It is with heaviest of hearts, we share that in February of 2021 that our beloved Quinte Canine's Wrangler passed to the rainbow bridge. He was the inspiration and mascot of Quinte Canine and was loved by so many. This loss will be felt by so many for a very long time. They say that once in a lifetime a dog comes along who takes a very big piece of your heart when they leave, they call this a Heart Dog. As Yvonne’s heart dog, Wrangler was so much more. He was her daily laugh, her confidant, her motivation and her best friend. He will be very missed and well remembered. He had an incredible life filled with wonderful things. From his lifelong volunteer work for animal charities and stellar working career to his goofy antics everyday, his memory will live on forever. Go play now sweet boy.

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Some of our students and friends have put together an amazing legacy to Wrangler. For many years, Wrangler enjoyed helping animal charities through fundraising and what better way to honor his work then to help a great cause. The Humane Society Hastings Prince Edward (formally Quinte Humane Society) building fund is near and dear to our hearts and ensuring other animals have the best chance at an amazing life is an important goal. Our friends have set up the Wrangler Trust Fund which we make multiple yearly donations to. Community donations to this very important cause will help continue to build and make improvements to the new shelter Please visit https://humanesocietyhpe.ca/donate/ to make a donation, please enter Wrangler’s name (or 'Wrangler trust fund').

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This page is now dedicated to his memory. Thank you Wrangler for being the good of boys and showing us how to truly love life!

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Wrangler was a male red/black German Shepherd Dog with a big personality and a happy attitude. Although he enjoyed many different activities and dog sports like Tricks, Hiking and Scent Detection he was happy to curl up at your feet and relax.  

 

He received his first title in October of 2013 where he was a gentle giant completing his Canine Good Neighbour (CGN) evaluation. In May of 2014 Wrangler completed his Herding Instinct Certification (HIC) in Baxter Ontario where he was noted by the judge "to not only have the skill, talent and instinct, but also a strong desire to herd."  

 

Wrangler completed his Rally Obedience Novice title (RN) with a third place, second place and a High in Class scoring (three successful scores must be recorded to earn the title).  In November of 2014 Wrangler completed his Rally Obedience Advanced Title (RA). The very next weekend he received his Rally Obedience Excellent Title (RE) with back to back qualifying scores. 

 

In September 2014 Wrangler was evaluated and received his Expert Trick Dog (ETD) title. To earn ETD he had already earned his Novice Trick Dog (NTD) title, Intermediate Trick Dog (ITD) title and Advanced Trick Dog (ATD) title. In March of 2017 Wrangler received his Trick Dog Champion Title (TDCH)! He proudly wears this new title, in which he received a perfect score for, with pride. Wrangler is the 2nd German Shepherd Dog in Canada to achieve this title!

 

On Saturday September 27th, 2014 at the first scent detection trial in South Eastern Ontario Wrangler earned his Scent Detection Started Special title (SD-S-SP) with a Gold score of 97%. He placed 1st in Advanced Container search with a perfect score of 60, earned 3rd place in Started Container search and a 3rd place in Started Exterior search. In May of 2015 he earned his Scent Detection Advanced Special Title (SD-A-SP) with another Gold score of 98.5%. He was again awarded many great placements with a 1st place in Advanced Container Score (perfect 60), 1st place in Advanced Container Time, 2nd place in Advanced Interior Score and 2nd place in Advanced Exterior Score. In October of 2015 Wrangler earned his Scent Detection Excellent (SD-E) Title with yet another Gold score, multiple placements and even a few more perfect scores. He placed overall 2nd in Excellent at the Competitive K9 Trial in Ottawa and again 2nd place overall at Quinte Canines Scent Detection trial. In July of 2016 Wrangler achieved his Scent Detection Champion (SD-CH) title under judge Pando Stepanis with another gold score of 96%. In October of 2016 Wrangler achieve his Scent Detection Master Champion Title (SD-MACH) under judge Russ Fox. Wrangler is the 12th dog to ever receive this title (10 titling scores at the Advanced or Excellent Level, at least three (3) scores must be from the Excellent and the team must have at least three (3) Gold scores at any of those levels). At the same trial he was awarded High in Trial, being the highest scoring dog of the trial with a 97% overall score. In May 2019 he achieved his SDDA Scent Detection Games Aerial title with a third qualifying score and in September achieved the Scent Detection Games Distance title with a third qualifying score. In Cornwall Ontario in August 2019 he began the new CKC Scent Detection earning his Scent Detection Instinct (SDI) and Scent Detection Novice (SDN) titles. 

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In 2015 Wrangler retired from regular trips to the Ontario Veterinary College at University of Guelph where he helped to save lives as a blood donor.  With each donation he made he saved up to four other dogs! He also enjoys helping local animal organizations in any way he can but especially by wearing his donation buckets and thanking people for their support with a bark. 

 

Many people regularly asked about his tongue and why there are spots on it? When he was only a few months old the first tiny spot appeared and thinking it was dirt we tried to wipe it away. As more spots appeared and the spots grew larger it became apparent that the spots where simply his 'birth marks'. Looking at him now it is normal and we could not imagine him without them.  

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In October 2019 Wrangler was forced into retirement from dog sports and performance due to health issues. His final detection trial was in September 2019 under judge Paul Dyer, who was the first ever judge Wrangler trialed in detection under back in 2014. Wrangler's condition is now stable but will not improve. Stopping and slowing deterioration and pain free living is currently top priority and the ultimate main goal. Wrangler is currently pain free, living happily with Yvonne and family, completing physiotherapy daily and getting as many cuddles as possible.

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In July 2020, after enjoying some time in retirement, Wrangler had the opportunity to join a CARO Rally Trial virtually! Due to physical limitations and his disabilities he is unable to attend regular trials in person. This was a wonderful experience. Not only did he pass all three qualifying scores to earn his CARO Rally Novice title but he achieve Magna Cum Laude (latin for: with greatest praise), this is reserved for dogs with a total score over 95%. Wrangler did not just get 95%, but in Wrangler-like-fashion, he earned a perfect score in each trial with 200/200, 200/200 and 200/200. We are very proud of the 'ol man' for showing he still has skills and love to work with us.

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You might notice that in our large training room, there is a dedication to Wrangler. It is fitting that we named the room 'Wrangler's Room' to honor his zest for life and fun loving nature. 

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