sorts
Acknowledgements
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
Dogs. Where would we be without them? They are capable of meaning so much to us that sometimes we take them for granted and overlook just how special and unique they really are. They are more than just our pets. Dogs are capable of communicating, caring and consoling us, more so than any other animal on the planet. They are a unique species that can relate directly and expressively with human beings. No matter whether we humans are exploring the highest points on the globe or just relaxing on the sofa on a wet Sunday afternoon, dogs are always by our side. It is with dogs that we share our common (and best) personable traits – our sense of loyalty and love, fun, adventure and companionship.
So, let's take a look at our furry best friends. Let us delve deep into just some of the very best shaggy dog stories about the world's greatest super dogs. From the dogs who have been our lifelines and lifesavers, to the world-record breakers whose brave paws have shown us what real strength and talent is, to the loyal mutts who have shown us what courage and dedication in the face of adversity really requires, and to the dogs who, throughout history, have helped educate us to become better people and learn more about ourselves; and finally, to the dogs who entertain and amuse us, the dogs that make us laugh and smile everyday just by being themselves – this book is a celebration of all these dogs and many more.
Super Dogs is your dogpendium of brave, silly, funny, loyal, heroic and unbelievable dogs who, perhaps against all the odds, have achieved something greater than simply being 'man's best friend'. We are their best friends and we need them as much as they need us.
There are lots of super dogs out there, so let's get on with it, shall we?
Malcolm Croft
London
April 2014
HEROIC
SUPER
DOGS
The history, and hopefully future, of the world has been full of super dogs, animals that have gone above and beyond the call of duty. This chapter is a tribute to them all…
ENDAL
Voted 'Dog of the Millennium' and recipient of the Gold Medal, Endal the male pedigree Labrador became one of the most famous assistance dogs in Britain. You may never have heard of him, so let's take a closer look…
Internationally renowned as the 'most decorated dog in the world' – and not because he likes to wear shiny collars – Endal has been a super dog throughout his long and amazing life and is the shining example of how dogs and people can work together to accomplish simply unbelievable things.
Born in December 1995, Endal suffered painfully from a debilitating joint condition in his front legs known as osteochondrosis, which meant as a puppy his suitability to become a service dog was uncertain. Due to the physical and psychological impact service training has on dogs, as well as the cost and time required to train each dog, only dogs that pass a thorough physical and psychological examination are able to enter into training. With the help of a specialised diet, expert training and controlled exercise, managed by the Canine Partners for Independence, based in West Sussex, Endal was allowed to enter the training programme and qualified with flying colours to become a fully operational assistance dog in 1997.
Allen Parton, a Royal Navy officer, had sustained near-fatal injuries when involved in a car crash during the Gulf War, resulting in 50 per cent memory loss due to severe head trauma (he was also unable to retain memories for more than two days), and was left unable to speak and physically disabled, requiring a wheelchair at all times. Parton's injuries had left him depressed, resulting in a severe strain on his family and marriage. It was during this time that he attempted suicide. The thought of carrying on with life, he remarked later in a memoir about Endal, was just too terrible to contemplate. It wasn't until 1999 that fate stepped in and changed his – and Endal's – life for the better. And all it took was for a bus to be late.
Parton was waiting, outside of his home, for a bus that was due to take him to the local day centre so that his wife, Sandra, could go to work at the local dog training centre (the aforementioned Canine Partners for Independence). However, with no bus in sight, and a job to get to, Sandra took her husband to work with her in their car.
In the book Endal (published in 2009), the Partons describe how, when Endal and Allen met that day, Endal took an immediate shine to him, giving him a big slobbery lick and being clearly desperate to sit on his lap! Though Parton could not speak, or show any sign of affection, he too fell instantly in love with Endal. 'It was a cathartic experience which finally gave me the hope I needed,' he said. 'Until I met him, I was in the depths of despair. But when he refused to leave my side at the training centre, I suddenly saw a chink of light.'
Since that day, Parton and Endal were inseparable and the dog went home with him for good, an event that Sandra recalls as the moment their marriage was saved, with them even renewing their vows a year later.
