Tina Turner

Health:

Tina is extremely healthy.  She has not had any medical issues to date.  She has not had any tremors, seizures, weakness in the legs or feet, limping, panosteitis symptoms, issues with her eyes or ears, excessive scratching or other allergy symptoms, soft stools, etc.   She runs, jumps, lopes, lies down, etc without any difficulty. She has never showed signs of pain or any symptoms of illness at any time.  She is extremely healthy and vibrant.

A MOTHER'S LOVE

This past week, Tina (Hammer/River) made the ultimate sacrifice to save her puppies. This kind of selfless devotion, unyielding determination and brave character defined Tina's entire life. Unbeknownst to anyone, including the three different vets we went to for Tina's health, she had swallowed a part of a rope toy, probably to keep it away from another dog that wanted to steal it away from her when they were playing. (Rope toys are never left in the kennels, but only used for the dogs to play with outside on occasion. However, we will now never be using them again.) The severity of her condition never showed up on x-rays and it wasn't until she was well enough for surgery by giving her continuous IV fluids that the true nature of her concerns revealed itself. A long strand of rope had lodged itself in her intestines, tearing and twisting them inside out, which caused part of the intestine to die. Tina must have been in extreme pain, but she never let anyone know how terrible it truly was until after she gave birth naturally to her puppies. No amount of help from the vets was able to bring her back. Tina is survived by five beautiful, healthy puppies (4 females and 1 male). The last vet we saw surprised us with Tina's paw print (shown) to remember her by. She was an exceptionally devoted dog with a superior ability to communicate with humans. We miss her so very much and are so sad that she is not here to be with her puppies that she loved with her very life.

Temperament:

Tina is a very smart dog. She learns very quickly and complies well when asked to do things she may not ultimately want to do. She is a very mature dog, but she does like to be chased by the other dogs. Tina does not like to be bored. When she is bored she goes into seeking mode where she looks for things to do, which can include finding weaknesses in the fence or tearing up her plush toys. She loves human affection and attention. She loves being groomed and pet. She loves having long-lasting chew toys, such as hooves, bully sticks and antlers. Tina is a balanced dog where she shows submissiveness when appropriate, but is not a push-over. Tina is on the friendly side of aloof. She shows more affection for her family, but also gives strangers a healthy dose of attention. Tina is a confident dog and is not nervous in any way. Tina is bonded with her family, but she does show just a bit of independence. As a puppy, there was a point when she made a decision to comply because she was asked or not comply because she did not want to. She chose to comply and has been consistent in that ever since. Tina has just a bit more energy than we like in our breed. Although she can easily relax and be calm, she does enjoy chasing and playing with other dogs and toys. Tina has a slightly higher drive than we want in our breed. She is alert to squirrels and birds and will move to chase them off, but will call off if prompted. She is a very willing dog. Tina is appropriately touch sensitive and takes very little touch to notice something different is needed. She has an uncanny ability to read human emotion and alter her own emotion to match. Tina possesses a high pain tolerance. It takes a lot of real pain before she yelps or makes others aware. 

Tina is loving and kind to all. She is submissive and does not like conflict. She places herself at the low end of the totem pole and is content and confident to remain there. She is one of the sweetest kindest dogs I've known.

Conformation:

Tina has an excellent shape to her body. She has a more athletic build, but it is very well proportioned and she gets around with ease. Tina has thinner bones than we want, but shows medium sized feet. She is a black/cream colored dog with a long mane, thick tail and little undercoat. Her ears did not rise, but the bases are up. She shows amber colored eyes that glow a golden color when highlighted by the sun. Tina's head is a bit small with too much slope to her stop, but her muzzle is not too long or short. She has a black mask covering her muzzle, but it has lightened some as she's aged. Tina's chest is not as deep as others in the breed, which we actually prefer. She has long legs and can travel distances very quickly. 

Faults:

Tina has no faults in health. Tina has just a bit more energy and drive than we need. Tina is a solid black in color on her back. Tina's bones are too thin. Tina's head is not as large as needed. Tina's ears did not rise.