History of The Amazing Al

The Amazing Al

Al is a performing PBGV. He does shows with other dogs in a group called "Paws for Fun" in Fresno California. Currently the performance group consists of a Yorkshire Terrier, two Border Collies, three Shelties and one PBGV. This article will explain the history of Mr. Al and how he came to be The Amazing Al.

Al's first day at his new home

Al came into our lives May 28th 2000 at seven months, noisy and shy. We met the breeder, Cathy Craft (Daisyhill PBGV's), and Al in Los Banos, half way between San Jose and Fresno, California. We live in Fresno. His name is Daisyhill's Al Lopez. I have had Bernese Mt. Dogs since 1980, so a little scent hound was a new exciting experience.

We put Al in basic obedience immediately. We had never seriously trained a dog before. His wonderful trainer, Melody Daggs, said that Al would be a good dog for her canine performance group. We were so excited. A dog that would learn tricks. The next week Melody said Al would never be able to be in the group because of his shyness. We soon realized that Al would have to stay in school most of his life, due to his shyness. He went through Basic Obedience, Intermediate twice, Advanced, Utility and then . . . I bugged Melody for a performance class. Al never competed for titles in obedience. Then we started his performance career. There was beginning, intermediate and advanced performance school. Al has been in the performance group "Paws For Fun" since early 2002. Steven, my husband did most of the training before the performance classes, then I kind of took over.

Besides training Al, we found ourselves constantly making props for Al. Some of the props have been a challenge. His props include a door, basketball hoop. Wagon, skateboard, dump truck and accessories, beds, hiding box, jumps, mailbox, corral fence, trashcans, bucket, lunch pail, shoes, walking board, etc.

Al skating down the sidewalk is a familiar site in his neighborhood.

Al is known for being the only skateboarding PBGV in Fresno. He opens doors (unfortunately Al uses this skill to get in the kitchen garbage, etc.), pulls wagons, has a box he jumps in; closes, peaks and jumps out of. He also plays basketball, soccer and has his own version of flyball and bowling. Al has several go to bed routines. He can put his baby to bed, cover him, put his paw on the bed and head down and then jumps in his own crib. He also prays, rolls up in a blanket and can steal the blanket from me lying down. He can retrieve a Kleenex on sneeze command and open the trash to dump it. Al can open his mailbox, bring me the mail, take the refused letter back, shut the mailbox door and put the flag down. He has a crowd-pleasing coal mine routine with roadside cones, coal and a dump truck. Al can retrieve various objects of different texture on command (cone, lunch pail, box, bucket, baby, etc.) Al is also learning freestyle (dancing). The reason Al is the prop dog is because he needs something to focus on. I send him into a dance move and he just goes off a direction of his choosing. I still have hopes for his dancing. Al knows many advanced dance moves, but is not reliable to perform because he is easily distracted.

Cathy Craft, Al's breeder, dubbed Al "The Amazing Al". She still had not seen him perform, but I had kept her informed of his training progress. His first "show" was at the Second Annual Northern California PBGV Picnic in September of 2002. A rather informal exhibition.

Al knew a lot of simple tricks before he started performance. Melody Daggs always taught us a few tricks in each class and extra points were given for tricks at the final. Al always did many tricks trying to bring his score up from his sloppy obedience skills. He started out with simple wave, spins, turns, circle, around, drop dead, retrieve different types of objects, rollover, pull, etc.

Al has many skills and is always wanting to learn more. He will come poke me to train and will sit in front of me asking, "what are we going to do now? I am ready." It is difficult to constantly present a challenge of new tricks/routines for Al. Al thinks just about everything is a new prop. About a year ago we purchased a Booster Bath to save my back from the weekly dog washing. I said the next big dog I get I am getting a tub. The new Bernese Mt. Dog was coming soon so we ordered the Booster Bath. Al was so excited when the packages arrived. He could hardly wait for my husband and I to assemble the tub. Instantly he jumped in the tub and looked at me for a treat! A new trick he thought.

Al goes to school with food on his mind. Our classes are held in the reception room of Elaine's Animal Inn and Spa. All of the other dogs in his performance class get very excited to go to class and socialize with each other. Al does not go to school to socialize. Al, if unleashed, checks the storage rooms (found a box of big dog sized biscuits once and helped himself), pushes all doors open, checks all of the trash cans, surfs all reachable counters and then vacuums the floor. He tends to sleep in class on his rug unless asked to perform. The other dogs are all alert. Al has the same laid back behavior at his shows. I have to wake him, change his clothes and get him going!

"Al, did you do this? That makes six."

Besides The 2003 National PBGV Specialty, Al performs at PBGV events, retirement homes, elementary schools, Children's Hospital and dog related events. Al is the clown in the group and several of the performances are geared for Al to do things his way.

I suppose, looking back and seeing all of the obedient, attentive Border Collies, Labs, Aussies, etc. In our class, that Al was difficult to train. No one ever told us that you couldn't train a PBGV. Al is very stubborn, loses motivation with a skill that is "mastered" and often refuses to do what you want or does it his way. Because of his "cuteness" he gets away with his behavior and is quite popular with the audience.

Al is still a PBGV; stubborn, noisy, major squirrel chaser (six confirmed under his belt), a natural clown, a little bully and a cry baby when left behind. Al is very quiet in class and no one has heard his fog horn.

Click here to read how Al learned his skills.