ALeagueof HisOwn

ALeagueof HisOwn

DDeeppuuttyy MMaarryy MMaaccQQuueeeenn

aanndd KK--99 RRoobbiinn,, CCHH.. NNiittrroo’’ss

BBooyy WWoonnddeerr,, SSDDHHFF,, BBIISSSS,,

oonn tthhee jjoobb ffoorr tthhee SSoouutthheerrnn

TTiieerr RReeggiioonnaall DDrruugg TTaasskk

FFoorrccee,, NNeeww YYoorrkk..

DDeeppuuttyy MMaarryy MMaaccQQuueeeenn

aanndd KK--99 RRoobbiinn,, CCHH.. NNiittrroo’’ss

BBooyy WWoonnddeerr,, SSDDHHFF,, BBIISSSS,,

oonn tthhee jjoobb ffoorr tthhee SSoouutthheerrnn

TTiieerr RReeggiioonnaall DDrruugg TTaasskk

FFoorrccee,, NNeeww YYoorrkk..

As a dog lover, good dog stories arealways great. But as a dog trainer, greatdog stories are golden.

This is the story of CH. Nitro’s BoyWonder, A/K/A “Robin.” And that wouldbe ‘Mr. Robin’ to people like me who areprivileged enough to know him.

Robin, the American-Canadian Show Champion. Robin, the Sheriff’s K-9Deputy. Robin, the Narcotics Detector.Robin, the Therapy Dog… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

But in order to really appreciateRobin’s story, let me take you back in timeabout 30 years and make some introduc-tions. Meet Mary MacQueen, Robin’sbreeder/owner/handler and best friend to some amazing Golden Retrievers. In1977, Mary acquired her first GoldenRetriever, and the love affair began. In1988, Mary founded Nitro GoldenRetrievers, and began a breeding programthat has come to produce a long and stel-lar line of show-quality, working-caliberGolden Retrievers. Mary loves her dogs.Mary loves all dogs. But her deep love forthem wasn’tlimited tobeing abreeder; ittouched everyarea of her life.And Mary’s lifemakes almostas good a storyas Robin’s. ButI digress…

Mary’sattraction to GoldenRetrievers began when she met a Goldenmix that belonged to a friend. Believingthat a Golden is a Golden, and not know-ing any better, Mary checked the newspa-pers to find Golden puppies for sale.Finding a pup was the easy part; as ateenager, getting her first bank loan to payfor the pup was the challenge. Because ofthe good reputation Mary’s parents had atthe bank, her loan was approved, and“Babe” was purchased. Being so new,Mary couldn’t see that Babe was far froma perfect specimen, but Babe was a sweetand loving companion and Mary felt richto have her. Each month, when the loan

payment came due, Mary and Babe wouldwalk into the bank, with Babe carrying thecheck in her mouth. Babe would place herfront paws up on the teller counter to“deliver” the check, and out they wouldgo until that time the following month.

Mary was hired in a veterinariansoffice and expanded her dog knowledgethrough practical application. It was dur-ing this time that Mary made the con-scious decision to stay with the GoldenRetriever breed and she decided that sheneeded to obtain a quality dog. After pur-suing many leads Mary met RhondaHovan of Faera Golden Retrievers andobtained her foundation bitch, “Light-ning.”

As time passed and her line of Gold-ens progressed and flourished, Marydecided to pursue an avenue that hadalways been of great interest to her, tobecome a Search and Rescue Dog han-dler. Having been a paramedic on a heli-copter, an avid outdoor enthusiast, amountain travel and rescue instructor forthe National Ski patrol, and a lover of

Golden Retrievers,Search & Rescue dogtraining just came natu-rally to Mary. And, justlike everything she hasever done, Marybelieved good enoughwasn’t nearly goodenough. Unafraid ofasking questions, work-ing hard, and spendingmoney to learn hercraft, Mary became acertified Search & Res-

cue dog handler in the New York/Pennsyl-vania area and still serves to this day.

But even with her lofty goals forNitro’s breeding program, combined withher dedication to Search Dog handling, noone could have foreseen what, or ratherwho was waiting in her future. The eighth‘Wonder’ of her world was closer thananyone could have predicted.

