Trapper the Cyber Snoop - New Interview

Trapper the Cyber Snoop

An Interview with Author Richard Nurse

How did you Decide on the Breed for Jasper?

Hi, Trapper the Cyber Snoop here.

I sat down with my human today, author Richard Nurse, the creator of the “Jasper, Street-Fighter, and Me” series.  Actually is was like most days where I curl up on him, he pets me, I purr, and both of us have been known to fall asleep.  However today was different, I wanted to know why when he started writing the series, why he chose for Jasper to be a Border Collie and not a German Sheppard, like the majority of military working dogs are.

Trapper – What was behind your choice of the breed for Jasper when you started writing the series?

Mr. Nurse (Dad) – I wanted a breed of dog that was intelligent, loyal, known for having an above average sense of smell, the ability to detect a safe route, and highly protective, yet social also.

Trapper – How much did the fact that Border Collies have the highest rating for learning vocabulary, especially now that you have established the mental link between the members of the team?

Dad – When I began the series, I had no idea that the ability to communicate mentally was going to develop as the series progress.  I felt the ability that a Border Collie possesses for understanding speech would be very beneficial for a military working dog, especially one that specialized in sniffing out IEDs and then us his herding ability to lead the unit safely around it.

Trapper – Is there another reason you chose a collie breed over a shepherd or retriever?

Dad – Trapper, when I was young, there were three dogs on TV that we all loved Rin Tin Tin, a German Shepherd, Ole Yeller, a yellow lab, and Lassie, a standard Collie.  I loved them all, but Lassie was so smart and could do almost anything. Besides my Uncle, Ed and his family had a Collie named Yosemite, or Yosie for short.

Trapper – Okay, back to Jasper, when Bob trained Jasper for Maggie, was he trained as a bomb-sniffing dog or a police dog since Maggie is also and MP.

Dad – He started out being trained as a search and rescue dog, and then his incredible sense of smell, the one which allows him to detect smells that don’t belong.  That led to Jasper being trained to detectives explosives, and since Maggie was an MP, he needed to be prepared to act as a police dog also.  Another reason why I selected the Border Collie, they love to work, and they love a challenge.

Trapper – Thanks, Dad. Is it nap time now?

Dad – Sounds like an excellent idea to me.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzz