Kahn

Kahn belonged to a friend, Art Shaw.  Kahn was initially supposed to be an IPO dog, but after breaking canines he was converted to a PPD. Art dabbled in PSA and got a PDC with Kahn.

Once Art started training for PDC we had to switch Kahn’s targetting from anything he could access to the left bicep. I was Art’s decoy at the time.

One of the first things I noticed about Kahn was that he didn’t walk anywhere. He literally had one speed and it was as fast as possible from the moment he exited the kennel. He was also quite the creature in his kennel.

He absolutely had to be kept in the kennel with a bark collar on or he would just spin up and work himself into a frenzy. I believe this behavior probably contributed to the teeth problems that led up to the eventual breaking or removal of all 4 of his canines.

I later would purchase Kahn from Art.  I believe Kahn was 5 or 6 at the time.  He had a very nice obedience foundation that Art had put on him.  I wasn’t sure how far he could go in PSA but at minimum he was a great demo dog for me with the police K9 hanlder courses I was teaching at the time.

Because of the loss of all of his canines I decided to switch his targetting to the legs.  At least if he flew off he wasn’t flipping through the air risking injury.  This dog was so fast that sometimes he would slip off the grip on the leg and be back on and judges didn’t even notice it.

We eventually earned a PSA1 and both legs of a PSA2.  It did take us 6 attempts to earn the two legs of the PSA2 but even though I was working Kahn and Max together I consider Kahn to be the first. He was the first dog I titled to a PSA 2 and the first dog I was able to show in the level 3.  I knew the teeth and grips would be a huge issue in the 3’s but I needed the experience of showing in the 3’s to apply to be a judge.  The last trial I showed Kahn at was 2020 PSA Nationals in Little Rock that I hosted. He failed to out on Sean Edwards in the attack on handler but he still was incredibly entertaining.

As I walked up to him and blew the whistle in his face and he still didn’t listen.

Kahn was the star of several of my videos playing around on tiktok.

To demonstrate his speed I knelt in from of the camera, held out a ball, and released him to run and grab it. He flashes across the screen in a split second grabbing the ball. The video has been viewed nearly 350,000 times.

In another Kahn, Grace, and Max are all doing push up with me in the front yard. One of my favorite things about the tik tok videos is the ability for the video to capture pieces of the dog’s personality. I am very grateful for the time I had with Kahn both on and off the field and although I miss him dearly I know he is living a great retired life. Kahn taught me so much and made me a better trainer and handler.

Kahn the Malinois son of Nero Vom Haus Mecki.

Kahn’s sire was a stand out IPO dog and from everything I have read or seen he passed on many of his talents and genetic strengths to Kahn. Kahn was a very complaint yet highly defensive dog. i never had to worry about him showing any hesitation or nerve issue when it was time to bite. No matter what was thrown at him he never even flinched. Certainly some strong genetics.

After Kahn was retired Thad Mitchell reached out at some point and said that his son was looking for a dog on the farm to be a companion and to retrieve ducks for him.

I offered to let Kahn go hang out on the chicken farm to see if it was a good fit and he has been there every since.  Kahn spends a great deal of time with Colt and gets to live a great retired life.

I get occasional updates about him and I am told he still to this day only has one speed. I am thankful that Colt and Kahn hit it off so well and the many pictures of Kahn running around the farm, climbing on round bales, retrieving ducks, and just living his best life always makes me smile.