This is to announce the first Cavalier Symposium centering on topics of interest about the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  The symposium will be held in Belgium on October 25^th. Organized by Arnold Jacques, this Symposium is the first of its kind.  For more information see below and contact Arnold Jacques at a.l.m.jacques@gmail.com. Please include a link to the symposium website on your website

From Arnold:

“The website of the International Cavalier Symposium is ready.
www.cavaliersymposium.com
May we ask you to spread this link, as much as possible, among all your friends.
May we ask you to create a link on your website, preferably by using attached banner.
We hope to welcome you on the symposium.

Kind regards

Arnold Jacques
www.cavaliersymposium.com”

The weather here has been brutal.  I used to love cold weather but the older  I get the more I  detest it.  I used to be able  to go out in the coldest weather without a coat and now I just don’t want to go out even when bundled up.  Even so, my area of Ohio has had it very easy compared to other areas of the country like the area in Michigan where my buddy Roxy lives who is always inundated with inches and inches of snow. 

Well, my I phone fell out of my nightgown pocket into the toilet and gave up the ghost or though I thought.  It was dead.  I used the hair dryer and put it in rice to no avail.  I then purchased a new I phone 5s which I really did not want to do.  I got the new phone all set up and my old phone resurrected itself and is as good as new.  So now I guess I will keep it for a backup.  I am technologically handicapped so setting up a new phone is extremely difficult for me and took lots of conversations with Verizon and Apple to do so.  I have all my apps and contacts transferred but for the life of me cannot get my old ringtone back.   So more calls are in order. 

The Cavaliers are fine.  I have not had puppies in awhile but think that my Alice is expecting a litter.  My Tillie did not become pregnant which was disappointing to me and to the people waiting for a Rattlebridge puppy as well as for me waiting for a show puppy.  Dog breeding is not for the faint of heart.  The Golden Retriever Club of America has put out an excellent video on responsible breeding.

Share this with all who don’t understand what responsible breeders do and with responsible breeders you know who may need a way to articulate how valuable we are.  Please watch the following.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxd1Ce0j8Vw

 

We had a Cavalier get together today at a training facility. We had a short meeting of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of Central Ohio of which I am an officer.  We then had two conformation training classes for our dogs, mostly puppies or young dogs.  My three new hopefuls conducted themselves quite well since only one of them had been on lead.  They soon got the hang of it and made me very proud.  Rattlebridge Dueling at Dawn and Rattlebridge Danger at Dawn are six month old half brothers from the same mother, Ch. Rattlebridge Delta Dawn.  Miss Delta could not satisfy herself with only one stud dog but bred herself to another that somehow got through a dog door because he found her so irresistible.  AKC allows multiple sire litters with DNA testing.  So all is done and the boys are off and running!  Will post a picture of the both of them soon as I am really excited about them if they continue to develop as well as they have.  Nothing is ever certain in breeding dogs!

Our little girl by Ch. Rattlebridge From Dusk ‘Til Dawn out of Rattlebridge Alice Blue Gown handled herself beautifully for her first time on lead and a venture away from home. Rattlebridge Tete a Tete at Dawn is very sweet,  loving and well behaved The boys, her hooligan first cousins, are not as demure as she which is to be expected!

 

 

 

 

We had absolutely cold, drizzling, dreary weather today.  My newborn daffodils are really protesting by laying on their sides.  My tulips have all been eaten by deer or rabbits so won’t bloom and I planted at least two hundred bulbs!  The deer come right up to the sitting area by our bedroom window and heat all the birdseed from the squirrel proof bird feeder.  What effrontery!

Until next time . . .

