Luc the wonder dog!
Meet Luc (pronounced "Luke").
Luc's not exactly a South Bay dog, he lives in Tehachapi.
But Luc really wowed the judges at this month's South Bay AKC show at North High School in Torrance. He was the highest scoring dog and highest combined scoring dog in obedience trials.
Next stop: the AKC Agility Invitational Dec. 13-14 at the Long Beach convention center. That's a pretty big deal -- it's national -- and open to the public if you want to go watch.
Owner Louise Fox Meredith's former border collie, Twister, won this event in 2003.
At six years old, Luc competes nearly every weekend somehwere. So far, he's earned 11 perfect scores which is really quite amazing. But it doesn't come easy. Meredith works with him for about an hour five days a week.
Meredith said coming to the South Bay is a special treat since this is where she lived up until about eight years ago (Manhattan Beach and San Pedro). But when she and her husband, Mike, got their first border collie, they headed for the country.
"We could see there wouldn't be enough room (in San Pedro) when the dog began bringing the garden hose all the way upstairs," Meredith told me.
Now they have about 100 sheep and seven border collies on about 20 acres. Sounds like an ideal life to me!
Her husband focuses on sheepherding skills and also competes.
As for Luc, he's pretty much your normal dog when he's not competing.
"In Luc's spare time he loves to play and run, but is also a very devoted companion who loves to cuddle with you on the bed or sofa."
Mike and Louise are headed north pretty soon, for three weeks of shows and sheepherding trials.
Lucky couple, lucky dogs.
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About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
my husband mick tolford and i had one of merediths border collies "rocnee" he died 4 years ago of cancer at 11yrs after a wonderful obedience and flyball career. what a dog!! my husband trained him and showed him until only 9 months before he died. what fun we had and what a pleasure that dog was, there will never be another like him. give meredith my best wishes. i live in san diego now and would love to hear from her. thank you.
Thanks, Donna, for giving Luc the recognition he (and his trainer) deserve. There were many great dogs at the South Bay Kennel Club Shows and Trial and we hope everyone who attended them enjoyed seeing them. Good Luck in your future trial, Luc.