SPENCER
Spencer was born on February 13, 1999. My dad and Ellen (my step-mom) got him from PetLand. He is a German Shepard-Husky-Collie mix. His personality is very much that of a collie. He really likes cats, which I’ve read is a Collie trait, and he tends to “herd” me in the woods. By that I mean that when we are walking in the woods, he makes sure he doesn’t go too far from me because he has to keep me on the right path.
Spencer
When Spencer was a puppy, I really didn’t like him all that much. He was very hyper and jumpy. Then one summer when I was home from college, I started taking Spencer for walks in the Cleveland MetroParks with my mom’s dogs, Feste and Moby. Spencer loves walking in the park/forest. I also started some basic training with him (in both German and English). From then on, I was Spencer’s favorite human.
Spencer and I parted ways as I continued my education through college and law school and he continued his life with my dad and Ellen. When Claire was born, Spencer was a little unsure about having a new presence in his house. It meant he got less attention but it did mean more people food. Then Claire started crawling . . . then walking . . . then running . . . then chasing him around with empty wrapping paper tubes trying to hit him. Spencer decided he did NOT like having this small person around. My dad and Ellen began to think that they may have to get rid of Spencer because he was becoming snapish with Claire. He wasn’t overly hostile; he just didn’t want to have anything to do with the child. Plus, my dad and Ellen had their hands full with Claire, so poor Spency tended to spend a lot of time alone.
Spencer on Stairs
When my dad and Ellen had Kevin Spencer was definitely not happy. Now there were two small things about that wanted to touch him and poke him and maybe hurt him. Spencer had already developed a dislike for small children with Claire, so as Kevin became mobile Spencer’s dislike increased. Spencer began snapping more and more at Kevin when he went near Spencer. Ellen became concerned that Spencer would actually bite Kevin and they would have to put Spencer down.
Poor Spency. It’s not his fault. He tried to be a good doggy, but then the children came, and the humans neglected him, and the children ran rampant over him. By this time I had finished law school and was employed as a law clerk in Keyser, WV. I was living in a side-by-side duplex with a small yard. It being WV, there were lots of mountains and forest paths around. I talked to my dad and Ellen and we decided that it would be best for all, especially Spency, if he came to live with me (and my four cats). I was unsure how Spencer would react to a cat because he’d never seen one before, but I was optimistic. My dad was afraid that the cats would hurt Spencer or scare him. Silly papa. Spencer LOVES the cats, especially the girl cats, and the girls cats love him. The boy cats seem to be indifferent. Isis loves Spencer so much that she almost always sleeps in the same room as him at night.
Spencer and Isis Sleeping
Since Spencer has come to live with me, we have gone on many adventures together. We go on car rides (both long and short), adventures in the forest (sometimes I lead, sometimes Spencer leads), and even boating adventures. That’s right, Spencer’s a boating dog. He doesn’t swim. He can swim (I know because I pushed him out of the boat once to see if he could and he did), but he really doesn’t like to. He’ll wade in a river if it’s really hot, up to his belly or so, but other than that he’d rather not get wet. As I love swimming, and would live my life in the water if I could, this presented a problem during the summer. My solution to this was to purchase an inflatable rowboat from Wal-Mart for the lake by my house in Keyser. I would put Spencer in it and row him around the lake. I would jump in the water and swim the boat around with him in it. Sometimes I would drop him off on the shore and follow him in the boat. We enjoyed it a lot.
Boating Spencer
Spencer in Tall Grass
Captain Spencer
(Unfortunately my inflatable rowboat did not hold two dogs. So with the acquisition of Lorelai, the outings on the lake had to stop. Plus, I’ve moved to Morgantown now and there is no lake nearby on which I could go boating in my small boat).
Spencer became a different dog when he came to live with me. He became happy and playful and friendly to humans and other dogs. He will even let little children pet him on our walks as long as I am close by and supervising them.
Spencer was trying so hard to play with the cats, who would not play with him, that after about a year of having Spencer, I decided to get him a dog friend, Lorelai. Well that did not work out so well. As a rescue dog, Lorelai has some issues with agression that she takes out on Spencer. (You can read more about Lorelai on her page). Spencer has been the victim of several Lorelai attacks that have resulted in Spencer having to go to the vet for skin staples and stitches. She has completely mangled his right ear to the point where it doesn’t even stand up anymore because the muscles are so badly damaged. Horrible, right? I know. Spencer came to live with me to have a better life. He had a wonderful life for about a year and then a new dog came and he became the victim of domestic violence.
But it’s allright now. Mike and I engaged the services of a dog behaviorist who has helped tremendously with Lorelai’s aggression. When Lorelai is in the house with Spencer and we are home she has to wear a muzzle so Spencer can feel safe. Spencer definitely feels safer. In the five months since we contacted Dr. Maxwell, Spencer has spent a considerable amount of time inside with us instead of sitting outside all the time. He looks happier. He’s started talking again. He plays the run-around game in the house with anyone or anything that will play with him. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was a young pup.
Unfortunately it is becoming clearer by the day that Spencer is rapidly aging. He doesn’t hear very well anymore. This is probably partly because of the damage inflicted by Lorelai, partly because he has selective old man hearing (he only hears you call him when he wants to), and because he’s ten years old. But Lorelai can’t be blamed for Spencer’s failing eyesight. He no longer spots the deer in the woods 100 feet away, or the rabbits in the neighbors yards even if they move and you point them out. It’s very sad considering a couple of years ago Spencer caught a baby turkey out of the sky. I suppose it is inevitable that Spency will age and die and move on as all things must, but it will still be a sad day. Afterall, no matter how we started out, he is now, and will forever be, my Spency Puppy.
Me and Spence - Keyser, WV - Fall 2006