PR Dixieland Shageluk CGC, TT, U-UD, born February 2, 1990, came home with me at eight weeks of age. His sire is Hurricane Frederick and his dam is Good News Kishka. Shageluk was named to honor of my mother, who selected the name (which is a town near Iditarod) from an Alaskan map for one of her first Siberian pups. Siri taught Shageluk the ropes and mothered him. I began teaching him obedience at an early age.

At about nine weeks of age he experienced two traumas while he was with me. The combination left him scarred with fear of strangers, some dogs and especially children. Although he was permanently altered and perpetually frightened of sounds and motion, I trained him daily.

He earned his Companion Dog title in the first few years, the Companion Dog Excellent title at seven, and then we went for Utility. Once he knew the exercises well, I began showing. We trialed seventeen times before he qualified the FIRST time. Finally at nine, he earned the title of UKC Utility Dog. I retired him because he had worked SO hard and, while he loved the work, he was always frightened by the strangers and commotion of shows.

He has wanted to please me more than any dog I've ever owned, and I share a special bond with him. He is the senior citizen in my home and nicknamed "the Godfather" because he has chosen the job of teaching young dogs whatever he thinks they need to know. Occasionally those lessons have drawn blood.

My pride in him is boundless because he performed for me in spite of his fears. I thank him daily for is devotion. A Utility Title is a testimony to love and respect, given and received and permanently recorded in history.