The early years in Idaho

Devo spent the first 7 years of his life in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. His home was a 10 acre doggy paradise (I'm counting our 5 acres and Neighbor Jim's 5). He was a member of a wonderful pack: Ken, Andi, Cosmo, Tasha the big black Rotty mix, Neighbor Jim & his dogs Norm the Corgi and Devo's all time best friend Lucy the Brittany. In the summer time, MeMe and PaPa would come stay. They helped raise Devo from a pup and he just adored his PaPa. They would spend the warm days puttering around the ranch, mowing the grass and burning out the moles.


Devo could have easily been a working dog of some kind. Guide dog, service dog, rescue dog or anything that would keep him engaged and busy 20 hours a day. God knows we did our best to satisfy his desire to work and please all he came in contact with. He never met another dog and decided "OK, now that I know you, I want to dominate you". There was no time for that, there was fun to be had and work to be done. He was however, possessive of his toys. If another dominate dog wanted his toy, he would growl in protest. With the exception of defending Andi and Cosmo from an attack by aggressive neighborhood dogs, this is the only sign anyone ever saw that Devo had wild canis lupus relatives somewhere in his past.

We brought him home when he was 6 weeks old and introduced him to our 6 year old female Golden - Cosmo. She was NOT thrilled at all to have this "Devil Dog" biting her ears and competing for our attention. After about 2 weeks, Cosmo got caught up in the joys of being a puppy again and he was accepted into her pack. For the next 8 years she was his rock and helped raise him to be a sweet and balanced canine who loved his family and everyone he met.

Idaho is where Devo found his voice. One of the first commands he learned was "tell me". When he spoke, everyone jumped (it was so loud). He barked at his playmates when he was at a high level of excitement, but he was never one of those dogs who barked from boredom or frustration. Again, always the perfect gentleman.