Tosh's Page

Tosh

Sweet MacIntosh, UD, PT, AD, VAD "Tosh"
April, 1986 - December, 2000

Tosh was a Shetland Sheepdog, as are most of the dogs I have had. He was the first dog that I owned, although I grew up with a westie as well as a variety of cats. He was a wonderful companion for me all his life, and it was a tough moment for me when we decided to put him to sleep in late December, 2000. Together, we learned about and competed in obedience, agility, herding, flyball, and frisbee. Since I was new at dog training, I made a LOT of mistakes, and so Tosh never achieved as much as he might have if I knew what I was doing. Still, Tosh earned a Utility Dog (UD) degree in obedience, a Pre-Trial Tested (PT) in herding, and Agility Dog and Veterans Agility Dog (AD, VAD) in agility.
Virtual Dog Show Awards

Tosh placed in every class I entered him in at the 3rd Virtual Dog Show! A total of 5 placements, including Runner-up in the Costume Class, and third in the very popular Activity class!

Tosh also took 3rd Place Shetland Sheepdog and a Judge's Award of Merit in the 2nd Virtual Dog Show!

Hear Tosh bark!
Hear Tosh sing!

Click on any of the thumbnails to view a larger jpeg of the picture.
My favorite picture of Tosh
Here's one of the best pictures I've taken of Tosh; it is now "appearing" on my background at the Dogpatch.

Tosh as a puppy
Tosh discovers his reflection in the mirror at about 10 weeks old.

Tosh the jumper
When he was young and scrawny, Tosh was quite a jumper, as this picture shows.

Tosh the Obedience Dog
Tosh finished his UD when he was only three and just starting to grow a decent coat. As a result, most of the pictures of him doing obedience work do not show what a lovely dog he became.

Tosh in the window.
He could also lie in windows when he was younger, which often startled people walking by.

Tosh the Clown Dog
I sometimes think Tosh would let me cut off a leg if I wanted to. He is just the type of dog that never questions what you want, just does his hardest to please. This picture shows the kind of things he will put up with.

The Sophiticated Clown
Tosh in another clown outfit.

Tosh the Reindog
Here's Tosh in his Christmas outfit.

Tosh takes flight
And here he does his "Flying Reindeer" impression.

Tosh doing the A-frame
Here I am with Tosh in an agility demo.

Tosh learning to herd
This was taken fairly early on in Tosh's herding training, but he's starting to get the idea.

Retrieve Over Spirit
One of my favorite demo performances was to have Tosh retrieve a dumbbell using one of my other dogs as a jump.

Tosh through the tire
My favorite agility photo of Tosh, this was featured in the "365 Dogs" Calendar.

Tosh on the Dogwalk
Another agility photo. Tosh was never fast, but he was very accurate and reliable and seldom made a mistake.

Tosh the Frisbee Dog
He may not have won any competitions, but Tosh was the best Frisbee Dog I have owned.

Tosh, my lap dog
A friend took this picture at one of Tosh's last agility trials. Is this a contented dog, or what?! (Thanks for the picture Cindy).

Tosh in his veteran years
No, he'd never win a prize for conformation, but he was still a beautiful dog. You had to take a picture quick after grooming him, though, as it did not look this nice for long!

Tosh in repose
For a dog that hated strangers as a young dog, Tosh mellowed a lot in his older years and would often lay right next to people.