Cassie

I posted earlier about Charlie, our older lab that we lost last winter.  As I said in that post, Charlie was almost too good to be true - very well behaved - and everybody loved her.  Probably because of that, we decided to get another lab.

 Cassie (L) and Charlie, about 3 Months after we got her

Cassie,Theresa, Gregg, and Charlie about 3 years ago

Cassie, jumping in to rescue my daughter, Kari

 Here she's towing Kari back to the dock

We talked about getting a yellow lab, and I found a good candidate at a shelter in Iowa.  Karma was a pretty lab, a little over a year old, who was destined to be put down.  She had a bad knee joint in a hind leg, but was very active (a little wild, I suspect).  I went back and forth over it, then called and told them I'd take her if no one else did, so she wouldn't be euthanized.  The day we were going to pick her up, I got a call from the shelter saying someone wanted her, so I told them to go ahead.

A couple of months later, I made the mistake of going to the Capitol Humane Society, "just to look".  Of course, I fell in love.  Cassie was very calm and quiet - unlike most of the dogs, she didn't jump on the fence and bark like crazy.  Since that was very similar to Charlie's reaction when I first saw her, I assumed she'd be the same.  Not exactly!

I didn't pay too much attention in the shelter, but Cassie was skinny - in fact, although she was taller than Charlie, she weighed over 40 pounds less.  Her hips looked deformed, because they stuck out so much, and you could count all her ribs from across the street!  We weren't even sure she was a lab, because her head looked gigantic.  Also, her coat was very thin - unlike the typical heavy, slightly oily, lab coat.  Her demeanor in the shelter was almost certainly due to her being so thin and weak.  In addition, we discovered she had kennel cough, ear mites, an ear infection, worms, and some other kind of intestinal bug.

Cassie weighed 46 pounds when we got her, and I soon learned she was unable to keep food down.  After eating, she'd either throw it all up, or have explosive diarrhea.  As soon as she was done, she'd just happily go about her business.  I kenneled her when we were gone, but there were a number of times she had an accident in her kennel and I had to give her - and her kennel - a bath.  Of course, she was also completely clueless about housetraining, but that only took a week or so to teach her.

After multiple trips to the vet over the next 2 months - and about $2,000 in fees - she had lost 7 pounds!  One night she was so weak she couldn't even lift her head while she was vomiting.  When our vet didn't have an idea what to do (I've since changed veterinarians), I decided to try a different food.  Of course, we had tried a number of prescription foods from our vet, but nothing had worked.  I went to the pet store, and, after spending about an hour looking at labels, bought some "Nutro Natural Choice for Sensitive Stomachs", and tried it.  The result was amazing - she quit throwing up, and the diarrhea stopped after a few days.  She started putting on weight, and got dramatically stronger.  I was certain our troubles were over!

Of course, not all the problems were over - Cassie had some interesting behavioral quirks.  I quickly discovered that, although she walked nicely on a leash, she went nuts when she'd see a strange dog.  She'd bark, growl, snarl, and act up horribly when that would happen.  This was totally unexpected (and completely different than Charlie), as well as being embarrassing.  She would also act up at times in the car - consistently barking at people in cars next to us, and going off on anything strange (fork lifts, roller coasters, cows, animated signs, etc.) that we would drive by.

I put Cassie in obedience class at The Greater Lincoln Obedience Club, thinking that would help her behavioral issues.  It the first class, she went nuts, tried to attack other dogs, ripped my shirt, and generally was about as bad as you can imagine.  I pulled her away from the other dogs, and worked with her alone.  By the end of the first class, she could heel withing 10 feet of the other dogs.  By the time we were done with that class, she could do all the basic things better than any other dog in the class!  She didn't have any issue with dogs at the club, but that didn't help her behavior in other places.

I ended up taking her through intermediate and advanced obedience classes.  Cassie had a real knack for this - she picked things up very quickly, and seemed to enjoy the classes.  Unlike most dogs, she paid complete attention to me when we do the exercises - her eyes were just riveted to my face while heeling.  I never spent enough time working with her - never more than about 15 minutes per day - but she was still able to do everything well. 

When we got Charlie, I had put her through the Canine Good Citizen test.  This test verifies that the dog will follow basic obedience commands, socialize appropriately with people and other dogs, and is able to be left (on lead) with a stranger.  Charlie, of course, passed with flying colors.  I decided - even though I knew she couldn't possibly pass - to let Cassie take the test.  To my shock, Cassie passed easily!  Of course, she still had the same issues out on the street, but she could easily tolerate the dogs at the club, since she was used to it.  Later, Cassie even passed the test to be a therapy dog, but she really isn't suited for that task.

Cassie is very smart - she learns things quickly, and seems to retain it forever.  She's very obedient, except for her quirks with strange dogs (she gets along fine with our other dog, as well as our kids' dogs).  We tried professional trainers with only fair success, but we did make some progress using a bark collar.  This gives her a small shock when she barks at the dogs, and it didn't take much for Cassie to learn she couldn't go off on strange dogs while wearing it.  She doesn't normally wear the collar - we just put it on her if she acts up.  She's gotten much better even when she doesn't wear it - she can control herself pretty well in most cases.  Although she continues to improve, she'll never be a dog you can just ignore when other dogs are around.

Overall, Cassie's a great dog.  She's very affectionate, and likes most people.  She's learned - for the most part - that she can't jump up on people.  She's working on learning not to kiss everyone all the time, and she's very well behaved in the house.  She doesn't get sick, and never has an accident in the house.  She is allowed on the downstairs couch, my downstairs recliner, and our bed (but only when it's unmade).  She doesn't get on the other furniture, even when left alone.  I'm always amazed that she understands the rule for getting on our bed.  In the fall and winter, Cassie will get on my lap in my recliner (she never does this in the summer) - she's much warmer than a blanket!  She plays fetch and tug very nicely - she has kind of a quirky, pleasant personality, and is very affectionate.

Cassie weighs about 95 pounds now - she's still pretty lean, so I think she's about right.  She's very strong, and we don't have any real health issues with her at all (she can, and does, eat pretty much anything).  She has some allergies, but those are controlled pretty well with Benadryl.  She's pretty laid back around the house - she gets a walk or run in the morning, and will just hang out the rest of the day.  On Sunday, we usually don't walk - Cassie will stare at me and bark until I play tug for a few minutes - then she's OK.

We almost decided not to keep her in the first week we had her, but I'm glad we gave Cassie a chance.  Although she was a little -actually a lot - more work than Charlie, she's definitely been worth it.