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         Logres' Titanium, Logres' Brentina, Ch. Logres' Tungsten and Logres' Brentano were Thyroid Tested by Michigan State University.   Detailed results for each are available upon request.

Below - Ch. Logres' Tungsten at 11 weeks (with his then co-owner George Murray, who handled Kafka)  (2004)

                              Lil' Claire, a Tungsten daughter, seen on her own page of this website

                                                              photo below is hyperlinked

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Tungsten’s Story: A Tale In Two Parts

           Tungsten’s story reads a bit like a Dickens novel: his early life being both the best of times and the worst of times. Descendent of DoberNobility, he was special from the moment he first drew breath, the star in a litter of stars, destined for greatness.  Given that Tungsten is an outstanding son of the top winning Doberman of all time, Multiple Best In Show, Multiple Best In Specialty Show - Ch. Brunswig’s Cryptonite, and  Tungsten’s dam was an outstanding bitch in her own right, it was thought that his mark would be in the AKC show ring.  Born of such quality, there was never a doubt about Tungsten’s place in the world.... he was born to be a show dog, the AKC show ring was where he would make his mark.

         They say that men plan and god laughs. 

        Tungsten’s early life was a succession of soft spring days, playing with brothers and sisters... surrounded by loving, adoring, care-givers and admirers.  Tungsten was everyone’s easy favorite; more importantly, he was Arthur’s special boy. Life was sweet and easy until one day “The Great Handler” came to evaluate the litter.   Being the star in a special litter can be a burden... there is the family legacy to uphold. Special dogs should have special careers piloted by special people.  And so it was that at 8 weeks Arthur was talked into allowing Tungsten to go off to live with “The Great Handler” ...  to begin the journey to greatness and Multiple Best In Shows, following in the paw prints of his sire.   Placing a show career over the desire to keep him close as a beloved companion was a very difficult choice for Arthur, one he soon came to regret.  

       Unbeknownst to us, the road to BIS with “The Great Handler” for Tungsten included isolation, lonely days in dog runs... and simply being ignored.   For a dog like Tungsten, being deprived of human interaction was like denying him oxygen.  Thankfully “The Great Handler’s” interest in Tungsten waned. The BIS journey came to an abrupt end at about seven months. Though he only co-owned Tungsten (and had no right to do so), “The Great Handler” gave Tungsten away.  When we found out, without even a moments hesitation, Arthur cleared his work schedule and dropped everything to make the 1500 mile round-trip journey to bring Tungsten home. Soon dreams of Multi Best In Shows and 10’ X 12” dog runs faded into distant memory.  Tungsten resumed the life of a beloved farm dog, running our thirty acres of hills and ponds, supervising the horses and a few errant squirrels and birds.   Tungsten flourished... life for a Doberman couldn’t be much better and yet it was incomplete. There simply had to be more to life for Tungsten than chasing the ducks out of the pond.    

     Arthur’s service to our country in this time of war included deployments abroad in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  With Arthur out of the country, in harms way, Elaine had no desire to attend dog shows. Tungsten was over two years old before he set a paw in the AKC conformation ring.  He finished in four weekends... with three majors and a BoB from the classes.  He retired from the ring having barely made a ripple, his career so short from start to finish that he left almost no mark at all in the breed ring. It appeared that Tungsten’s greatest achievement was merely that he had survived “The Great Handler” with his love for humanity intact. We had long since accepted that Tungsten’s arch of notoriety was behind him, but we were wrong; Tungsten’s true purpose in life was yet to unfold.   

       One cold January day a call came from the West Coast... a woman was interested in Tungsten’s nephew Warkant.  In the course of discussing what Brenna wanted, it occurred to everyone that Tungsten might be the perfect fit for her. More discussion followed... a few pictures were emailed back and forth... something very special clicked... and so it was that Tungsten went to live with Brenna Spencer. His story continues now with Brenna’s narrative:    

Simply getting Tungsten from Raleigh, North Carolina to Portland, Oregon in January was an event in itself.  Flight delays, indifferent airline employees, an intractable airline company protocol, pushing off from the gate only to wait on the tarmac for hours, the potential for missed connections, sitting at air cargo, or worse, being shuttled to an off-site kennel for the weekend brought out the tigress in me. There were phone calls, a bit of chest thumping and finally an airline employee who got the message, “The dog absolutely must make the connection, even if the rest of the flight did not.”  Long made short, Atlanta’s Delta air cargo crew made Tungsten the priority.  Air Cargo met Tungsten’s plane as it landed, got him off first and raced him to the connecting flight with only minutes to spare.  He made the connection, the last plane out.   

I knew I had a new soul mate the minute Tungsten stepped out of the crate at Portland and wrapped his big paws over my shoulders, smothering me with kisses. 

Three days later, Tungsten made his debut in my classroom. I am a sign language interpreter, but I share the room with many differently-abled individuals, challenged by autism, physical impairments, learning disabilities, and emotional disconnects. Tungsten didn’t see it that way. He saw kids that needed love, each in their own way. He was determined to win each of them over. And in the process, he won the school over. Teachers, staff, mainstream students, and special Ed kids all know him by name. They wave and say “Hi” in the hall as if he was a quarterback. But the most interesting part is that he inherently knows who needs him. He’s there to help me, but he spreads the love around. He’s their counselor, he’s the lunch table moderator, he’s the classroom sofa warmer, and the guy who keeps the Boogieman away. He’s there to listen when you need to tell a secret that you know won’t be passed along, and he even runs around the track with you even if you hate running. The kids love to take turns trying to find his “stupid spot”, that special place that makes a dog do PANT-omime air scratching. He knows that the boys like hugs, and that the girls like hand holding. He has changed the lives of these kids, who now view him as a friend, not a dog.  

Charles Dickens said “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another.”   

Tungsten helps me tremendously, he now alerts to my medical issues and steadies me both physically and emotionally. But that’s not why I love him. I love him because he’s a soul that changes EVERY life he touches, and if I have learned nothing else, I have learned to recognize greatness when I see it.  

Brenna Spencer and Elaine Greenwood