 

Food for thought written by Alice Fix and reprinted here with permission:

Do You Know the Real PETA and
Humane Society of the United States?
An Editorial by Alice Fix

You will not often see negative articles in our newsletters, but every now and again we are forced to make a stand, and to speak out about what we know is for the better good for all involved. This is one such instance. We can no longer stand back and watch to
see what will happen. I think that it is past time to publicly expose the real agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and their cohorts in crime, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and the animal rights agenda.
For many years we have all enjoyed the companionship of our dogs and other animals.We have been busy playing with them, taking care of them, finding fun things that we could do with them, and generally just having a great time with all the animals that
live in our houses. While we have been enjoying the love and fun that our animals provide to us, there have been groups out there organizing on a grand scale trying to get our rights to own those animals taken away. Yes, that is exactly what I meant.
Make no mistake about it. These people have organized on a large scale to infiltrate many major city councils and governments in the country to spread their propaganda.
Their agenda is easily defined and simple. Their main objective is to take away your right to own animals. They do not want you to have the companionship of any animal, whether that is a dog, cat, horse, mouse, frog, fish or any other animal that you can think of. They are pooling their resources to get this accomplished, and have millions of dollars in their war chest for this effort.
This is a statement made by Ingrid Newkirk, the President of PETA: “I don’t use the word ‘pet.’ I think it’s speciesist language. I prefer ‘companion animal.’ For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There
would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the
surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship – enjoyment at a distance.” — The Harper’s Forum Book,
Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223. It is interesting that Ms. Newkirk used the word “speciesist”. Allwords.com defines that word as follows:

The discrimination against, and exploitation of, animals by humans in the belief that humans are superior to all other species of animals and can therefore justify putting them to their own use.
One of the animal rights mantras is that all animals are created to be equal to all humans, and should have the same rights as humans.
Just in case it still isn’t clear to you what their agenda is, here are a few more quotes from Ingrid Newkirk:

“One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild … they would have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and then sit there and
watch TV.”
— The Chicago Daily Herald, 3/1/90

“In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.” — Newsday, 2/21/88

Who is Ingrid Newkirk, and why should we care what she has to say about anything? In the 1970s, Newkirk worked for Montgomery County (Maryland), and then for the District of Columbia, as an animal protection officer and deputy sheriff, before becoming DC’s first female Poundmaster in 1978. She co-founded PETA in 1980 with
established animal-rights activist Alex Pacheco. (1) PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, but in my opinion, there is nothing ethical in what they
do. Ms. Newkirk has very close ties with several groups identified by the FBI as known terrorists groups, such as Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The animal rights groups are very well organized, and when you check closely, you will see many of the same names sitting on the boards of these radical groups. They are intertwined and closely
linked through their finances, and the work that they do.

PETA operates on an annual budget of $ 29,000,000. Most of this is from donations made by ordinary citizens that don’t know the real work of PETA. Many people think that they are out to save the lives of animals after seeing all of their ads on TV and in the newspapers. That is why millions are donated to them each year. In Virginia, the home state of PETA, in 2004, PETA adopted out 361 animals, and
euthanized 2,278, according to their records. (2) Those figures aren’t good. That means that they euthanized 86.3% of their animals and only adopted out 13.7%. These
figures come directly from PETA’s Annual Report and from their 2004 Tax Return. It doesn’t seem like they used that $29 million for the betterment of the majority of the animals that they came in contact with. So where is the money going? It is being
spent for publicity to raise more money for one thing. It is also being used for legislative purposes. They have placed key people in city governments all over the country to try to influence legislation to take your pet ownership rights away. And they are having a lot of success with it. You need to understand the basic difference between the “animal welfare” groups and “animal rights” groups. Although the names might sound like they have the same objectives, there is a big difference. Animal welfare groups are working to see that all animals are treated humanely. Animal rights groups are working to see that all ownership of animals comes to an end.
As I said, PETA has close ties with many other organizations. One of those organizations is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). People donate millions to the HSUS each year, thinking that their money is going to save the lives of millions of animals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The HSUS does not own
a single animal shelter anywhere in the country. Although many shelters have the words Humane Society in their names, they are not associated in any way with the HSUS. The HSUS does not sponsor any spay or neuter clinic anywhere in the country. They do donate a very small percent of the annual budget to a few local humane
societies, around $2 million annually, which just happens to be less than the amount that they spend in travel each year. Their major money is sent on fund raising and legislative activity. In 2005 they spent $28 million for public mailings, $6 million in vegan education, $10 million in legislative campaigns and litigation. Their income for
that year was close to $125 million.

