Litter C

Cheetah (“Skully”) SchH3, CDX, TDI, TT was owned and trained by Dr. Greg and Debbie Bach at Jim Hill’s SchH club in Pennsylvania. The Bachs have been very successful breeding Rottweilers.

Additionally, they have written an educational children’s book about a Rottweiler puppy.

Dr. Greg Bach is a renowned clinician and researcher in Lyme disease. He has testified before the US Congress regarding the treatment of this devastating disease. He is currently on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Tick and Lyme Disease Task Force.

Capone was the pick of the litter for Schutzhund. His owner, Diane Boscovski, had just won the SW Regional USA Championship with a female Doberman. It seemed to be the dream placement. However, when Capone was a very young dog, Diane suffered an extreme personal loss and Capone was never trained for competition. The only photos I have of Capone are puppy photos. Here he is at Ft. Sam Houston, TX with Dan Rendeiro.

Calderon (“Deanno”), SchH 3 came back to me at age 16 months  because he was “too aggressive.” When rehabilitating him, I did not “teach him that I was alpha.” I used positive methods to teach him to trust me. He became entirely trustworthy at all times around all people. He was the best SchH dog with whom I ever had the opportunity to compete. He bit like his sire, Bismark, and he tracked like his dam, Avasara. . 

Chantilly, SchH 3 (“Lacey”) was returned to me for being “too aggressive.” She was an excellent dog and became reliable around most people most of the time. 

Chicago, SchH 3 (“Weasel”) was my personal dog. He was incredibly intelligent and usually in trouble for doing something he should not have done.

Carrera (“Molley”) working with her owner, Thomas MacLean and Dean Calderon in Austin, TX. 

Colman’s Calderon vom Bahnhof (“Deanno”), High SchH3 in Trial, High in Trial with Owner/Handler Tina Mayor as well as John Mayor with his GSD, “Jawa,” who was high SchH2 in the same trial. 

Deanno and Tina waiting their turn at a Dean Calderon Seminar in Atlanta, GA. 

 Deanno was a special dog. He was SO intense during protection work, yet such a comedian in all other venues. I have so many memories of him that bring a smile to my face. For example, one day, while tracking in Florida in a fallow field, there were 2×2 stakes about 6 feet long spaced out about every 12 or so feet throughout the length each deep, yet dry irrigation ditch. The vertically placed stakes were most likely to help gage the depth of the water, when there was water in the ditches. Jim Alloway and I had laid tracks in this field. At one point, I had walked approximately two paces past one of these 6′ high, 2×2 stakes, and placed a small wooden dowel as an article for Deanno to find.

When we were following the track I laid for Deanno, the wind was blowing down the ditch toward us as Deanno tracked with me and then Jim, in tow, behind him. Deanno passed irrigation stake after irrigation stake, and then he downed for an indication and stuck his neck out so that his nose touched one of the 6′ long stake sticking out of the ground. It was the stake just before the small wooden tracking article. The wind was blowing toward us, and clearly the article’s scent was blowing such that Deanno could smell it and he thought that this 6′ tall vertical stake must be the wooden article with my scent on it. Jim taunted me for years that “Only a DOBERMAN would think someone took a 6′ stake out and stuck it vertically into the ground on a track as a tracking article” and “NO GERMAN SHEPHERD would EVER do such a stupid thing.” We laughed hysterically every time we recalled the seriousness with which Deanno placed his nose on that very tall tracking article.

When we were teaching Deanno to run blinds, again, Jim Alloway was there. We did the classic protocol of having someone in a blind tease Deanno, then I heeled him away, while this person ran away. The plan was for Deanno to find the empty blind and then to look to me for direction. I would then send him to the “find blind” for his reward. As we discussed this plan, I argued that Deanno would not do this because he knew that people don’t disappear. Jim argued that he had trained 100’s of dogs and no dog ever did anything except find the first blind to be empty and then to look to the handler for direction where upon the dog would then travel to the second (find) blind, as directed. After some arguing about how my dog would never be so stupid to think that someone would just disappear, Jim ordered me to “just do it and see.”

Well, Deanno went to the empty blind, looked at me, and when I directed him to the find blind, he ran numerous circles around and around the empty blind, convinced that the bad guy was just on the other side where he could not see him. A few times he stopped and looked back and forth and back and forth really fast with his head, and then ran a few more laps around the blind, all the while I was yelling his name for him to look at me. Then finally, he put his nose in the air and sniffed out the direction the missing bad guy had run. By this time, Jim had showed himself in the find blind and was jumping up and down, cracking his whip, and trying to lure Deanno to the find blind. Deanno saw him, but apparently thought, “You are not the guy my mom sent me to find. That other guy is around here somewhere!” Deanno then put his nose in the air, sniffed, and ran into the parking lot, finding the bad guy who had been in the blind. He tore the sleeve off of his arm and brought it back to me. He never did go to the find blind because he found the “vaporized” bad guy who had been in the blind when we heeled away. Again, Jim teased me for years that no “NORMAL dog, no GERMAN SHEPHERD would ever be so stupid.” I thought Deanno was quite smart and quite logical to know that there is conservation of people, that is, they don’t just DISAPPEAR.

One of the funniest things a dog ever did to me, that was very much not funny at the time it was happening, was something that Deanno did at a SchH trial. Because our helpers were trialing their own dogs, we had an older, smaller gentleman in the find blind for the first exercise. Deanno ran into the blind and did NOT bark. From my perspective, I could not see what was happening in the blind. I thought, “Oh, no, he saw the guy was small and older and decided to bite without barking. Humm? Deanno isn’t usually a bully like that. I wonder why he decided to do that.”

Just then, he strolled out of the blind and out into the crowd and started to kiss people in the crowd. I was horrified. Why had he not barked at the bad guy in the blind? The judge had me call him back to me and send him into the blind again. This time, he did a bark and hold and an almost perfect routine, but because he had left the field on that first send to the blind, I only received an 80 sufficient in protection, which was a tragedy because he had V-rated tracking and obedience.

Later, when I watched the video of the event, Deanno had run into the blind, saw the smaller, older man, jumped up on him and kissed his face, and then strolled out into the crowd. Apparently, he did not think the helper was threatening. Thus, decided to make the rest of the trial a social event, until I called him back and ordered him back into the blind.

Although he was VERY protective in real life, he was also such a character. He thought a lot. He was very smart. I loved that dog so much. He was so funny. He actually appeared to have a sense of humor.

I could go on and on with stories that earned Deanno the name of “Scooby Dooberman,” but I won’t. 

Colman’s Calderon vom Bahnhof (“Deanno”), High SchH3 in Trial, High in Trial with Owner/Handler Tina Mayor as well as John Mayor with his GSD, “Jawa,” who was high SchH2 in the same trial.

Deanno and Tina waiting their turn at a

Dean Calderon Seminar in Atlanta, GA. 

Deanno tracking in Florida.

Deanno on 9-11-2001. after the Towers fell