Danny PSA 3

Danny is from a PSA breeding of Zuko (PSA 3) x Isis (PSA 1). He was sold as a pup to a police officer that had the goal of training him for work.  When Danny was just turning 2 I received a call asking if I was interested in testing him as the officer never had the opportunity to train him.  I took Danny immediately with the plan on finding what best suited him, not with the plan of keeping him.  He tested strong for police work so I trained him for patrol, narcotics detection and tracking with the purpose to be sold to a department.  As I got close to selling him, I had a gut feeling that I would regret it.  I hadn’t even considered him for PSA at this point but went with my gut.  I am thankful everyday for that!  Once I decided to keep Danny and compete with him in PSA, of course my goal was to obtain a second PSA 3.  And what better than to do that with Zuko’s son?

Danny is a much different dog to work than Zuko was.  He is a very powerful and serious dog, that is not soft to correction.  His intensity in his work made control a challenge in that setting.  Add that he had 2 full years of “getting his way” to that intensity and that made a lot of work and learning for me.  Danny has an excellent balance of independence and is a clear-headed dog so those strengths were key in helping me gain the proper balance of control while continuing to exhibit his power in protection.

At 4 years old, Danny was ready for the trial field and has left a lasting impression of power since.  I would say he has one of the most powerful entries on the courage test and feel that most decoys would agree. We earned our PDC at the East Coast Regional event and the following weekend traveled again to the last regular trial of the season to earn our PSA 1 with Highest Distinction, earning High Protection and the PSA plaques. Next was the 2013 Nationals where has passed his PSA 1 again with Highest Distinction.  He was the level 1 Vice Champion, took High Protection and was the Decoy’s Choice Top Dog of the weekend.

The following year my training was limited as I had a baby and opened a training facility.  In 2015 we were able to work at earning our PSA 2. We struggled some with control and especially that call-off as Danny enjoys that “hit” on the decoy a little too much but we overcame our flaws and earn our PSA 2 back to back days.  He was the 2015 East Coast Regional Champion along with earning High Obedience and the PSA plaques.

After earning our PSA 2, I felt that it was best to take a full year off of competition to prepare for our PSA 3.  We trained hard in 2016 but ran into an issue of Danny becoming “winded” easily and almost overheating during a mock trial.  Turns out that he developed unilateral laryngeal paralysis, making it difficult for him to breath and cool off normally.  This did not stop Danny but we did have to take precautions, make adjustments to our training and were limited to trialing during the cooler time of year.  In 2017 we were in pursuit of that PSA 3 title!  We earned our first leg on just our second attempt.  We missed a few other attempts in between and then closed out our PSA 3 at the last regular trial of the season, also taking 1st place in the level 3 out of 7 competitors and High Obedience for the weekend!

Despite being the intense powerhouse in his work, Danny is an extremely social dog that continually gets complimented on his sweet temperament.  He has been a great friend and companion to my daughter.  I could not ask for a better dog on and off the field!