How Spalding became part of our lives…
“Like everything else we shop for these days, we shopped for Spalding online. Once we decided on the breed the search started. However, as soon as we saw his picture online, we knew that the search was over. We had to wait until he was old enough to leave his litter and come home with us (no need to mention how hard the wait was). On April 17, 2006 Spalding became part of our family.”
Anne & Will & Spalding
The above was sent to me via e-mail by Anne, Spalding’s owner, on March 29th, 2011.
This is the dog that we will never forget; I do not know if it is his beautiful eyes – the eyes of a doe – or his magnificent slender body or the fluid movement of his gallop; maybe it is the innocent look on his face but Spalding really captured one’s spirit.
Spalding came to us for the first time when he was nine months old and fairly new to his owners Anne and Will – a young couple from Brasil. He was friendly when they brought him over for our Greet & Meet. However, when they left him at our home for a week-end he was unmanageable. He crouched under the dining room table all week-end and refused to come out from his hideaway. When we tried to take him out he growled at us and we could not lure him out with treats. Finally, we left him alone hoping that he would settle down; he crept out of his hiding place and had a bowel movement on the carpet. It was several months before we were able to take Spalding out to the dog run. At first we had to walk him around the block several times a day for his washroom brakes. Once he escaped and we had a very difficult time taking him back to the house; he was obviously looking for Anne and Will. It was quite clear that Spalding was terrified of being in our home; he was probably scared of abandonment by his owners.
Slowly, Spalding adjusted to visits at our home; we take the dogs out for long hikes on the Bruce Trail and free runs on private properties that we share with the owners. If there is a dog that loves to run it is Spalding. One could say that Spalding was “born to run” and even more than that his passion is to race with other dogs. It took a long time for us to figure out Spalding’s genetics – he has the markings of a border collie, the body of a greyhound and the tail of a husky.
Anne told me one day that she used to be scared of dogs because in Brasil most people keep them as guard dogs for security. It was only when she came to Canada that she realized that dogs could become good friends and companions. Why then, I asked her, did she get such a big dog? She said it was to match their active lifestyle. That is why they named him Spalding after the tennis ball. Anne and Will certainly got the right dog for their family. One day, when I was driving in Orangeville, I spotted Will training for a marathon with Spalding running beside him; Spalding was in
his glory.
Spalding became an example of what training and proper discipline can do to a dog; Spalding, that anxious and fearful puppy, grew into an obedient dog with an unusual zest for life. We, at Gordon Pet Services, really enjoyed his visits. Spalding lived to the ripe old age of fifteen. He passed on a few months ago, during the pandemic. We were glad that, since his owners were working at home, he had their constant company in the last days of his life.
Now he is in doggie paradise doing what he loved most: to play and run with his dog friends and perhaps cuddle with humans.
The thought that saddens me about Spalding is that, because Spalding was a mixed breed, there will never be another dog like him and yet that is what made him even more special.
By Agnes Gordon