The Passing of Dick Russell

I didn't know Dick Russell personally.  I only spoke to him on the phone maybe 2 times and in person about the same.  But, reading about his illness in the The 225 last week and then hearing he died yesterday has hit me a little harder than anticipated.  For someone I didn't know well, he had an incredibly big impact on our little family here in Baton Rouge.  After adopting heckle and jeckle, aka Ash and Wally, we loved them immediately-but they were exhausting.  And they surfaced all of the grieving I still had for our Flower girl. It wasn't their fault, they were just these puppies who knew they loved us because we were here and they wanted to play play play. And pee and poop and chew on things. And then pee more.  I would get really upset because I wasn't sleeping and would get frustrated. And I missed Flower. And, then I realized even more, that I missed my Dad.  Perhaps adopting dogs while in heavy grieving wasn't the BEST idea in the world-but I thought it would help (and ultimately, I believe it did and I wouldn't change our adoption of them for anything).  As per our previous posts, we contacted Dick Russell based on a recommendation from the shelter and were excited to get started-but we had to wait a bit until the next round of classes.  Just knowing we were going to get help made me feel better. But then I started reading his advice on his website and things started to turned around right away. Simple, straightforward, and once identified, seemed so obvious (but wasn't, obviously) direction for handling many puppy problems.  We jumped on several of them. And, lo and behold, better pups and pup owners emerged.  Again, see previous posts.  But, once we got those things out of the way--the connection to the dogs just got better.  I didn't secretly resent them for not being Flower anymore.  I loved them for being them and couldn't get enough of their personalities (well sometimes, I CAN get enough). 

But, the real win was the class.  I was a little intimidated to be honest.  I had 2 squealing pups trying to do everything they shouldn't. And here are all these other people in similar positions. And, then, Mr. Dick walks out.  He was a bit intimidating.  He OWNED that circle. But, he set us at ease instantly-telling us in his projected slightly gruff, southern voice; "Do not be embarrassed by your dog's behavior. They don't know any better and you don't either. And, they'll be sitting and laying down by the end of our time together today." I felt better. I appreciated his directness and calm nature.  One on one he was funny and kind.  In the big group, he was alpha. Always calm, always kind, always direct, but you just could feel that this was his domain and he was going to keep us in line.  I'll not lie, I was intimidated until the end.  But, it wasn't a fear-driven intimidation. It was a fear of disappointing him intimidation. I barely knew him, but I did not want to disappoint him. He was my motivation for making us do homework with the dogs, even when it was exhausting with 2 and frustrating when Ash WOULD. NOT. LAY. DOWN. for anything. I was at the point I was going to call him. He told us to.  But, I wanted to do it. We could do it-if we just followed his direction. And, we did! Ash finally realized what we wanted and boom! On the ground he went. But, I digress.  Throughout those weeks we'd go to class and Dick would tell us what he wanted, and he would practice in class, and then go home and do homework.  We had workbooks to work from-and he wrote just exactly how he spoke.  Every time I'd reference the workbook I'd hear him like he was in the house with us.  And that aim to please would resurface.  On walks I'd realize what I was doing wrong and have to correct it-and look around to see if I was being observed.  Of course I wasn't, but it was like he was just a presence throughout the training.  Sadly, we didn't graduate.  Which, I will regret forever.  We finished the classes but opted to not go through graduation because the boys still could not sit & stay for long distances or time and I knew we'd fail.  I felt like such a failure and did not want to make that call. I was so embarrassed to admit that we wouldn't graduate. Dick was understanding and told me we could come back anytime to retake the class and graduate.  He had that world famous guarantee-once you've paid, you're a student for life-and he meant it. And, while I know we will never be able to take the class again with Dick Russell, they will always be Dick Russell trained dogs. So, his guarantee will always stand with us. They sit, stay, and mostly heal like champs.  And, they yield to us just like they should.  I find myself referencing him frequently when talking about dogs, even to people who have no idea who he is in other states and cities, and I'm all, but Dick Russell said this is the way. So, this is the way. And, I believe that.  I will also regret that I never got to tell him all of these things.  I learned of his illness late and didn't want to bother him while he was in hospice.  It was time for his family.  But, I am sad that I didn't think to send a card or something in time. So, I'll leave this little blog post for our friends to know how much I appreciate Mr. Dick Russell and all he did for us.

Here is a great article about him the 225: http://www.225batonrouge.com/news/2011/jan/01/training-days

Comments

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It's sad to hear about his death. Anyway, may he rest in peace. Thanks for sharing about this information. Condolence.