Mary’s most accomplished K-9 partnerto this point, was Willow, (Search Dog andAm-Can CH. Nitro’s Blaze of Glory), acertified Search & Rescue K-9 specializingin Airscent, Human Remains Detection,Snow Burial, and Water Search. Willow

is an excellent Search dog, but not asyoung as she once was. Recognizing herneed to carefully select the parents of hernext K-9 Search & Rescue/Show prospect,Mary made the decision to breed Willowto CH. Faera’s Starlight, “Star.”

The breeding took and when Willowwas six weeks pregnant, Mary and Willowwere called to assist the CattaraugusCounty Sheriff’s Office on a cold-casesearch for the remains of a woman whohad been missing for seven-and-a-halfyears. Because the search area was notunreasonably large, Mary and the notice-ably pregnant Willow agreed to try andhelp the Sheriff’s Office locate the missing woman.

Mary loaded Willow into the truck anddrove to the search area, thankful for themild October weather and overcast skies,

Six weeks in whelp with Robin’s litter, Willowwas successful in finding the remains of a womanmissing for seven-and-a-half years.

Mary and Willow during a helicopter transporttraining session.

And, just like every-thing she has ever done,

Mary believed goodenough wasn’t nearly

good enough.

A League of His Own

by Behesha H. Doan

which made for ideal search conditions.As searches tend to do, minutes turnedinto hours. Providing plenty of breaks forwater and rest, Mary observed Willowclosely as they meticulously picked theirway up and across the densely woodedhillside. The woods were thick and bothdog and handler worked carefully andmethodically across the rugged terrain.

Willow knew her job. She knew what shewas there for – and she was never one toquit. Their efforts were rewarded whenWillow successfully located several areasthat contained scattered and aged humanremains.

Because of their skill as a dog/handlerteam and their success on the search,Mary was asked to apply for the job of K-9handler for the Cattaraugus County Sher-iff’s Office. Her application was accepted;she was hired, and completed the PoliceTraining Academy later that year.

On October 13, 2002, ten days afterher successful search, Willow deliverednine squealing little yellow bricks into the

world. Six females and three malesannounced their arrival to all of Cattarau-gus County. Mary is Mom #2 when pup-pies come, and the house becomes akennel. Carefully watched, weighed, andnurtured, Nitro Golden puppies live likeroyalty.

From birth to about 12 weeks, all pup-pies go through a unique period of devel-opment called the Imprinting Window.During this time, puppies learn importantlife lessons from their Mother about packsocial structure and hierarchy. The pup’soverall sense of security, psychologicalstability, and sociability can be affected forthe rest of their lives by how effectively theImprinting Window is handled. Most peo-ple (including many breeders) are com-pletely unaware this window even exists,much less how vital it is in the pup’sdevelopment. It is during this time thatMary takes extra care to make sure herpups are exposed to as much stimuli aspossible to ensure their stability in boththe show ring and the working world.

As Willow’s puppies reached the ageof eight weeks, Mary sent two of the petquality males to their new homes. Theremaining puppies were kept behindbecause Mary and a small team of fellowbreeders planned to evaluate them. Hav-ing produced, evaluated, and placedscores of pups from numerous litters, Maryknows a thing or two about what to lookfor in a Golden. But four eyes are betterthan two, and 12 eyes are better than six,and...well, you get the idea.

When Willow first conceived, Maryand her husband agreed that because theyalready had several intact males in theirhome, their pick of this litter would haveto be a girl. On the day of the evaluation,Mary loaded all the females into the truck,tossing in the one remaining little male

just for company. At the evaluation site,each of the females was assessed with thecollectively critical eye of the breeders.Gathered around an assessment table,they inspected each of the female pup-pies, set it back down to play with her sib-lings, and evaluated the next. This wasdone several times. On a whim, someonereached down and lifted the male up ontothe table. The room fell silent as theystared at what could only be described asa real showstopper. The conversationbetween the breeders became passionatethe longer they looked. It was unanimous;this dog was in a league of his own.

Conflicted by her decision to keep a female, and the unsettling feeling thatpassing on this young male would be ahuge mistake, Mary left for home. Shespent the four-hour trip preparing an argu-ment to her husband as to why yet anothermale should be added to the kennels ofNitro Golden Retrievers.

