Who's Leilah?

Who's Leilah?
Leilah the Wonderpuppy is my DOG!

UCDX Goldie's Lucky Leilah AMBOR-CDX ASCA-CDX HCT CGC WGP

She was born in Agoura, California, on August 5, 1996. Her mother, Goldie, is a purebred Vizsla (Hungarian Pointer) and we suspect her father is part Beagle. Only Goldie knows for sure. Goldie belongs to a horse trainer I assisted for a few years, and he "match made" Leilah and me. He told me that this particular puppy was the just the right dog for me, and he sure made a good decision, because she's been my joy since I brought her home at 8 weeks.
Thanks Chuck!

Goldie was a good mother, and several of us handled and played with the puppies from the time they were a week old. It was very scary to bring her home, since this would be the first puppy I ever raised. Before I made a final decision, I did a lot of reading. My favorite puppy raising book is Superpuppy by Jill and D. Manus Pinkwater.

On that first vet visit, I was told about competitive obedience and agility. You can read the story of Our First Year in Obedience . I started socializing her with other dogs as soon as her shots were completed at 4 months. She was spayed at 8 months, just after her first obedience class. She has grown to 20" at the shoulder and 32 lbs.

She is my niece's surrogate dog, and Leilah loves everyone she meets. Probably her favorite hobbies, besides slurping people, is shredding paper and playing a wicked game of keep away with other dogs at the dog park. The first words people seem to use to describe her is "sweet".

She is an amazingly fantastic dog, with wonderful manners, for me and my husband, I couldn't ask for more. She is truly my Wonderpuppy.
(August 25, 1998)

June 2, 2000
Leilah's agility career ended soon after her second birthday, with a diagnosis of luxated patellas (trick knees). It's mild, and so far it just means I have to restrict her jumping and not let her overdo it. She can still compete in obedience trials. Last May, after many tries, she finished her U-CDX. We had some interesting times in the ring though, we seemed to have the most unusual luck! She is now in training for Utility level.

Our lives got turned upside down on January 26th, 1999, when my husband suddenly passed away. I can't imagine going through that without her, she literally saved my sanity and gave me reason to get out of bed. She's become a major reason for my being. Between us, I was the one who had the separation anxiety, I could go no where without her. Thank goodness even the funeral home let her in! It was quite a while before I was comfortable at all being away from her. I still sneak her into work on occasion.

About a month after my husband died, Leilah got a big brother, Copper, an 8 year old Australian Shepherd. You can read his story here. The two of them brought laughter back into this house.

It took a long time before we found our new "normal", but it seems we have done so. She doesn't terrorize the dogs at the park as much with her keep away games, but if the mood strikes her, look out! She is now the dog park greeter, humans can't enter without a wiggle and a hello from her.

Recently I discovered Leilah can herd sheep! I brought her along to a herding lesson to give Copper more confidence, and turns out she's the real sheepdog in the family! She's now in herding training, and really enjoying it. I have written a breed standard satire for her, "The Complete Vizagle", and you can see it here.

She gives me a whole new meaning to the phrase "companion dog", and she is the great joy in my life.

September 17, 2002
Leilah is now 6, and doing very well. After getting her beginner's sheep herding title, the HCT, her knees again forced her out of a sport. The hard and fast turning was just too much for them. So, she's now strictly an obedience dog as far as organized dog sports. We did have a cancer scare with her last year, you can read about it at Leilah's Melanoma page, but it was a false alarm and she is cancer free. I've actually had to learn a bit about cooking so I could give her a better diet to try and help her immune system. It's worth it!

After too many training setbacks, I've given up on UKC Utility obedience for now, because of the "evil" glove exercises. We are working our way through ASCA (Australian Shepherd Club of America) titles. She easily got her ASCA CD a few months ago, and now has one Open leg. I hope to get her into the ASCA Utility ring next year. We had the honor this year of being selected as alternate for our obedience club's Open team for the Top Dog exhibition.

Copper is still her favorite toy, they make me laugh a lot. She snuggles next to me at bedtime, wakes me up most the mornings in the gentlest way, and rarely too early too. Always by my side or in my lap, she's wonderful company, one of the best friends I could ever want.

May 16, 2004
Leilah's 7 and doing quite well, happy and healthy, snoozing in my lap as I type this. She's now 18 months clear of mast cell cancer and finally finished her ASCA CDX. We're now tearing up the local ASCA rings with our Utility NQs.

To find out more about Competitive Obedience for all dogs, please read:
Discovering Competitive Obedience

Leilah's Photo Album
Click on picture to see a larger version.