Sophia is 10. A former failed show dog (she used to get car sick - not a good thing for a show dog!), she is now a successful house dog and for the last six years she's lived with us enjoying her lifestyle of camping, dog parks and napping on the couch.
She recently lost her companion - my husband's 14 year old GSD-mix - and she's coming out of her depression with a lot more white on her face than she had before. Getting Captain, the tornado on legs, has really helped her state of mind. She is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known- all she wants is to be loved and she gives so much of it in return. Her Zen-like serenity has me thinking that she might be good at being a nursing home visitor, should we do a bit of training.
Captain - aka Florindale's Captain of the Guard - is 14 months old and a wonderful dog. What impresses me most about him is that for such a young dog he has a rock-solid mind and heart. That boy is unflappable. Everything new is to be investigated and he loves going places. He plays well with other dogs and has a particular fondness for Pugs, Beagles and Puggles.
He is also very smart! Example - last night Sophia barked once as something she saw beyond our screened front door. Captain went to look, backed up a pace, sat down and looked at my husband on the couch with a look on his face that asked "is this worth bothering over?" My huband made a circling gesture with his hand and Captain got up from his spot, walked over to Brad, turned around sat on his foot and looked over his shoulder at him. Brad patted him on the head and told him he was a good boy. Un-freaking-believable. This is a dog who will only
next week graduate from the beginner's class - sit, heel, stay, down and stand - that's it in that class. It's
not like he's a Schutzhund 3 and darn near psychic (that will come later, much later), but see what I mean? It is all of that, my friends, that is a tribute to his breeder's time, effort and good judgement over the years (take a bow, Deidre!).
The kitteh, Raven, is 9 and lives the cush life of a housecat. Captain wigged her out at first, as he'd never seen a cat before and was very courious. But she's relaxed now the the newness has worn off. Her life is hard. She eats Wellness canned food and Natural Planet Organics dry and spends her days napping on the bed. It is very demanding, but she's a special cat, capable of coping with such stresses.
