Two Tervurens keep their dog trainer, owner on her toes

BY JEFF NAVIN

Reagyn, an elegant 13-year-old Tervuren who will turn 14 in May, doesn’t know what to think about Stetson, her nine-week-old little brother.

Stetson, who weighed 14.7 pounds upon joining the household, likes to bark and follow his older 62-pound sister around the property. He even jumped into the backyard pond for a swim just one day into becoming a member of the family.

The two dogs belong to Valerie Harville, a professional dog obedience instructor who lives in West Melbourne. Harville has had Tervurens since 1960 when she was a child growing up in Michigan.

“My mother was a dog show judge and professional handler,’’ said Harville, who was born in Mississippi but moved to Michigan when she was just a few months old. “She took every breed you could think of to shows all over the midwest. It was always a family business from grooming to training to showing the different breeds. A collie even saved my life when I was 3 by pushing me out of the way of a semi-truck.’’

Her mother then took a Tervuren to a dog show and that breed quickly became the family’s signature dog.

“They’re (Tervurens) smart, quick, agile and easy to take care of,’’ Harville said. “Everyone looks at their fur coat and thinks that they’re a big problem to take care of. They’re really not.’’

The long-haired Tervuren is one of four types of sheep dogs that originated in Belgium. They are mahogany with a black overlay.

The others, also named for cities in Belgium, are the long-haired and solid black Groenendael; the shorthaired Malinois, which is fawn with a black mask and black overlay; and the rough-haired Laekenois, which is fawn with traces of a black overlay in its coat and mask.

All four are considered to be separate breeds by the American Kennel Club.

“Their (Tervurens) only limitation is me,’’ Harville said. “I can’t run anymore. They like to be busy. They’re not a lay-down-by-thefire type of dog that just hangs out. They’re a let’s-do-stuff dog. They want you to challenge them. They’re always ready to go and they’ll always jump up for the next challenge.’’

Harville’s household was in disarray when she adopted Reagyn as a puppy. Her husband Troy suffered from various maladies that led from utilizing a wheelchair to being bedridden before he died 10 years ago.

Reagyn literally was there when Harville needed someone to lean on.

“I fell in the backyard the other day,’’ said Harville, who was a school teacher for 42 years. “I called her over to get an arm around her to help me get up. That’s not the first time she has helped me. She has helped me in so many different ways to make it through the day. I’m here by myself, and I can’t imagine I’d do as well without her.’’

Reagyn also is trained to help the hearing impaired.

Stetson will have a lot of work to do to reach that level.

“I hope that this little guy will do what Reagyn does,’’ Harville said.

“He likes to check things out. There’s a parallel to teaching children. It’s all a mystery. It’s important to know as much as possible about a dog’s lineage to see what their personality will be like. It will take two years for him to be a service dog. Each disability is unique, whether it’s teaching a dog to guide the blind, the hearing impaired or a person with seizures. Dogs pick up on that.’’

Harville likes to train puppies from eight weeks to 4½ months old. Hormones set in at that point to make teaching a little more difficult. That’s why a good foundation at a young age is helpful.

Nutrition also is important for dogs of all ages.

“You want to look at the first five ingredients,’’ Harville said. “If you see stuff you can’t pronounce, you probably shouldn’t be feeding them that. You also don’t want to see corn as one of the top ingredients. You can look at how it comes out. I feed Reagyn dehydrated turkey, pork and beef.’’

For information on classes, contact Harville at harville@digital.net

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Crossword

DOWN

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