Candy/Casey

Dear LRR - Happy holidays!

I thought you would be interested in this update from Casey. (When you had her, her name was Candy). It has been nearly four months since we adopted her, and we have loved every minute. She has a sweet and winning personality and has fit in very well with everyone. She hasn't won the cats over yet, but that is their fault, not hers. She is excruciatingly polite to them, even when they bop her on the nose and hiss. She and my son David play all kinds of ball games in the backyard - soccer, baseball, and football. She is a great soccer goalie and a pretty good fielder in baseball (not much of a throwing arm, though). Her great mission in life is to rid the yard of squirrels - we tell her it's hopeless, but there is no reasoning with her on this subject. She never runs so fast as when she is chasing one from the rose bed near the house to the back fence. She leaps as high as she can (which is pretty darn high) when the squirrels climb the fence, but she hasn't caught one yet. She is very polite - she rarely barks and never begs for food from the table. She does get a little enthusiastic when she greets people at the door, but we are working on it. Casey graduated from dog school last month. She was a star. She sailed through all her tests (come when called, sit, down, settle down, off). For extra credit, she demonstrated how well she can stay, and her two tricks - she shakes hands and sits up and begs. Everyone was very impressed. She really has only one flaw - she is a chewing machine. We have bought her so many chew toys we could open our own store, but she seems to prefer the stuff she shouldn't get. Of course, this has been good for teaching Rick and the kids to put their things away or risk finding them in pieces. I am hopeful that she will outgrow this; the vet says she is only 17 or 18 months old and should be over this phase by the time she's two. We'll see; in the meantime, we will buy still more chew toys and keep her in her crate when we aren't at home. She is very smart, as her obedience school results demonstrate. She quickly figured out how to activate our motion-sensitive outdoor lights so when she goes outside at night, she turns the lights on first thing. She learned that I prefer that she not lounge on the furniture and keeps to the floor with two exceptions. She likes to sit on the bay window and watch the world go by, and she likes to sleep in our bed. Of course, she starts out on the floor at night, but when we wake up in the morning, there she is sprawled at the bottom of the bed. Her best friend is the border collie across the street. They tear around the yard, compete for tennis balls, and go on walks down the bike path together. Casey is truly a terrific dog. She has made friends with all our neighbors and all the kids' friends. She has a wonderful smile; it's impossible to be angry or upset about anything when she smiles and puts her head on your knee. She is a very sympathetic listener and likes all the same TV shows and movies I do. She even sat through six hours of Pride and Prejudice with me last weekend. (We were up until 4:00 am.) Thank you again for all you did for Casey and for all the dogs you help. I still visit your website regularly. (I was so pleased to read that Crystal was adopted and is doing well. You may remember that she was one of the dogs we looked at before we decided on Casey.) You really are wonderful at matching dogs with people - she is perfect for us and I think we are also perfect for her. Have a very merry Christmas!