In their twelve-year-long companionship, Endal was trained and taught to respond to over a hundred instructions and many hundreds of signed commands. It was these commands that helped the pair communicate and respond in their otherwise silent world. They also helped Parton regain some independence, as well as live a more normal lifestyle – something that Parton never dreamed would happen again.
In an interview magazine aimed at people with disabilities, for a spotlight feature on Endal's heroics, Parton recounted, 'When I couldn't talk, Endal learned sign language – if I touched my head, I wanted my hat; if I touched my face, it was for the razor. Endal learned hundreds of commands in signing. Eventually one day, in this very silent world we both lived in, I grunted. That was like an electric shock going through him, he was so excited. They said I'd never speak again, but Endal just dragged the speech out of me.'
In their time together, Endal would post letters, empty the washing machine, open doors and operate lifts, pull the plug out of the bath (in case Parton fell asleep whilst bathing), help him get out of bed by pulling his blanket back and swinging his legs round into his wheelchair, pick the phone up and press an emergency button to call an ambulance, gather a knife and fork and plate for his lunch, collect his slippers and the papers from the front door, bark for attention at the bar of his local pub and then pay for his beer, and even – this is my favourite – insert his credit card into ATMs and chip-and-pin machines.
But it was due to an even more unbelievable event that occurred in 2001 that Parton would be forever indebted to the quick-thinking and brave actions of his furry companion. While out shopping in Hampshire, he was knocked out of his wheelchair by a passing car, leaving him lying unconscious on the roadside. Quickthinking Endal jumped into action and pulled his body into the recovery position (one of the first, and most important, acts a service dog is taught), retrieved his master's mobile phone from beneath the car, fetched a blanket from the wheelchair and pulled it over him, all the while barking to passers-by for help. In the end, Endal ran into a nearby hotel and barked until somebody took notice and followed Endal to where Parton was lying.
This was an event that made a global icon out of Endal – you may remember hearing about it when it was reported in many national and international newspapers, and it is the reason why Endal was hailed as 'Dog of the Millennium' and received the PDSA's Gold Medal for Animal Gallantry and Devotion to Duty – the highest award available to an animal.
Sadly, though inevitably, this story doesn't have a happy ending. In 2009, due to old age and painful arthritis, Parton took Endal to the vet to be put down. 'I knew, of course, as every pet owner does, that this day would one day come,' he said, 'but it didn't make it any easier.'
But Parton, a man who had experienced more tragedy than most, remained positive that he would see his furry friend again. 'When I finally arrive at the pearly gates myself, I know in my heart of hearts that Endal will be there, waiting faithfully for me with his otter-like tail in full swing.'
There is no faith which has never yet been broken, except that of a truly faithful dog.
KONRAD LORENZ
SERGEANT STUBBY
Sergeant Stubby's story is definitely one of the most uplifting, life-affirming dog tales that you will ever read. He may be Stubby in name, and stubby in stature, but he is a giant in the world of super dogs…
There have been many war dogs praised and celebrated throughout history, from Cairo (used in the operation that ultimately led to the death of Osama bin Laden) to Judy (the only dog to become a prisoner of war), to Just Nuisance (the only dog to have actually enlisted in the Royal Navy), to a veritable litter of other dogs that have, in some barking mad way or another, not only survived the horrors of war, but also helped aid the downfall of evil.
While I am disappointed that I cannot report every heroic super dog that ever lived – that book would be HUGE! – I am happy that there are so many heroic dogs that require celebrating. How many cats do you know of that won a medal of honour during a world war? How many tortoises helped to hunt down, and kill, a known international terrorist? How many budgies… well, you get the picture… 'Sergeant Stubby' is one war hero you may have heard of. 'Stubby' to his friends, was the most highly decorated US Army dog of World War One. This fearsome pit bull terrier mix with a 'stubby' nose is not just the only dog ever to be promoted in the actual US military from 'regular dog' to 'sergeant', but also got to wear a special coat that, after the war, he had his medals pinned to. The coat, by the way, was made for him by a thankful Frenchwoman, whose town Stubby had helped liberate from German invaders. The image of a small pit bull terrier wearing a 'uniform' with medals attached to it demonstrates perfectly that dogs can, and should, be treated as equal with humans in the face of adversity; human beings – at a time of great weakness and vulnerability – call on the bravery of the dog to lend a paw.