The HSUS was founded in 1954 as an animal welfare organization. But in the early 1980’s, just about the same time as PETA was founded, they began to change to an animal rights organization. In the 1990’s the personnel began to change to better fit with their new purpose, and today many of the personnel at HSUS have ties to PETA, including the current President, Wayne Pacelle.

This is an interesting quote from Wayne Pacelle: “We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding …One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.” – Animal People News (May 1, 1993)

When you combine other statements that he has made, with the above statement, in my opinion the meaning of this statement is that if we could spay and neuter all animals, we could eliminate pet ownership within one generation. “One generation and out” would mean to me that they are gone and are eliminated in only one
generation. Quietly sitting back and maybe not being aware, we are now allowing the HSUS to make presentations at our local schools, with the definite purpose to educate our children about how bad pet ownership is, to indoctrinate children to the thought that animals should be free and not kept as pets. They are doing this in the same way that they have infiltrated city councils and local governments all across the country, quietly and matter-of-factly.
“Shortly after taking office, Pacelle announced a merger with the Fund For Animals which have assets of over $20 million, and the Doris Day Animal League. The combined group estimated its 2005 budget at “over $95 million” and also announced the formation of a new “political organization,” which will “allow for a more
substantial investment of resources in political and lobbying activities.” So that is where we find ourselves today. With the HSUS and PETA combined annual budgets of over $124 million for political and lobbying efforts to take away our rights to own animals. And that figure does not include the many splinter organizations that
have been formed from these two major organizations. We are in an uphill battle now, and it will be the fight of our lives to keep our rights to own pets.

They are going at it from many different angles. One way is to get Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) passed. The banning of Pit-Bulls all over the country is a good example. That has caught on like wildfires. The animal rights groups have said if they can just get one breed banned, then it will be easy to add others to it at a later date,
until eventually all breeds are banned. Another way that they are going about it is to have a mandatory spay and neuter law in place. Just think about it, if all domestic animals are spayed and neutered, when they die, there will be no more domestic animals. Those same words have been said by Wayne Pacelle, the President of the HSUS. They have a very well thought out and planned agenda, and they are counting on the ignorance of the American people to get their agenda accomplished. Well guess what: Ignorance can be overcome by education. The American people may be ignorant about the facts, but they are not stupid. They can be educated. We were ignorant before 9-11, and look what effect that had. It caused all Americans to become educated and unite and fight to prevent that from happening again. The difference here is that we are being attacked from within our own country. We are under strong attack by the animal rights groups, and I hope that we don’t just stand by and allow it to happen.

The animal rights groups are publicly stating that we need to get laws passed so that they can close down all the puppy mills and commercial breeding facilities that have their animals living in inhumane conditions. Just about everyone would agree with
the idea that animals should be treated humanely. But that is just the vehicle that they are using to try to do away with all animal ownership, period. And that is not a statement that they are being all that public about.
You can become active in this fight by telling your friends and neighbors what is going on. You can be an instrument of education. You can also fight this kind of legislation when it is presented in your area. Go to the City Council meetings and make your voice heard. Write letters to the state and federal government officials to offer your services to be on any animal related committee. In short get the word out to any and all of your friends that own pets. Let them know what is going on. If enough people stop funding the animal rights organizations, we can put them out of business. There is not much that they can do without operating funds.
The next time you think about making a donation to any of these organizations, you had better think long and hard about whether you really want your money being spent to take away your rights.