The resulting domestic dispute couldhave sold tickets, but was settled withoutlaw enforcement intervention. That scene-stealing male pup was christened Nitro’sBoy Wonder, nicknamed “Robin” – andwas home to stay.

With her goal to train Robin in theSearch & Rescue disciplines of Airscent-ing, Mantrailing, and Human RemainsDetection, Mary knew she had no time tolose. The very next day, Robin’s workingcareer began. While still in the ImprintingWindow, Mary took the opportunity toexpose Robin to the unique odor of decay-ing human remains. While this may not bea favorite conversation starter at cocktailparties, it is an essential component fordogs that learn this discipline of searchwork. And because Robin was still withinhis Imprinting Window, there couldn’t bea more perfect time.

At this age, puppies do not have theability to search in earnest for scent, butthey do have a natural curiosity for thesmell of decay. Mary knew she couldexpose Robin to the training aids andRobin would retain a degree of scent-recognition of these odors for his entirelife. Naturally much more training wouldbe necessary, but Robin’s early exposureswould come to serve him very well in thefuture.

Robin began to show his true search-dog colors as soon as Mary began doingpuppy runaways with him. Puppy run-aways are the foundation to Mantrailingand Airscent training. The object of thisgame is to have the owner restrain thepup, while someone shows him food or

At 10 weeks of age, Robin is poised and readyfor his first search training lesson.

This sleepy little puppy was destined for a homeother than MacQueen’s because Mary didn’twant to keep another male. But after a favorableevaluation by Mary and other breeders, hisfuture was sealed.

A League of His Own, continued

The conversation between the breeders became passionatethe longer they looked. It wasunanimous; this dog was in aleague of his own.

toys and then runs for cover. The pup isallowed to see the person run off, but thatperson quickly disappears from sight andthe pup must learn to use his nose to findthem. Most small puppies have little desireto find anyone but their master, and cer-tainly not for any great distance. Robin,however, was greatly frustrated at beingseparated from his favorite toy, and notonly ran after the “victim,” but he did soin over a foot of snow! Climbing in andout of the footprints in the snow, Robinwas on a mission to get to that victim and claim his precious reward.

Mary’s love for her dogs, especiallyher K-9 partners, is well known to every-one who knows her. Mary dedicated her-self to being Robin’s partner from start tofinish, whether that meant handling himfor search work or in the conformationring. Robin has, and continues to be, han-dled exclusively by Mary, from first pointto last.

It was at this point that I came to know Mary both professionally as well as personally. I met Mary and Robin’smother, Willow at a dog-training seminar I conducted in Ontario. It was apparent tome that Mary had both the skill and thewill to work her dogs at a more profes-sional level, so I invited her to come andattend our Dog Trainer’s Academy in Illi-nois. A few months later, Mary enrolled,and attended the Academy with an exu-berant young pup named Robin. We couldnot have known how our lives wouldchange by knowing one another.

After her graduation from our Search& Detection Academy program, Mary and I decided to stay in touch. This was

unusual for me because I rarely cross the line fromprofessional associationwith students into a personalfriendship. But Mary and Ishared a passion for workingwith dogs and had similaroutlook on life, this made us fast friends. True friends.Lifelong friends.

Mary decided to startRobin’s show career inearnest. Much like his earlysearch work, Robin startedhis show career with a bangby earning Reserve WinnersDog to a four-point majorfrom the 6-9 puppy class atthe 2003 GRC of WesternNY Specialty show.

Mary and Robin wereon a roll and it looked like

blue skies and green lights ahead. Marystructured her world so she could doeverything necessary to make Robin thebest he could possibly be. That was herplan. But life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.

Mary and I stayed in contact and itwasn’t unusual for us to call one anotherquite frequently. So when my Mary’s name showed up on my Caller ID screen,I answered the phone with a snappyresponse, knowing it was she.

Mary told me about a test she haddone, and that she had been diagnosedwith a serious illness. Mary told me thather doctors said if she fought this illnesslike she fought for everything else she ever wanted, that she could beat it.

I feared for Mary, my friend. The roadto recovery would be long, uncertain, andunquestionably difficult.

Mary feared for Robin, her friend. She worried about his training during herillness. She did not want him to languishwhile she struggled to recover; he wasdoing so well.

