MOOSE JAW — Tuck, a Golden Retriever belonging to Gary Overs with Gary Overs Kennelling and Obedience is well known for earning the highest possible award in the hunting dog world — the Grand Master Hunter title — in late August 2023. Now, Tuck is adding another feather to his collar by competing for the additional title of Grandmaster Obedience Trial champion.
The competition began in January and will conclude this December, which is when Tuck receives his final national standing.
“Right now, he’s currently number four in Canada,” Overs announced proudly.
Tuck is also known as “Zaniri The Duck Stops Here” after his breeder, Zaniri Golden Retrievers in B.C. as per the Canadian Kennel Club’s naming convention. The first portion of the name gives recognition to the dog’s breeder and the remainder follows an established set of rules for the dog’s new owner to work with.
The standing is impressive because of how rare it is for a dog to hold this position. It’s not his personal best either.
“He was actually number two, and then we took (one month) off… which was a bad idea because we went from number two to number four because we weren’t competing in that time,” Overs said.
To make up for this, Overs said he’ll have to resume training which is on par with a canine equivalent to the Olympics.
“We’re not going to take more time off,” he said. “(We’re going to) keep the foot to the floor and keep going.”
Tuck is four years old and has been training his whole life. “It took us four years to get him to this level. It’s like training for the Olympics,” Overs said. “It’s basically an everyday (routine) making them absolutely as perfect as you can be. Obedience is all about precision; it’s all about accuracy.”
One of the events Tuck trains for is called scent discrimination.
“There are 15 dumbbells: five wooden ones, five metal ones, and five leather ones,” Overs explained. “Each one is numbered… and (the judges) pick out two. You never know (what) it’s going to be…”
Overs then touches two of the objects to transfer his scent and returns them to the judge, who mixes it with the remaining objects and hides them over a given area. Tuck has to sniff each one and retrieve the two that belong to his owner. The task involves hand signals and is done in silence.
The success story is made possible by Over’s wife, Shelley, whose administrative support from registering shows to planning schedules was crucial to the team’s success as they travel across the country.
Tuck is now as high as he can go in obedience, and Overs remains optimistic about Tuck’s chances of holding a good national standing come December. “We’ll see in December where he is… hopefully we can hold on to our number four position.”
Overs said he’s very proud to represent Moose Jaw in a field usually represented by larger population centres. “I’m very proud of being from Moose Jaw and that puts a spotlight on Moose Jaw a bit in the dog world.”
Gary Overs was born and raised in Moose Jaw. He’s been training since the age of 20 and opened Gary Overs Kennelling and Obedience in 1991. In 2006 he opened the K-9 Academy.
Gary Overs Kennelling & Obedience is located at 860 High Street West and can be reached at 306-692-6011. For more information visit GaryOversPetCare.ca.
To follow Tuck’s progress between now and December, you can follow ‘Gary Shelley Overs’ or ‘Gary Overs Kenneling & Obedience’ on Facebook.
