Page 97 - K9 News - Issue 14 - December 2020

bless him, was special due to problems at birth,
we just had to have him with his brother.

Anybody who owns a Newfoundland knows
what an affectionate and loyal dog they are. If
you are houseproud a Newfoundland is not
for you! From bathing in their water bowl and
spreading it all over the kitchen to sharing
any wet muddy deposits with you. Their other
favourite pastime is to lie in any doorway you
wish to go through. They love to be with you at
all times. As for the grooming, this is not a task
for the faint hearted. But all said once you have
one you will want more.
Theo
Theo
We had a few successes in the showing world
with Theo, but we didn’t progress much further
than the local county shows as both myself and
my daughter were working full time in the family
business and the dogs would come to work
with us. The only problem was that we worked
in offices situated behind our coach workshop
and a farmyard so bathing and grooming an 11 at the time and we were more than happy to put
stone, mostly white dog, was usually a 3 day him forward for the opportunity.
endeavor prior to a show!
About a month later we headed to the
However, we had been active members of the Eurotunnel to start our adventure.
Welsh Newfoundland Activity Group (WNAG) for
over 20 years and we quickly realised that Theo Theo was treated like royalty for the whole trip.
enjoyed working in the lake a lot more than We were put up in a 5 star hotel with a glass
the show ring. The only problem we had with veranda (that Theo wasn’t very impressed with)
The Peter Pan Dog his swimming life-saving training was that his and he was invited by the staff to attend the
nerves would get the better of him if there were
breakfast buffet with us every morning which
a lot of people watching. In the winter months
when the water was a bit too chilly we would more than made up for the veranda.
turn our hand to carting where we train the dogs The film was being made as a Christmas special
a large amount of obedience training both on for ITV, mostly based on Great Ormond Street
and off the leash as well as pulling a small cart. Hospital. Theo would be co-staring with some
This greatly improved his confidence which then fantastic actors such as Stanley Tucci and
meant that he began to train a lot better in the Paloma Faith but fortunately he didn’t let that go
water. He went on to win the Ragley Beginners to his head! His part in the film was as Nana,
Water Trials. the famous dog from Peter Pan. He had to
learn some new tricks that the trainer from Birds
When Theo was 4 years old WNAG received an and Animals UK taught him, fortunately he was
email from Birds and Animals UK looking for a a very quick learner.
white and black dog with obedience training for
a Peter Pan film that was due to start production His first task was that he had to carry a sponge
that year in Luxembourg. Theo was the only (which he wouldn’t go near initially as it was a
white/black coloured working dog in the group sea sponge, but filled with treats he soon got

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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / DECEMBER 2020