Mary’s fear that Robin’s training woulddeteriorate proved to be unfounded.Indeed, his training would not decline, itwould improve. Robin’s intense drive andboundless puppy energy made him anexceptional search dog, but when Mary’scondition began to change, Robin wouldcome to show a different quality. As theweeks wore on, while Mary endured thecourse of her illness, Robin calmly tookhis place at her side. Sensing her fragilecondition, Robin tempered his energeticstyle, and replaced it with a slow anddeliberate manner when in her presence.Almost as if he had a sixth sense, Robinseemed to magically appear when she felther worst, laying by her, walking quietlybeside her, and picking up what shedropped. When fever rocked her withchills, Mary felt grateful when Robinwould curl up warmly beside her on thebed. She would stroke his head and say“Thanks, Robin.” Robin would look up ather with soft brown eyes that seemed tosay “You’d do it for me.”

With Robin at her side, Mary foughther illness with everything she had. Refus-ing to go down without a fight, Mary grit-ted her teeth and never took a punch thatshe didn’t give back. With time, Mary’scolor returned, she grew stronger, andeventually began to feel ready to step back into the ring.

When Robin was eleven months ofage, Mary turned a serious eye to his showcareer, taking third place in both the 9-12sweeps and the regular classes at the 2003GRCA National Specialty show. Robin’sfirst points came later that month andthere was no looking back. By the fall of2004, when he was still under the age oftwo, Robin had completed his AmericanChampionship, with two of his major winsbeing earned at Specialty shows. Duringthis time, Robin also finished his CanadianChampionship in just three shows, one ofwhich included a Sporting Group 2 place-ment.

When Robin finished his Champi-onship titles, Mary decided to start a Spe-cials career. The year 2005 brought manyBreed and Sporting Group wins andplacements as well as an invitation to theGolden Retriever Foundation’s Top TwentyGala. Robin and Mary accumulated a totalof 23 SDHF points that first “special” year.

After a fast finsh that included two specialty majors, Robinwon Best of Breed at the Hudson Valley GRC Specialty in2006, under Carl Liepmann.

Robin’s show career culminated with a JAM at the 2006 National Specialty, judgeJon Cole. Robin has been entirely owner-handled throughout his show career.

A League of His Own, continued

Coming back to our Training Academyin 2004, Mary began Robin’s formalsearch dog training in Mantrailing(finding the person whose scentmatches the human’s scent-sample thedog is given), Article Search (findingsomething lost that bears humanscent), and Human Remains Detection(locating the deceased). The indis-putable benefit of Robin’s early expo-sure to the odor of human remainsduring his Imprinting Window paid offin spades during this time! The scentwas immediately recognizable toRobin and his training progressed veryrapidly. Learning that the odor he wassent to find could be old or fresh, buriedbeneath the surface, high up in the trees,in water, or just bleached out bones,Robin came to understand the nuances ofHuman Remains Detection. Robin’s desireto work was bursting at the seams.

During one training session in HumanRemains Detection, Robin left the trainingarea as if in search of more training aids.Mary asked if they had missed searchingany of the areas because Robin seemed tobe showing interest further away. WhenMary allowed Robin to satisfy his curios-ity, she discovered that he had located avery expensive GPS unit dropped by oneof the other dog handlers. Robin’s ArticleSearch training had paid off – especially

for the person who dropped the equip-ment!

In 2006, Robin’s show career wassharply curtailed due to his Police K-9schedule, but was noteworthy just thesame. With Mary at the top end of thelead, Robin was shown a total of only sixweekends, yet he amassed eight Best ofBreeds, a Specialty Best of Breed, and fiveSporting Group placements. He also com-pleted his Show Dog Hall of Fame titlewith 29.5 points, qualified for the secondyear in a row for the Golden RetrieverFoundation’s Top Twenty Gala, and tookthree Judges Award of Merit wins atSpecialties. His most prized win wasundoubtedly the Judges Award of Meritbestowed on him at the September 2006National Specialty show in Overland Park, KS.

In early 2006, Mary came back to Illi-nois to introduce Robin to his NarcoticsDetection training. Mary’s early scentwork served as a good foundation, andRobin quickly learned to detect the odorof narcotics.

