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"Gator" will always hold a special place in my heart. He is the first born of my first Irish litter. His personality is a cross between a Smurf and the Tasmanian Devil. Finding the right home for this unique individual proved to be very challenging. It was after his third home involving a jealous husband, an untimely exit through a plate glass window, and myself rescuing Gator from a Humane Society, that I decided obedience training was in order. His short stint in obedience proved very successful. After only 28 weeks of training, he got his CD in three straight shows plus a Dog World Award for his high scores. Gator was top Novice IWS for 1994. His scores and numerous placements earned him a national ranking of #3 IWS in the Delaney Rating System. ---Diane Wacker
Gator came to us when he was one and a half years old. Diane Wacker , his breeder, had already done all those fantastic things with him in the obedience ring. We already had Murphy, also an IWS, when we heard of the availability of Gator. Though we are complete lovers of the IWS, we are not active in either show, obedience or hunting areas -we just wanted a pet, and fell in love with the IWS breed. I think it is significant that the way we fell in love was the first time we saw an IWS, and this one happened to be Mulligan, eventually the sire of Gator. Mulligan stared deeply into my eyes that day, and I felt him touch my soul.
Though we love Murphy, he isn't a cuddly kind of guy. At the time we heard of Gator, I was recovering from a major illness, and had decided that I wanted a second dog, mostly because I wanted one who would be happy to lie down on the floor with me and cuddle; an activity Murphy only acquiesced to in between rousing games of ball. We went to visit Gator, who immediately sat down on my lap, rolled over to get his tummy stroked, lifted his paw to hold hands, and stared deep into my soul, just like his dad had done a couple years before. Obviously, the decision had been made, and Gator came to live with us.
You know by his record in obedience that Gator is a smart guy. He is also a wonderful cuddly, loving guy. What we learned after he joined our family is that he is his father's son in another way -he's got that squirrel chasing addiction. If there are squirrel chasing possibilities, Gator "goes deaf", and Al says his CD changes to stand for "civil disobedience". We are relieved when winter comes, and the squirrels disappear for awhile.
Gator has another habit -he likes to sit on chairs. When Diane was training him, he had his own red director's chair, and he delighted all by calmly sitting in it, watching all the activity around him. When he came to live with us, he took over a small couch in our sunroom, where he has a good view of the yard, trees, and of course, the squirrels. He sits on his couch for hours, looking like a little Buddha, surveying his domain. Murphy can't believe we let Gator sit up there -he certainly never was allowed to! But, Gator just stared deeply into my eyes, and you know the rest! --- Nancy Ludden and Al Schendlinger