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Happy Birthday Sniper!

Happy 4th Birthday to Sniper!

A little under 4 years ago, Diana brought a litter of 4 week old puppies to Tracey’s house, and of course I was there! I had wanted a puppy from this litter since the idea of it was first bandied about – a puppy from two of my favorite dogs? HELL YES.

There were 9 puppies in the litter. Diana brought in an x-pen and set it up and then she brought in the crate full of baby Ratties. Before she had even opened the crate, a crowd of adult Rat Terriers had gathered around the x-pen to see what the newbies would look like. When Diana opened the crate door, one puppy bounded over the rest and was out of the crate like a flash! For a moment, he decided that he was bigger and tougher than any of those other dogs, and decided to bark and growl at them to tell them who was the boss! When the other dogs didn’t respond to his display of power, he decided to change tactics – he was outnumbered, so Plan B was to go into a play bow, wag his nubbin and try to make friends with the big dogs.

Even then, none of the other dogs had made it out of the crate yet!



Sniper at Four Weeks Old



I pointed to him and told Diana that I didn’t care which dog that was, it was mine. When I picked the puppy up, I was happy to discover it was a boy like I had wanted in the first place. Yes, I know – it wasn’t the most scientific method of picking out a puppy, but I didn’t care. I wanted a sassy little show dog, and I knew he was going to rock the show ring.

Sniper’s registered name is SRK K2 Zero Sight Adjustment. The SRK and K2 on the beginning of his name will always be one of the most special things about him. He came from the kennels of two of my best friends, and I was so very proud to have him. “Zero Sight Adjustment” is a military sniper term roughly meaning that the scope is already adjusted for elevation, distance and wind – no adjustments are needed to hit your target!

Sniper has been my cuddle bug, my rabbit hunting buddy, my incomparable show dog, my Alpha dog, my stud dog and my Little Man for the past 4 years. Today at lunch time we went to McDonald's for chicken nuggets - his favorite treat!

I don’t know what I would do without him, and my best wish for his birthday is that we have many more to come!



The dog has hunt! Here he is in a 6" pipe trying to get a rabbit.





Sniper stacks it up for Judge Yamada at the 2012 Rocky Mountain Cluster. Even after all the shows it took to get him in the Top Ten for 2010, Sniper still loves to show!

Photo by Tracey Kallas

Comments

  1. Sniper is a gorgeous little guy! I can't believe there were nine babies in his litter! Isn't that a ton for ratties? Happy birthday Sniper! I hope you have many more wonderful birthdays ahead!

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