Brogan’s American Lager

From Hero To High Flyer…

Brian and I had been talking about getting a third dog for quite some time, but found ourselves getting cold feet in the process.  We had inquired about a couple of dogs, waiting for “that feeling” to emerge to indicate that we found just the right fur-child to add to our family.  Brian and I had been talking about this one particular mixed-breed we both saw online in a rescue, but kept having mixed emotions, so we held off on advancing any further.  On Friday August 21, 2015, as I sat on our porch waiting for Brian to get home from work, I thought I would tell him to go ahead and call about the dog we had been talking about so much to find out more information that may help us make a definite decision one way or another.  Not even 30 minutes after that thought, I received a phone call from our friend, Gwen, the President of Tidewater DockDogs, one of the affiliated clubs of the DockDogs organization that we belong to, explaining that SOC had a 3 year old male GSP, who is a retired Explosives Detection Canine, in need of a home.  With the dog’s best interest and love of water in mind, John, the man in charge of the dog, contacted Gwen of Tidewater DockDogs to inquire if she knew of anyone involved in the sport that is familiar with the breed, would have access to water at home, and would get the dog involved in dock diving.  (There are other affiliated clubs closer to John’s location – However, Gwen was the only person listed with a phone number in reasonable proximity!!) Gwen called me immediately.  During this conversation with Gwen – without even having seen a picture of the dog – there it was – – “that feeling” kicked in.

Gwen forwarded an email from John, the man who had the GSP at his company’s facility.  The email included some information about the dog, 4 pictures, and a video of the dog training to detect explosives.  In the email, John explained that the dog’s name was Nayt (pronounced Night), and included that he was born in the Netherlands. John also listed Nayt’s birthday, weight, and training (Single purpose Explosives Detection Canine, certified under the ATF National Odor Recognition Test standards for 33 explosives).  John stated that he would have adopted the dog himself, if it weren’t for the fact that both his condo in Virginia, and his primary home in Florida do not have the space for Nayt to play.  John stressed that his company’s desire is to have someone adopt Nayt that will provide the opportunity for him to play, exercise and enjoy himself  – with access to water, which he loves. John stated, “If Nayt sees water,  he’s in it  – and it usually takes 45 minutes to get him OUT of it!!”

Here are the pictures included in John’s email:

We love the German Shorthaired Pointer breed, and are fascinated with how different each GSP’s markings are, as they can be solid black, black and white, black roan, solid liver, liver roan, or liver and white.  If the GSP is not a solid color, the American Kennel Club refers to their markings as patched, patched and ticked, or ticked.  Although we think every GSP we see is unique and stunning, we are very partial the solid liver and liver roan coloring – and even chose our dock diving team name to be The Liver Killers (a “play” on the coloring of Cello and Hooch (liver) with the human liver,  and their alcoholic-beverage-themed names.  When I viewed the pictures of Nayt, I  saw that he was liver roan, and was in love for sure!

Also included in John’s email, a video of Nayt training to detect a specific explosive:

Shortly after I received the email, Brian came home.  I relayed my conversation with Gwen to him, and showed him the pictures and video.  I could tell immediately “that feeling” had set in for Brian as well.  Brian almost immediately called John.  Brian felt very comfortable with the conversation he and John had, and John felt we were a good fit for the dog.

On Sunday, August 23, 2015, the entire Beadling pack (minus our cat, Loki) set out on a road trip to Martinsburg, WV to meet Nayt and John.

When we arrived at the facility in Martinsburg, John met us outside.  He led us all inside, where we were able to secure Cello and Hooch in separate crates so that Brian and I could meet Nayt before introducing him to Cello and Hooch.  We were greeted by a friendly and very energetic GSP with a toy drive like no other!  After meeting Nayt, and speaking with John and one of Nayt’s trainers, we introduced the three dogs on-lead, walked them all together outside, then into a fence-in yard to see how they interacted.  All went well outside in the yard with the three dogs socializing appropriately.   Nayt quickly won our hearts over with his vibrant personality, and handsome build – -and the decision was made to adopt him into our family.  He came home with us that very day.

Nayt had his own soft Captain America blanket to lay on for his ride home.

Unsure of how the three pups would ride together for our 3.5 hour ride home, I sat in the back seat with the two boys…

…And Cello got to ride Shotgun on her Queen Elsa blanket, using Olaf as a pillow … (what a Diva!)

More about Nayt…

Nayt is 3 years old, and served the United States of America for one year as an Explosives Detection Canine in Iraq.  He decided that his GSP instincts and love for water were more fun that searching for explosives, and was discharged from his duties.  He can identify over 30 explosives, and his journeys have led him to quite a few states here in America, and even to a couple of countries overseas.  This world traveler has been to The Netherlands, Iraq, Jordan, North America, Minnesota, Indiana, New York , Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and now, New Jersey.  Check out maps of his travels by clicking HERE. 

Nayt is now known as Brogan’s American Lager – “Lager” for short.

Brian’s grandmother, Fran Brogan, who loved Cello and Hooch, had just recently passed.  Lager’s name incorporates Brian’s grandmother’s last name (Brogan), our country’s name (America), for whom he served, and a continuation of our “Liver Killer’s” alcoholic-beverage-themed names  – with a “play” on our log cabin (logger) and a type of beer (Lager).  The word lager is also of German origin, linking his name to his breed.  🙂

Lager had some themed toys waiting for him at his new home… Captain America, a stick of dynamite, and his very own Chuckit training bumper for the lake! 🙂

So far, Lager is doing well, and our family is adjusting nicely.  Lager has not yet met our cat, Loki.  We plan on slowly introducing them in the near future, as to not overwhelm Lager or Loki.  Lager is enjoying playtime with Cello and Hooch in our side yard, goofing off in the baby pool, and has already displayed his love of water and diving off our dock! We plan to enter him into a dock diving competition before the 2015 season is over, to see if he would be comfortable jumping into a clear-water pool.

Lager doing Big Air off our dock:

Lager doing Extreme Vertical off our dock!

Welcome home, Lager!