![]() Stepping outside, though, the midday sun shines down sharp like arrows highlighting the darkened, pinched skin beneath his steeled eyes. There’s dogs in every old family photo I’ve got.” “That car was brand-new when this photo was taken, and those are my dad’s two German shepherds. “See that Model T there,” he says, showing off a framed sepia-tinged photo. Membership spreads from one generation of dog lovers to the next, with Russell now as beloved as each owner’s prized pet, as cherished as each dog he has called on for companionship. Such is the benefit of having a 50-year reputation as the best dog trainer in Louisiana.Ĭancer puts demands on one’s time and body, but the Dick Russell fan club is huge. In the heat of July, one of Russell’s clients climbed aboard his riding mower without asking and groomed the scraggly lawn that hosts Russell’s Large Field Socialization Class every Saturday. Lately, friends have pitched in to help Russell with chores. “Maybe it’s all the hard work I put them through as kids cleaning the pens,” Russell says. The Istrouma High School graduate has an ex-wife decades gone and four grown sons-two scattered to Montana and Florida, two nearby in Zachary, but none who shares his continuous crush on canines. “I raise everything organically, which is just the way I think it should be raised.”Ī native of South Carolina’s low country, he’s the kind of man who takes pride in self-sufficiency and self-respect. ![]() “I’ll be eating good tomato sauce all winter,” says Dick Russell. Past the sniffing black Border collies, a cozy, creaky-planked porch and inside the warm Acadian-style cottage at the front of the property, glass mason jars packed with peaches, tomatoes and corn relish line the kitchen table. Not far down the winding path of Greenwell Springs Road lay nearly a dozen shaded acres surrounding 10 kennels and a vegetable garden. How Dick Russell stared down cancer and his 50-year legacy Adams tells 225 that the first public screening will likely happen in the fall once Dog Man has made the film festival circuit. The Manship Theatre, in collaboration with Raising Cane’s, hosted an invitation-only preview of the finished documentary, Dog Man, Wednesday, May 13. Russell died later that year, but filmmaker Richie Adams continued working on his documentary about Russell’s career. Images courtesy Richie Adams/River Road CreativeĮditor’s note: This story was first published in the January 2011 issue of 225.
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