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..I've ever been given. I got Tris from his breeders as a gift when I stayed with them in 1990-91 as a doggy au-pair. He was a clever puppy, he and his sister Josie were the escape artists of the litter!!
Tristan had a temperament second to none. He was never aggressive towards anyone or anything, I think he trusted the whole world. He liked children and old people the same, and was always ready for a game. He was never afraid of anything, and was a bit like a rock, the good-old Tris, so reliable and never letting you down. The perfect dog.
Tristan did it all. Well at least most of it! He did all the usual dog sports liking Obedience best. He did water rescue and some working trials (tracking & messenger). He was a show dog and a herding dog, working both sheep & cattle.
He was every boy's dream dog, their own 'GSD Roi'. You could do everything with him. He learnt quick as he truly got BRAINS, so he was the perfect playmate! He travelled on an aeroplane, a ship, a rowing boat, a bus, a car, a train and never caused trouble. He was a real all-rounder, a jack-of-all-trades!
He also loved water... swimming or catching the drops.. When there was huge snowflakes slowly drifting from the sky, he tried to catch them all... He was rather ball-crazy, I used to say that round objects smell differently because he found balls from behind closed doors! (And was handy at opening them!). We could not have balloons at May 1st (vappu) because Tris loved to bite them so that they'd say big 'BANG'! And fireworks... most people keep their dogs inside because they don't like fireworks but Tris was inside because he tried to catch them all!! :D He was SO much fun, albeit a bit ball-crazy... But my first dog did not like to retrieve, so I just loved it that he liked to retrieve things.
He run by my bike, no leash, and would change sides when I said so... He could run round the house on command, and bark on command (only one or two BIG woofs! as he really was not into barking), he could play dead when I said 'bang!' and pointed a finger at him.. and roll over. Sometimes I think he understood every word I said to him.
He was a super Obedience dog winning a CACIOB along the way, a good Agility dog (3rd in Fin Championships in 1994!) and a clever herding dog - passed the herding test just before turning 2 years old.
He had a succesful show career winning 4 CCs, 4 CACIBs and one res-CACIB from Finland and one CC from Estonia (the first CC on offer there ever was). Over here the dog also needs one result either from WT, sheepwork or must have passed the Character Test before it can become a ShCh. In 2007 Tris was still the only Show Champion BC who has ALL these qualifications, he had a WT result (VK1) and had passed both Shepherding Test and Character Test.
Even though he was anything but a serious dog, as a younger dog he hated to do things wrong and rather did nothing than did wrong. He was an honest dog, when he had learnt it right and got some confidence under, he did well. Remember, he was my first real obedience dog, and we learnt together. My biggest help when it came to obedience, was a friend from England as those days people here really did not know how to train a BC a good way. And thanks, my then-neighbour & good friend Nina L., for the many scent exercises done at late hours before a competition... (he did not have a problem with scent, other than being too keen and forgetting to use his nose...).
Especially proud I have been on two occasions when there has been a match against Kelpies/Beardies and Tris was the Best Dog of the whole Match getting points from obedience, agility and breed - talk about brains and beauty!! :)
Tris sired 8 litters. Most of them are working dogs in the farms around Finland (one used to herd reindeer in Lapland!), some are working in the highest class in Agility, Obedience and WT, and there's two CC-winners (breed). So I'm very proud of them all. His daughter Pilli (Int Fin S AgCh Cabaroo Raving Reel) is the first Finnish BC to become an International Agility Champion. Another daughter is Nordic ObCh and Ob World Winner Runner-up in 2006 and the European Ob Winner 2007.
Hopefully Tristan's sons and daughters will continue this line. I am very fortunate that Tris will live on in his offspring, although not all of his kids inherited his wonderful friendly temperament.
Tristan was retired from all competitive dog sports at 12 years old. He did something for the fun of it until the end but his hearing was not too good anymore (2003) and I had ended up waving all sorts of hand signals..:) Tris was always ready for a game, not wanting to miss anything. He used to steal the dumbells from the training bag and carry those...
On 6th June 2004 old age became too much of a burden for Tristan and I had to let go of my best friend. Until the last day he had been a healthy dog, and was waving his tail even while I was shedding endless river of tears into his coat at the clinic. If he could have spoken he'd have said "I love you, too, now give me the ball!". ;)
He was my 'Once-in-a-Lifetime' dog, and I cannot help comparing all the others to him.. in every way. I am very glad to have his greatgranddaughter Nevada, and now that she's 2 years old I can say that at least she is as clever as her gr.granddad, and has just as great temperament. And is almost as beautiful as he was handsome. :)
Thank you for the Gray Family for letting me have Tristan, and thanks Tris for the nearly 14 years you spent with me. His Heaven is full of tennis balls, dumbells and sheep, :)
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