PETA
HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES
FARM SANCTUARY
FUND FOR ANIMALS
DORIS DAY ANIMAL LEAGUE
EARTH SAVE
GREEN PEACE
PHYSICIANS FOR RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE
ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT (ALF)
FRIENDS OF ANIMALS
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS

Right now the HSUS has started their “First Strike Campaign”. I find that an interesting choice of names. At visualthesaurus.com they define first strike as follows:

First strike: An attack that is intended to seize or inflict damage on or destroy an objective.

Most people think that attack is on inhumane treatment of animals. They still don’t know it is an attack to take your animals away from you. Last year over 10 million people donated money to the HSUS because of their massive spending on advertising.
Most of those 10 million people had no idea what their money was actually going to support.  Better places to donate your money that will fight for your rights to own animals are listed below. These groups are working hard to protect your right to own animals, and
to expose the true agenda to much of the animal legislation going on all over the country.

NATIONAL ANIMAL INTEREST ALLIANCE

http://www.naiaonline.org/
SPORTSMEN’S AND ANIMAL OWNERS’ VOTING ALLIANCE
http://saova.org/
AMERICAN DOG OWNERS ASSOCIATION
http://www.adoa.org/index.cfm
U S SPORTSMAN ALLIANCE
http://www.ussportsmen.org/
You can either make your donations work for you or against you. That decision is
yours to make.
Footnotes for Reference:
1) http://www.activistcash.com/biography.cfm/bid/456
2) www,nokillnow.comPetaDVACreporting.pdf
3) http://www.animalscam.com/quotes.cfm
4)http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/136

This article will first appear in the March, 2007 issue (Volume V Issue 2) of the Rocky Mountain Wrinkle, the newsletter of the Centennial Chinese Shar-Pei Club, Inc. Any reference to this article must give full credit to Rocky Mountain Wrinkle, and the Centennial
Chinese Shar-Pei Club, Inc.

Permission must be granted to use any articles from our newsletters, and we must get a credit line for any article that is granted permission to use, with a link to our website. Anyone wishing to reprint any of our articles should contact Alleydoll3@aol.com for written permission.

I have been really, really busy since my last post.  I keep meaning to write every day, but always seem to be become involved in so many things.  I barely get email done.  I do have puppies available, mostly really pretty rubies who will go to pet homes once decisions about selecting show dogs is done.  Both litters are from our wonderful Ch. Rattlebridge Code Red. 

I am very involved in the pending legislation in Ohio.  Beside SB 173/HB 223, we also have SB 71 concerning the legitimate breeders.  This Bill would allow dogs living in abusive situations, such as dog fighting kennels, to be confiscated by law officials without due process being observed.  No one wants to see dogs living in abuse or neglect, but the worry is that owners’ individual rights may be at stake.  Walt Bebout, Director of Legislation, at AKC gave a very informative talk this past Saturday during the Lima Kennel Club show in Columbus.  We are forming an Ohio Federation of Dog Clubs to get clubs in Ohio to band together for political strength as we fight legislation which would seriously affect us legitimate show breeders who try our best to do right by the dogs we breed and own.  We have formed a steering committee to form the Federation.  I do hope we have enough club involvement to make the Federation go. 

This past weekend was the fall cluster of Columbus, Ohio shows.   I judged on Friday: Dobermans, Mastiffs, Rottweilers, Samoyeds, Portuguese Water Dogs.  I had a full day’s work and enjoyed every minute of it.  I cannot take as many judging assignments as in the past because of Al’s need to have me home, but I do so like to judge.  I saw some very good dogs.  My wonderful friend and co owner, Margaret Valentine, flew up from Texas to spend five days.  As always when together, we had a great time watching the show the days that I did not judge and operating as the fashion police, very quietly and respectfully  of course.  We also had the chance to spend time with our great friend and co owner Sherri Meyer and her daughter Nicole Newkirk.  Sherri and Nicole finished the championship of their black Italian Greyhound “Walker,”  a really lovely IG.  Margaret and Sherri co owned our last two Best in Show  and number one Cavaliers with me.  Margaret is the co breeder and co owner of Ch. Rattlebridge From Dusk ‘Til Dawn and his sisters except for Ch.  Delta Dawn who is co owned with Sherri Meyer. 

