Husky x Labrador x German Shepherd · Shoot the Dog, Volume Four, page 114
Utah, the husky cross shepherd named after Johnny Utah
Some dogs grow into their names. Utah was named after one, and then got on with living up to it.
"Named after 'Johnny Utah' from 'Point Break'," his page in Shoot the Dog, Volume Four begins, "Utah truly lives up to his title." For anyone who missed the film, Johnny Utah is the young FBI agent who goes undercover among surfers. Utah the dog skipped the FBI part and went straight for the water:
With his passion for water, he could swim for days; from splashing in puddles to jumping waves in the mighty ocean.
A perfect mix
Utah is a husky cross Labrador cross German Shepherd, and his family can tell you exactly which bits came from where. He was "the smallest of seven pups", yet weighed 30 kilograms at nine months. From his dad he has "coat, ears, and relaxed nature". From his mum, "his colour, appetite, and swimming ability".
Then there are the eyes. His page calls it by its proper name, heterochromia iridis, and says it makes him "a striking, popular pooch wherever he roams". You can see it in the portrait above: one amber eye, one pale blue, both on the camera while he wades in with the red ball.
Mostly obedient
Utah has the full list of commands:
He sits, drops, stays, shakes, and runs... Mostly when there is roast chicken involved.
He is "mega relaxed" with "a fun, goofy personality", though his family admit the husky in him can make him "a challenge". He can also "melt your heart in seconds with an innocent stare and head tilt", which is how most huskies get away with it.
And his little sister
Our favourite detail is at the end. Utah shares the yard with his little sister Myrtle, who is "an eastern long neck turtle". We would like to have seen that introduction.
Rescue at the heart of it
Every family photographed for Shoot the Dog paid a $100 participation fee, and all of it went directly to an animal rescue group. Where the $100 went tells that story, and names the five rescues.