Stubby's achievements are to this day discussed on TV programmes and news items, whenever a modern dog in some way replicates his heroics. Let's take a look at this stubby super dog's stupendous achievements in action:
• Served with the 26th Yankee Division in the trenches in France for eighteen months.
• Was able to salute his Commanding Officer – a trick the men in his unit had taught him.
• Could understand the difference between Allied soldiers and enemy German soldiers.
• Survived seventeen battles and four 'over the top' offensives into 'no-man's-land'.
• Was injured in the front leg by a hand grenade.
• Survived a gas attack and was then able, by using his powerful nose, to alert his division to new incoming gas attacks.
• Sniffed out scores of injured soldiers lying wounded in no-man's-land.
• Due to his super-powerful ears, alerted his division to incoming shell artillery in the nick of time.
• Caught a German spy who was sketching the layout of the US trenches. He was able to pin the enemy down and keep him down until soldiers arrived.
After World War One ended, Sergeant Stubby returned home a hero. A hero that shook the hands of presidents; a hero that led parades; a hero that received many medals of honour; a super dog that had – in his mind anyway – simply done his job.
Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
ANN LANDERS
BALTO
When a remote Alaskan village was threatened with an outbreak of diphtheria, there was only one thing anybody could do to help save precious lives – send in the dogs!
Balto, a Siberian husky sled dog, raced to the rescue of a village's children in 1925, when a diphtheria outbreak threatened the lives of every single young resident in Nome, Alaska. Mere days after the last ship of the year had left the residents of the remote Alaskan village with enough supplies to last them during the harsh winter, disaster struck. It was a disaster that would have ended the lives of many – if not all – of the younger occupants. The area's only doctor simply did not have enough medicine to treat this serious, and highly contagious, condition. If enough medicine did not reach Nome in just a few short hours, the children were doomed. The only way they were going to survive was if the relay team that Balto was part of transported the medicine to Nome by dog sled.
The journey was long, treacherous and tiring, with most of the trip spent in total white-out conditions: the type of wintery conditions where it's 'blizzarding' so much it's hard to tell up from down. But the US Board of Health simply could think of no other option.
The teams of dogs and their human 'mushers' raced against the clock. There was no room for failure, no time for delays or mistakes. Balto was the lead dog that had to complete the final two legs of the five and a half days journey, because the final relay team could not be awoken from their slumber in the middle of the night. In total, the teams had covered 674 miles, over a hundred miles a day. Travelling solely by dog!
Thanks primarily to Balto, the children of Nome received the urgent emergency supplies and lived to tell the tale of how a dog saved an entire generation from an epidemic and certain death.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.
MARK TWAIN
BUDDY
The advent of the Internet has transformed the way people all over the globe connect to each other. It has also become a place to share images of dogs in all their glory. But before all this, before the world changed so unexpectedly, an old dog called Buddy was being taught new tricks of his own.
One of the most emotional developments of the twentieth century, I'm sure many dog lovers would agree, was the founding of the 'Seeing Eye School' in New Jersey, co-founded by Morris Frank, the first American to be partnered with what became known as a Seeing Eye Dog – a dog called Buddy.
The Seeing Eye School first opened its doors in 1929 after the visually impaired Frank read an article in his local Saturday Evening Post about an American dog trainer in Switzerland, Dorothy Harrison Eustis, who had visited a German school that trained veterans of World War One to work with guide dogs. Inspired by the article in the newspaper, Frank sent Mrs Eustis a telegram, which contained the words: 'I want one of those dogs!'
Frank, in later correspondence with Mrs Eustis, detailed how, in the US, he was not alone. 'There are thousands like me who abhor being dependent on others. Help me and I will help them. Train me and I will bring back my dog and show people here how a blind man can be absolutely on his own. We can then set up an instruction centre in this country to give all those here who want it a chance at a new life.'
Mrs Eustis, touched by Frank's sincere and honest letters, invited him to the training school in Switzerland where he would be paired with a guide dog. Frank replied, 'Mrs Eustis, to get my independence back, I would go to hell!'