Meanwhile back at the farm, we have recently housed a few Humane Society dogs in the back kennel.  We also have a young and very pretty stud pony that was picked up running the roads of our county.  One of our mares is totally in love and in flaming heat with this pony and cannot understand why we will not let her have access to her boyfriend.  We want no unplanned breedings here!  We are running a “found pony” ad with absolutely no calls to claim him.  How can someone not notice the loss of a pony?!!He is not staying as cute as he is.  I am presently doing all the horse chores since Al has had his shoulder surgery and another equine body is one too many. We need homes for the Humane Society dogs and the pony. I do hope they all can find wonderful forever homes.  We have our own rescue dog and there is no more room in our house since the Cavaliers are still hanging from the chandeliers!  Want a beagle mix or two, we have it.  Want a border collie mix, we have it.  We have designer dogs whom no one created on purpose, but I believe that all of these dogs deserve the same wonderful homes as my Cavaliers get.  I am on the Humane Society of Morrow County Board and am the public relations director.  The Humane Society takes many hours of time from the whole board.  We do not have a shelter and do not have the money to fund a shelter in the near future.  We depend on foster homes which have been very scarce lately, hence the gang of dogs in our back kennel.  Working for the Humane Society is hard as it is difficult to see so many animals in trouble. If you wish to help animals, volunteer at your local humane society.

One of the very odd things happening in shelters around the country is the importation of puppies from other countries.  Our country is really making a effort to spay and neuter actually reducing the number of animals in shelters in different parts of the country.  So now certain shelters, which depend on adoption fees, are actually bringing in puppies and dogs, sometimes from other countries, to make available for adoption.  Our humane society has a voucher program to help people neuter their cats and dogs and we do not make any animal available for adoption which has not been spayed or neutered.

My Clooney is back from Canada and on my lap once more.  I keep being asked if we are going to send him out to be shown to be ranked in this country, but I do not think that I can bear to have him gone from me.  He is the best little companion.  His sister Delta Dawn is back home from Sherri Meyer to be bred. She is so beautiful.  I am so excited to do this breeding with Sherri. 

Well, my darling husband who was all set to move, has decided not to move–this is after I started the huge task of sorting through every hidden hoard of “STUFF” in the house. The property we wanted to buy that started all this moving business turned out to have serious flaws and we simply cannot find anyplace nicer than our place despite the work of this property. Al is now facing a couple of possible surgeries and now is not the time to take on the physical tasks that come with moving. I do not know how we will ever tackle cleaning out all Al’s stash of baling wire, string, tools, nuts, bolts, pieces of lumber he might just need “someday,” farm equipment, the hay elevator (which I bought for him for his birthday we first moved here–how romantic but you should see what he buys for me! This year I got a Mantis rototiller!); fencing; fence posts, lawn equipment; old lawn chairs that he might need someday–the list could go on. Al says not to worry, he will “take care of it.” Yeah, right! Men say that women are pack rats, but at least what we keep makes some sense. I have gone through years of dog magazines; clothes from my skinny days, to my really heavy days, back to halfway skinny days, back up rotund days, and now wherever the hell I am size wise;old books; notes from high school classes; old term papers; years of dog pictures of assorted breeds, furniture that just may have a spot someday; piles of clutter and more clutter. If I cannot fill up every horizontal surface of the house, I do not seem to be content. I am making a real effort to declutter, but not being as successful as I would like I am afraid. Still, in case we ever do move, I will be prepared . . . HAH!

