8/27/06: Casey (with a long A- like Casey Jones) arrived this afternoon. My very first impression of her is that she is sooooo mellow- I already nicknamed her mellow yellow. She's a medium colored purebred Golden with thick soft fur. She should be groomed to get some of the mats and excess hair off her, however, even with her mats she is a beauty. She's carrying a few more pounds than she should for her frame so we are going to put her on a diet. It is especially critical that she maintains an appropriate weight as she has been diagnosed with Lymes Disease. In case you don't know, Lymes Disease is hard on a dogs back end so any addition weight will make getting up from a laying position more difficult for her. She's not yet spayed but I'll be making an appointment for her sometime this week. She also has ear infections and I'm going to ask the Doc to clean out her ears when she is under for her surgery.

Her story is that she originally lived on a farm and was rescued by her last family. The new family has had her since January until they realized that they were in over their heads with three kids under the age of 12, two dogs and a cat. I assume that it's inappropriate to get rid of the kids so Casey was the one to go :) That's ok with me, because she's a nice addition to my family! She has not been through obedience school but sits on command and comes when called. She apparently doesn't fetch tennis balls. The resident dog Zack thinks that she's an odd retriever but Zack is happy that he doesn't have to share. The family did not have a fenced yard and she didn't stray out of the yard.

She met Zack without incident. However, Zack barked at her to play for about a half hour before she finally stood her ground and growled at him to leave her alone. She also met my neighbor's dog Rusty (a RAGOM puppymill rescue) who was completely smitten with her the second he met her! There isn't much else to report about Casey as of yet. She seems like a great dog without any behavior issues but she does have a few minor health issues that need to be addressed before she can be adopted. However, I would show interest in this girl soon before Rusty takes her as his bride.