I have many wonderful memories of Wizard, the silent, black streak that was our start dog for many tournaments. We borrowed him when Melinda could not go to tournaments and no matter who was his handler he gave it his all.
One tournament in particular we found he'd had a scuffle with a housemate and ended up with a ¾ inch tear in his skin. It was pretty obvious to see. It didn't bother him at all. We didn't want it to get bigger while he was racing and stretching, so we pulled out the little staple gun and put 2 skin staples in his side. Then, all stapled up he ran all day and flashed that spectacular wide grin every heat.
A wonderful judge and friend in the very beginning, Clyde Moore, took a great liking to Wizard at his debut tournament. I don't suppose it had anything to do with the fact that Clyde had his own black, Doberman beauty at home. Clyde was very helpful and encouraging when our young Wiz was having some "greendog" tournaments. When Wizard realized he had a fan, he was more than happy to stop for a good head scratch.