Dog wise, we are raising a couple of lovely litters and may let a couple of puppies go to show homes as we are serious about not showing dogs. I am looking at a couple of really super looking puppies and when I feel myself weakening, I just remind myself that the last thing that we need right now is the effort it takes to show dogs at the level we have shown. We have just let a few puppies go on our regular spay/neuter contracts to spectacular pet homes in Florida, Oklahoma, and Ohio over the last month or so and gritted our teeth as we kissed the puppies goodbye as they were really nice show prospects that we would have liked to evaluate longer. One of them went to our friends Melissa and Marshall Gimple who just lost their Bounce son at over fourteen. So now they have a ruby Bounce son in their home to be company to their ruby girl “Tessa” who they got from us several years ago.

We have never sold many show dogs as we keenly feel the responsibility of protecting this breed and have been control freaks about where our dogs go. Sadly I have made grave mistakes in judgment in choosing a few show homes; even on co ownerships one cannot control what others do once a dog leaves one’s property. One can hear horror stories in all breeds about co ownerships and selling show dogs; sadly many of the stories are true. I have also been so lucky in continuing to co own dogs with Margaret Valentine and Sherri Meyer who have become very close friends and great partners. Cindy Chandler and Jeff and Tami Byroads have also been wonderful to work with our dogs in continued co ownership and friendship. There are a few people out there whom we consider totally trustworthy enough and we look forward to perhaps seeing a few Rattlebridge dogs continue to be shown in their hands. Of course the puppies we are looking at for show prospects may not turn out to be show dogs and we may then be looking for wonderful pet homes for them.

I am now deep into working on HB 223/SB 173 which is being proposed in both houses; termed the “puppy mill” bill, this bill has real ramifications for legitimate show breeders. My friend, Bobbi Brady, AKC delegate from the Central Ohio Kennel Club, and I have succeeded in meeting with two Ohio Senators, including the sponsor of the bill. We will meet next week with the sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives. Walt Bebout, director of legislation for the AKC has been most helpful to us. So far our legislators are at least willing to listen to our concerns. The wave of anti dog and anti breeding legislation throughout our country is very scary. The so called animal activists are well organized and well financed; our ability to own pets is being challenged as if one reads the fine print in Peta’s manifesto one would see that Peta is against any ownership of animals.

Enough for tonight. Thank you to my friend and webmaster, Roxy Hayes, for continuing to monitor our website and news items.

 

I cannot believe that I have not posted in almost a month, but the days have flown and we have been busy.  We are getting ready for hearings on Ohio Senate Bill 173.  Had the opportunity to meet for an hour with the sponsor of the bill, Senator Cates, who seemed to listen to concerns.  We are hoping that we can change the language of the bill so that reputable show breeders are not penalized. 

Al and I went to up state New York for his brother’s 80th birthday and family reunion.  We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast in Trumansburg on Lake Cuyaga. We went sailing on the lake; for me it was a first to sail on a big boat.  I even got to steer or whatever you call it.  I can see why my husband and his brother are so addicted to sailing.  I just came back from judging in Massachusetts.  Had a great time.

While we were in New York, we fell in love with the area and decided that Trumansburg would be an ideal place to relocate.  However, the facts about the winters dissuaded us from really considering up state New York but our discussion of relocating led to our really considering our desires for our future.  We presently have a beautiful small farm that is ideal for raising dogs and having horses.  However, the work load to keep up the property is enormous for the both of us.  So we have decided to sell our farm and relocate in the central Ohio area where we both have lived for many years.  We will still have our Cavaliers and I will still breed on a limited basis and still judge, but my obsession with showing dogs must come to an end.  I have a few puppies now who I think can really contribute to the breed when they grow up, so the Rattlebridge Cavaliers will continue for my own pleasure and the wonderful owners who seek us out for beloved pets.  I just do not want to live for showing and winning.  We have done everything in Cavaliers I have wanted to do and it is time to rest a bit. For our selection of our own pets for the future, we have just had a litter we have planned for a very long time.  Using frozen semen from our foundation sire, Aust. Best in Show, Canadian and CKCSC/USA champion Werrington Buoyancy of Rattlebridge we have had a wholecolor litter out of Harana Star Appeal.  I have long wanted to put a little Bounce back in my life especially since losing my beloved Bandi, a Bounce son, last year. 

