Natural History

Photo by Jenna Coleman.

If you had told me two years ago that my main interest in dogs would someday be German shepherds, specifically those from conformation lines, I would tell you that you were on something.

When I started writing about dogs, I was writing with several ghosts haunting me. Among them was mourning an unusually handler loyal and obedient golden retriever that I had come to love through my salad days. Over the years, I’ve found every golden retriever either too laid back or too friendly with everyone for me. I never realized that I didn’t like super socially open dogs, which is what everyone wants in a golden retriever.

I’ve never been among the most extroverted person, and golden retrievers have a tendency to draw attention. The dogs just exude “pet me” and “talk to my owner,” and I personally find the attention one receives when walking one on a public way to be a great annoyance.

And so I am no longer “retrieverman.” I go by that name only as a legacy to the work I’ve done on this space, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t think I will ever go back to the breed.

When I was writing inflammatory twaddle, I built up a community of sorts, but as I’ve moved on to this breed, I’ve lost quite a few friends.

These dogs are reviled in some sectors. The working ones are all denounced as tools of oppression, while the show ones are all deemed deformed and defective from the get-go.

But I’ve had enough experience with these dogs over the past year to know that I really like them. I get along with these dogs, and they get along with me. We have rescued hard-core working line dogs, casually-bred pet dogs, and dogs of mixed German shepherd ancestry.

And I have to say that the average German shepherd is just a better dog for me than the average golden retriever. I don’t hate golden retrievers. I just feel a better rapport with German shepherds.

Over the next year, we will be getting deeper into the German shepherd breed. Quest will likely finish his championship in a few months. He will then get his health testing, and he will maybe get working on his herding title or start working towards one in obedience.  If all goes to plan, he will help us get started producing quality puppies, but the details of that plan are still being worked out.

But I’ll keep you posted.

I am saddened that so many have walked away from me. You came here to read the angry voice, to watch me gin up a lynch mob, and for these sins, I do feel quite a bit of guilt.

The best I can do is to do better.  I am no longer writing what you can find at dozens of other places. That may mean that I get fewer pageviews and less revenue.

But the future is going to be different from past. The future is going to be about these dogs and the opportunities they have opened up for me.

And as hard as it is, I must admit that I know I am doing the right thing, even when long-time readers now denounce me on social media. I am sorry that you cannot accept that I have changed my mind.

We all change our minds as we mature through the years. We should allow each other this liberty, or we are all ultimately doomed never to progress and become better people.

Stasis is antithetical to becoming one’s self.  We should not expect anyone to become so stagnated in views that they become rusty and old and bitter.

The dogs moved me on. I take their lead.