And he’s still running with the big dogs
Ex-coach now trains his pups
Coaching just seems to be in Joe Harge’s blood. Harge, who engineered the single best turnaround in NCAA history while coaching the New Mexico Highlands University men’s basketball team, most recently was an assistant at Cal State Fullerton for two seasons before resigning to spend time with his son, John Harge, as he completes his high school playing career.
For now, he’s an independent consultant, and scout and trains his Rottweilers for competition in dog shows.
And Harge, whose brother Ira Harge Jr., is the coach of the two-time defending state champion Pecos boys basketball team, has some four-legged champs on his hands.
His youngest pup, which he co-owns with his girlfriend, former University of New Mexico women’s basketball star Jodi Cory and her son Gannon Weeks, recently scored well at a Westminster-type competition at the Evergreen Kennel Club in Greeley, Colo.
“We’ve always had dogs,” Harge said. “Growing up, we had Great Danes. But in 1980, I bought a pair of Rottweilers. I thought they were the coolest things I ever saw. I’ve had them ever since.”
Harge, who played college ball at Oregon State before a professional career, was also an assistant with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, a professional minor league basketball team.
And he approaches his work with the dogs with the same diligence that he does his roundball coaching.
“It’s a little bit like recruiting,” Harge said. You try to find a little bit better dog than the next group. You’re looking for the pedigree.”
His youngest, a ninemonth-old pup named Sugarhaus Cory’s Cobalt v Baar, or Blue for short, is progressing nicely, Harge said.
“For me, it’s fun,” he said. “It still lets me be a little bit competitive. I love dogs and I enjoy them, being able to work on the things that they need to do.”
He also has an older female that is currently on hiatus from competition, but has a strong run of success behind her. In about a year, Harge is getting ready to breed her with a champion dog out of Arizona.
Now, however, Blue is getting the bulk of the attention.
“I spend about 30 minutes a day, sometimes twice a day, six days a week training him,” Harge said. “The important thing is to be consistent in repeating.”
When it comes to working the dog on the floor, however, Harge employs professional handlers, Rich and Anna Mysliwiec.
“They are terrific show handlers,” he said. “They do such a tremendous job.”
After a rather rigorous regional competition schedule throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming, Blue’s future will include a brief respite from competition.
“We’ll let him grow up for a year, then put him back out there to try to get him to Westminster,” Harge said.
“If he’s spectacular enough, he’ll have a chance to get to Westminster. I haven’t taken a dog there yet. We want to get him ranked in the top 20 in the country.”