Lagoona Lady Daisy CD : 1988 – 2005

Sprog Baby

Sprog, aka Black Dog, Sproggy Dog, Spaghetti, Spaghetti Whetti and Spaggers (thanks Wayne) is the lady of the household. “Lady” I hear you say & she is called that … well… Sprog or rather Sprogget is Gaelic for little child. A friend of my mum’s used to call my sister & I the little Sprogs when we were kids and the name always stuck in my mind so my first Stafford was called after a fond childhood memory.

When I got Sprog I was 19, young and foolish, and wanted a purebred dog that I could do everything with. I wanted to show, do agility, do obedience, start my own kennel, the lot. I wanted a multipurpose wonder dog. I knew I wanted a Stafford as I had at home a Stafford x Kelpie and knew what the Kelpie side was like (having grown up in the country) & didn’t want that in the city so I opted for the Stafford side. I looked up the Trading Post, vowing to get the best dog possible and to look at a few litters before deciding and then I went and bought a pup from the first litter I saw – Sprog was the only one left. A little black bright spark with bad breath, mind you she had bad breath until the day she died – we called it “death breath” because if she breathed on you, you die…. Believe me ….

I thought Sprog was wonderful and took her to my first show only to be a bit disappointed when I saw her sister, who was somewhat more bulkier than my baby and somewhat less terrierish. Still Sprog had her moments in the showring and taught me a lot, winning Reserve to Ch Keltarjess Little Gem on a humid summer 44°C day with over 50 Staffords. This was the highlight of her show career. She got a good cheer that day, while all the other dogs were melting in the heat Sproggy was trotting around as though the weather was perfect, which for her it was, the hotter the better as far as Sproggy was concerned and she loved sun baking on those blistering days when all sensible dogs are heading for shade. So she didn’t turn out to be the wonder show dog.

I then turned to Obedience, where Sprog was just too social and the thought of staying where you are told when there are all these people (especially that kind judge) and other dogs to talk to is just ludicrous. Not to mention Mum expecting her to walk in the rain, the mud and the hail, that is definitely not on, after all she is a ‘Lady’. Sprog struggled through her CD, managing to get it through sheer determination of her Mum. So she didn’t turn out to be the wonder obedience dog.

We then turned to Agility which was very short lived due to her Hip Scores being high, I thought it foolish to continue to push that area as it is taxing on a fit dog let alone one with a problem. So she didn’t turn out to be the wonder agility dog. Sprog was never bred from due to her Hips being an unacceptable grade for breeding and for having supposed Juvenile Cataracts (which never eventuated) plus a bad case of Demodex mites, so she didn’t have bloodlines to add to the Ourgang household but she has handed down mannerisms and behaviour by teaching the puppies her ways, so in that way she has influenced the Ourgang name. If I hadn’t  desexed Sprog I would never have gotten Rage so things are meant to be for a reason. So she didn’t turn out to be the wonder Brood bitch either.

Then we found something Sprog really excelled in – people … I decided I would teach my dogs to become “Outreach” dogs. This was a program specifically designed to help older people in nursing homes and young children in hospital wards by having time with a pet, getting them to talk about their own pets or pets that they have had, getting them to open up or just enjoy touching an animal. At THIS Sprog turned out to be the wonder dog.

The other thing she excelled in was distance running. She can go for miles and for hours without even raising a pant so we decided to do the endurance title with her. She achieved this with ease, being the oldest dog on the day at 7 ½ years (they are only allowed to compete until 8 years) and beat them all with her heart rate as her heart rate actually went down as the test progressed instead of up which confounded all the Vets (I think she was the most tested dog on the day as they kept thinking they had it wrong). So she did turn out to be the wonder Endurance Dog, being the only one of my dogs to get this title and the first Stafford bitch in Australia to get this title!!! Unfortunately she used to use this skill to her advantage by running away into the bush for days at a time, even when she was an old dog!

Later, Sproggy was the one who is asleep in the best spot, attached to the nearest heat source (you think she will burn she sits so close) or eating. For me she deserves every minute of it, she breaks all the rules, totally ignores you and does exactly what she wants, eats, sleeps in the sun or in front of the heater and goes for a little walk in the morning. The greyness crept up, the lumps become more frequent and prominent but she enjoyed life to the end, the main thing I will miss is her  ”Woora Woora Woora” when she is happy which I haven’t had again until now in Onyx.

Cloe > Rage > Maddy > Basty > Murtle > Angel > Oprah > Freddie > Jitterbug