Mary and Robin stay busy working forthe Sheriff’s Office. Their work includesjail searches, vehicle searches, and drugraids for the Southern Tier Regional Drug

TaskForce.They alsoperformhighschool,gradeschool,vocationalschool

searches, andsearches duringcommunity festi-vals. Robin iscurrently theonly narcoticscertified K-9 inCattaraugusCounty. His isalso the first dogin the areatrained and allowed to search people/stu-dents due to his easy going temperamentand passive “sit” alert when he locatesdrugs. Robin participates in numerouscommunity public relations events andfundraisers, where he can often be seen inthe crowd carrying a donation basket or a

lunch box filled with candy for the children.

But don’t let stories of Robin carryingbaskets of candy for the kids fool you intobelieving he is a quiet, stoic, dapper gentthat never makes a scene. Robin can makean event out of merely entering a room.After all, cruising through life as one big,hairy smile seems to get a lot of attention.I’ve always said that Robin is yellow andhe’s not afraid to use it. Many of Mary’sfellow exhibitors can share stories ofRobin wallowing on his back, all four feet waving in the air in the middle of the Sporting Group or Best in Show rings.

I laughed out loud the day Mary calledme after a large-scale drug raid with theSouthern-Tier Regional Drug Task Force.She told me about the day and how over150 officers met at the city courtroom at 5 a.m. that morning to receive theirassignments. As Mary sat with Robin ather side, she listened intently for herassignment to be given by the head of theTask Force. Sensing movement out of thecorner of her eye, Mary noticed that amoth flew into the room. At the samemoment Robin saw the moth as well.Before she could react, Mary saw Robinjump up and go frolicking through thecourtroom on a mission to capture theelusive party crasher. The room fell silentas Robin dashed to the front of the roomwhere the VIP’s were seated. Everyonewatched Robin leap into the air and gulpdown the moth in one fell swoop. Hepromptly turned to the audience for tail-wagging approval as Mary wilted underher seat. A round of applause rocked thecourtroom and Robin was officially and

K-9 Robin on the job during a rural areasearch. He is trained and successful at humanremains detection, article searches andmantrailing.

A League of His Own, continued

Robin and Mary conduct a car searchfor possible drugs. In the first picture,Robin is closing in on the scent ofdrugs. The middle picture showsRobin pinpointing the source of thedrug scent. In the last picture he isgiving the trained alert behavior (asit) and starring at the location of thedrugs. Note that in all the photos histail is wagging continuously.

lovingly indoctrinated into this close-knit fraternity.

Robin loves to have fun, but he isa serious working dog that never saysdie. He has proven his worth manytimes over in searches for missing per-sons, as well as for the Drug TaskForce, locating drugs in the local jails,schools, on students themselves, andin vehicles. Robin has become Catta-raugus County’s secret weapon in thewar on drugs.

Today, Mary MacQueen andRobin do triple duty in their careers.Mary continues to show Robin andalso works him in law enforcement.She also works with me conductingtraining seminars all over the UnitedStates, as well as serving as an instruc-

tor in our Canine Training Academy inIllinois. Working alongside Mary everystep of the way, Robin serves as animmutable spokesman for the versatil-ity of a well-bred, well-trained GoldenRetriever.

As Robin continues to progress,his value as a working K-9 and a showdog hall of famer increases. Betweenhis professional training as a workingK-9, and his show ring success, Robinhas probably amassed more Policeand Search and Rescue K-9 creden-tials than has any other Show Cham-pion Golden Retriever before him. Inthe eyes of the world, Robin is anamazing, playful, focused, dog withextraordinary beauty and talent. But in Mary’s eyes, Robin is that squealingyellow pup birthed right into herhands, the glowing pride of a job donewell, and the devoted brown-eyedfriend who stands by the one whogave her heart and soul to him. ❖

A League of His Own, continued

Robin and a fellow deputy manning theSheriff ’s display booth at a local high school career day.

About the author: Behesha Doan is the owner of the Extreme K-9 Training Academy located in SouthernIllinois. She is an internationally recognized trainer, author, and speaker, and is highly regarded for her whole-dog approach to dog training. For more information on Behesha Doan visit: www.extremek-9.com or e-mailher at Behesha@extremek-9.com

This article was approved by the Editorial Review Board.