Page 31 - Chiron Spring 2020
P. 31

 OBITUARIES SAM PERRIE
Sam had a lifelong love of dogs, having his first dog as a birthday present when he was a young boy which he chose to have rather than a bicycle. He showed his first dog when he was 14 years old.
He went to work at a dog breeding and boarding kennels when he left school and then moved on to a Greyhound racing stadium as a kennel lad.
In 1950 he joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps of the British Army and became the first British Army Dog Trainer ever to pass the Dog Trainer trade test First Class (BII) as a private soldier.
He served in THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS for 19 years, training and handling different breeds of dogs in a whole variety of disciplines within in armed forces. He served for 3 years as dog sergeant with the Gurkha Rifles in the jungle of Malaysia, training tracking and patrol dogs to seek out Communist terrorists. He served a further 3 years with the Gurkha Military Police. He also served in Germany , Egypt and Singapore, always with dogs
He also did some boxing during his time in the army.
When he retired from the army
he was employed by Securicor Ltd as Dog Master, training security and guard dogs and their handlers both in the UK and at Securicor Ltd Uganda. He also transported fully trained guard dogs there on occasions.
In his spare time he opened three civilian dog training clubs under the auspices of The Kennel Club, one of them, Broxbourne Dog Training Club, is now one of Scotland’s most prestigious dog clubs
He went on to open his own licensed boarding kennels where he bred and showed Dobermanns under his Kennel Club affix Tartanbonnet ... Sam was rarely seen without his tartan bonnet ...h e was a show judge of working breeds and was accepted on the Dobermann club champion show judging list.
During this time he accepted a commission from the late King Hussein of Jordan to train a personal dog for his family and he visited Amman on two occasions spending time working at the palace, training the dog and also giving the royal family some training on dog handling.
He was active and lifelong member of
The British Police and Services Association and loved the working dog trials which were held every year for competitors from the Police, Prison Service and all branches of the Armed Forces.
He has written and published 2 dog training books and he wrote many articles for Chiron Calling, The RAVC magazine.
He is survived by his wife Mavis and daughters, Pamela, Janet, Patricia, Teresa and Samantha. His only son Stephen was tragically killed, aged 6, in a traffic accident in Germany.
He had a terrific sense of humour and has led an extremely happy and colourful life. Many Association members who used to attend the Reunion over recent years would have enjoyed Sam’s company. He was never afraid to ask questions at the AGM and his post dinner group will miss Sam’s war stories. He will be very sadly missed.
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