Al is now 78.  We simply need a smaller property.  Life changes and we must change with it.  I will continue to keep up this blog as I enjoy doing so.  So stay tuned to see what the future will bring us as we shift our goals a bit. 

We love to breed and show dogs, but are just as proud of our dogs that are great family members, obedience or performance dogs, or therapy dogs. The following is a note I received from Jackie Kurlich who has two of our dogs. I am so proud of what Jackie and Candle are dong to cheer up hospital patients!!! From Jackie Kurlich: “I wanted to share a story about one of your girls. Just to refresh your memory, Candle came from Lucy and Freddie and is turning 2 this March. I know a lot of emphasis is put on the show dogs but I think the true hero’s are the working dogs like Candle that are touching lives. She visits our local hospital each Thursday and we will soon be going into the school system and alternative schools to help at-risk kids. She wins “Best of Breed” in my eyes! I have to tell you about our Therapy Dog visit to the hospital today. Let me start by saying that lately I have been wondering about the “quality”, I guess you could say, of our visits lately. It just seemed like there wasn’t any substance to them. Yeah, everyone was thrilled to see and pet Candle. The nurses adored her. Everyone wanted to take her home with them and she gave all the patients a change from their boring hospital stay. I can’t say that there was anyone that didn’t want to see her, but I just kept thinking there must be more to this therapy dog stuff. It just didn’t seem like we were helping anyone Then I visited the 4th floor of the hospital today where patients were recovering from major surgery. As we entered the floor we got the usual reception from the nurses on the floor wanting to pet her. Then a lady came up and asked if we could visit her dad. I followed her to room 409 and there was this very ill, very weak man in the bed turned on his side with his eyes closed. She told her dad that he had a visitor and I picked Candle up and put her beside him on the bed and he got this complete look of joy in his eyes, wrapped his arms around her and kept saying “She’s such a baby”, “She’s such a baby” over and over. Whenever I put Candle on a hospital bed she just seems to know to be calm. With this gentleman she put her head on his chest and lay down and the only thing you could hear was him whispering to her and her tail thumping away on the bedJ. Normally we only stay in each room a couple of minutes. We stayed with this gentleman for about a half hour. As we were leaving the room his daughter told me that this was the first time in a long time she had seen her dad smile and that she had had a dream about a Therapy Dog coming to visit the night before. I’ll never think of our visits in the same way again. There’s always that one person we are meant to visit. If anyone is thinking about going into a Therapy Dog program, I strongly encourage it. Your cavalier could make a big difference in someone’s day…quite possibly at the end of their life…..” Thank you, Jackie and Candle. I will try harder to get to the local nursing homes for visits with our dogs. It is one of the things I keep putting off. We used to do it before life got so busy and I began to deal with my aging orthopedics!!! On another note, I am very involved in the local Humane Society as the vice president and public relations director. We live in a very poor county with lots of animal neglect and/or abuse. The Humane Society does our best to help save animals. Last week we were told that someone had moved out of their house leaving behind dogs, chickens, and of all things–emus. Yes, emus! The birds and dogs were starving; some of the chickens were frozen to the ground. We rescued all we could. Rattlebridge Farm is now the home to a flock of chickens and two rather tall big birds who do not share one brain cell between them. My husband has named the emus Imogene and Emil. I do so hope that naming does not mean that they will be staying!!!!

September 25, 2004 Thank you to all who sent get well cards and messages after my recent knee surgery. Am on the mend. The new health section on our website is complete and up. We have addressed health concerns in the Cavalier in more depth than previously. Please tell us what you think of the new section. There are a few new websites addressing Cavalier health and not all of them are helpful. Do not believe everything you read. A good site for correct information (besides ours of course!) is: www.aboutcavalierhealth.com Remember to stay in touch and keep us posted on your Rattlebridge Cavalier! Meredith