Later in the year, when Frank arrived in Switzerland he was partnered immediately with a female German shepherd called Kiss. Mr Frank wasn't too keen on that name, so promptly started calling Kiss 'Buddy'. Frank and Buddy worked, trained and became connected at the heels. Frank fell immediately in love with not only Buddy, but also with the groundbreaking work being taught at the training school.
When Frank and Buddy returned to New York, Frank began alerting the media to show off all the specifically taught skills possessed by his best friend. Up until then, not many people were aware of dogs being educated in this way; guides for the blind was still an incredibly revolutionary concept.
A particularly impressive 'trick' Buddy had learnt was to walk safely across Broadway – one of America's busiest streets – with Frank in tow, a mind-blowing concept to many people at that time. A blind man and his super dog – able to go anywhere they chose, safely and independently; no longer was a blind person totally hindered by his disability.
This fusion between Frank and Buddy heralded the beginning of a new era of professional working relationships between man and dog, one that was to change the lives of millions of people in the USA. Excited at the praise Buddy had received, Frank telegrammed Mrs Eustis back in Switzerland to let her know how Buddy was doing in a busy new city, a city unlike one she had ever been to before. Frank's telegram contained just one word: 'Success'.
From that point on, Frank and Buddy became inseparable, until she passed away peacefully in May 1938. In tribute to the miraculous super dog that had given him back his independence, Frank named all his replacement guide dogs Buddy. He said he owed her so much that he couldn't bear the idea of being without her, at least in name.
And the story doesn't quite end there. Heavily influenced by Buddy's abilities, and indebted to the training school in Switzerland, the Seeing Eye School that Frank and Mrs Eustis created in January 1929 still trains puppies to this day in basic obedience for four months, followed by a month of intense obedience training with their future human partners. With all the circus surrounding the millions of super dogs that show their unique skills and tricks on YouTube and other social media networks, sometimes it's nice to remember that the beginning of what is now the oldest existing guide dog school in the world – a school that helps blind and visually impaired people all over the world regain their independence – all started with a simple telegram that contained the words 'I want one of those dogs!'
We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.
GEORGE ELIOT
LUCKY AND FLO
Let us now meet a very modern pair of crime-fighting dogs with a truly special talent indeed… it's Lucky and Flo!
As the story goes, around 2004, John Malcolm, the anti-piracy director in the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), was trying to come up with new ways to combat piracy. Experts and analysts, those people forever nibbling on the end of their biros, have concluded – with widely varying figures and statistics – that file-sharing and pirate DVDs are costing the music and film industries £3 billion and £1 billion respectively.
Piracy is a real problem. It affects not only the long-term future and prosperity of both industries, but also the larger economies of nations whose companies spend a lot of time, effort, and money creating, producing and distributing blockbusting movies and chart-topping hits. Jobs have already been lost in their thousands due to this serious and complex issue.
So, it's a good thing that Malcolm had a brainwave that – while maybe not entirely wiping out the problem – was certainly a dog-step in the right direction. Malcolm's rather savvy, blue-sky, thinking-outside-of-the-box idea was to call upon man's furry best friend in the war on piracy. He must have thought, 'We're screwed… only dogs can save us now!' I don't blame him, it's what I would do!
So, without further ado, please give a warm and smelly welcome to Lucky and Flo – the world's best, and only, piracy crime-fighting duo, and the world's first dogs purposely trained to decipher the smell of the particular polycarbonate used in DVDs.
Renowned dog trainer Niall Powell specifically chose and trained Lucky and Flo, two black Labrador retrievers, to detect the smell of the polycarbonate. All DVDs, counterfeit and non-counterfeit, are made with this particular polycarbonate, so while Lucky and Flo weren't specifically detecting pirated DVDs with their noses, they were able to sniff out and locate large quantities of DVDs in an area where there should be no detectable smell of that particular polycarbonate. If the dogs got wind of the smell in an area where that smell should not be – say a bottle manufacturer – detectives would know that a shipment or large volume of DVDs was nearby and would have probable cause to search the grounds.
In their unique time as doggy detectives, Lucky and Flo have discovered millions of pirated and counterfeit discs at piracy sweet spots all over the world, and have been responsible for the arrests of scores of naughty people who should know better than to mess with dogs. Never let sniffing dogs lie, that's my motto.