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Ardito is an Italian nick name for daring and
bold. It is a derivative of ardire which means "to venture". His call name
is Macsen which is Welsh. It means "the greatest" or "above excellence". As
much care as I took to pick the right dog for search work, I also put the
same care into his name. Macsen (Ardito) is living up to his name and
genetics. Macsen is a great dog to work with. He has a lot of drive and is
intelligent and ambitious. This of course, can provide a challenge - keeping
me on my toes at all times. I love working with this dog. It doesn't matter
what you teach him, he is willing to learn. And he learns quickly. Macsen
has also earned a pet nickname "clown". He loves to do things to make me
laugh. Once he grabbed the dryer ball from the dryer and ran off with it. He
stood over his water dish and as soon as I got close - he plopped it in.
Definitely a bold move!
Macsen's temperament is fantastic - while he
is not a push over - he does accept me as leader. He can be a true
gentleman.
Macsen is working out wonderfully in his
search work. We will look at certification in the spring of 2009. He works
proficiently in wilderness (people and articles), evidence (alleys and small
articles) and cadaver. He is learning tracking along with water and disaster
searching. The ability to handle this without stressing out the dog is
certainly an accreditation to the breeding. The dog loves the variety and I
am certain without it he would become bored if absent.
As Macsen was (and is) growing one of the
things that really impressed me was though he had (and still has)
puppy-like, adolescent behaviour, he could become "adult" on a command. Once
the "search" command is given - it's like a switch. From puppy/adolescent to
"I'm a working dog". He listens to commands, responds and does the work.
Serious work behaviour. Once the exercise is over - then my beloved puppy is
back.
The house vibrates with energy when he is in
it. And as he has proven many times before - he loves an audience. This dog
definitely has personality and looks!
I may be biased towards my dog, but I think
this he is awesome and I love working with him. Searching requires a lot of
trust and a strong bond between the dog and the handler.
Macsen is trustworthy and I couldn't be more
proud of my new search partner.
Cathy Holowaychuk
Cathy and Macsen Bottom Right Corner
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