“Sirius”

CH Gullhjerte Siriusly Black Magic of Trollheimen ATT

OFA Hips: Good, OFA Elbows: Normal

PennHip: Right DI = 0.25; Left DI = 0.27

OFA CAER (eyes): Normal 2020, 2021 (skipped 2022), 2023

OFA Thyroid Normal (January 2023)

Pedigree COI: 0.36%, Embark COI: 23%

Height: 18.5 inches

Weight: 34 lbs

Embark

Pedigree

OFA

Oh where to start about my best boy Sirius?! I love him so much. He’s been my constant buddy in learning so much about everything—dogs, training, life. Sirius at heart is a gentle soul, someone who looks at the world with kindness. Sirius is one of those dogs who would try to keep a baby bunny as a pet—well, he would try anyway, but his sisters would immediately take it from him and eat it. He is typically very tolerant and gentle with puppies, and looks to me to intervene when he gets overwhelmed rather than handling it himself. He interacts similarly with human children. I once took Sirius to a brewery gathering where a child about 5 years old was clearly very bored with the adult festivities and wanted dearly to interact with Sirius. After some supervised petting and feeding of treats, the human child started throwing a couple of stuffed animals around and yelling “fetch!” Sirius likes fetch-tug games with me, but I was still surprised when he observed the child for a bit and then decided to retrieve one of the toys very gently, dropping it about 2 feet from the excited kiddo. He did about 15 retrieves, each time carrying the toy gingerly in his front teeth by the smallest bit of fabric possible and dropping the toy for the child to throw. When he was tired of the interaction, Sirius sought me out and flopped down under a bench for a break.

He is admittedly a bit of a mama’s boy. He seeks me out for help. He likes to have me hold his chews for him so we can “share.” If I’m working he’ll be napping under my chair, and his preferred sleeping spot is by my feet in bed (when he’s not too hot to sleep on the bed altogether). When I’m not home (but Sirius’ other humans are) he doesn’t do much besides sleep—dramatically. His theme song is “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone” and he’s been described as “mopey” and “a sad, sad boy,” until I return, and then he is typical enthusiastic, playful, goofy Sirius. He is very affectionate and will kiss his favorite people until our faces are thoroughly “macro-derm-abraded.” Unlike his litter sister, Riddy, however, he isn’t one for snuggling or lengthy cuddles. I don’t think I’ve ever tripped over Sirius, and definitely would not call him a velcro dog.

Sirius ranges pretty far from me on our off leash walks, and checks in with me less often than the other dogs. But he’s also has the most reliable recall of my whole crew and is the first to come back to me if he senses something worrisome in the environment. For this reason I see him as more of a partner or teammate, whereas my other dogs are players I am coaching. Sirius is the only dog I trust to guide me in precarious hiking situations, especially if we’re attached by a leash. My girls would just as soon pull me off a cliff as guide me safely anywhere, but Sirius is cautious and looks before he leaps if I’m involved. Which makes it so weird that he is is terribly prone to foot injuries! I guess he pays attention to where I put my feet, but not so much his own. Sirius spends at least one week every season laid up due to pad or toe injuries.

With new people and acquaintances, Sirius is friendly but fairly neutral. This made him easy for me as my first show dog—I never have to worry about him jumping on or cowering from a judge. With Sirius’s inner circle of friends, however, he is very adamant about giving enthusiastic hugs and kisses until he is satisfied his friends feel thoroughly loved.

Sirius is also friendly with other dogs, albeit in kind of an awkward (and frankly, horny) way. If I could narrate his typical interaction with a new canine friend, it would go something like this: “Greetings friend! You smell great. You’ve very cute. May I hump you? Would that be OK? No, not interested in humping? Would you like to play with this toy? Chase? Dig a hole? Just double checking on the humping—still no? Alright then, let’s pee on stuff together. Hey, look, a ball! Come get it! This is a great ball!” That usually takes 5ish minutes (depending how much interaction the other dog is seeking), after which he’s usually pretty content to just walk and explore with his new friend. His on-leash greetings tend to be a little stiff, upright and whiny. The uprightness just seems to be a Buhund thing—I’ve seen very few adult Buhunds who don’t greet this way. The whining is a frustration behavior, and definitely my fault due to some early training and dog-dog interactions. If not managed carefully most Buhunds tend toward “barky-lunge-y” or “reactive” behavior. Sirius had some overwhelming interactions in his early life that I should have managed more carefully, and it says a lot about the stability of his temperament that he didn’t turn out barky-lunge-y, just a little whiny.

Training-wise, Sirius is my ideal. He is food and toy motivated, and forgiving when my communication isn’t as clear as it should be. He is what I call a “Cadillac dog:” luxurious to train, easy, safe to learn with, fast but not wild, and oh-so-smooth–he makes me look good! We’ve trained a lot of sports foundations before diving head first into the show ring. I took a couple of handling lessons before our first show, but really hadn’t trained Sirius very much for the ring. We worked more on showing teeth ahead of time than we did on stacking or gaiting. For better or worse we learned in the ring, and didn’t do half bad! I had some very nice judges and fellow herding group exhibitors, and eventually found my mentor, who coached us where we needed it. Sirius finished his AKC Championship in April 2023, and while he is a lovely example of the breed, I think we would both like to get back to Agility and Obedience rather than trying to compete as a Special.

Sirius might never make a great Special in part because he has a hard time hanging out crated in a grooming area or ringside, especially if I’m working with another dog. He will bark and carry on if he thinks he’s missing an opportunity to work with me. Different rearing and early training would definitely have made a difference here, and he can wait his turn at home, from the car, or in a familiar training setting, but so far his relaxing in a crate skills have not generalized to the show environment. Sirius has a good off-switch now—he can settle when I need him to whether at home, a show (preferably not crated), or traveling. He struggled with this as a puppy/teen however, and it wasn’t until I officially committed to giving him daily, off leash decompression walks that he was able to learn to settle even on minimal exercise days.

The other reason Sirius isn’t the best candidate for a conformation Special is that it’s hard to keep weight on him. Not muscle, but rather the little bit of chubbiness that’s expected in this breed. He likes food just fine, but struggles to consume the required volume of calories to maintain an excessive fat pad while also running 7+ miles per day among other activities. His natural, healthy weight is around 32-34 pounds, while his show weight is about 36-37 pounds. He just quits eating when he is full.

I’m excited to see Sirius pass his best traits on to his offspring. With careful mate selection and rearing, I believe he will produce some amazing sport dogs and active hiking companions.