I'm actually not sure whether this should be posted to the Pet Forum or Nature/Wildlife but based on the number of images, I think it's best here. Today, the queen of our household, Cassidy Ann, turned 9 years young. Cassidy (Annihaus Rowdy's B Cassidy) is an Annie granddaughter and a Rowdy daughter and as a result of that, she's been very important to our breeding program having produced 17 puppies in her two litters. Cassidy was an excellent show prospect as a puppy having gone Best Of Breed out of the 9-12 Month Puppy Class over Specials. But, at 10 months of age, she developed a lump on her right shoulder. We had it biopsied and it was diagnosed as a benign lipoma which we had removed.
Over the next year, Cassidy accumulated 13 points and one of her two required majors. She went Reserve to a major 3 more times before the lipoma recurred. This time, it was pretty entrenched in the muscle tissue of her shoulder and, although we put her through a second surgery, our vet doubted if we could get it all without damaging necessary muscle tissue. By the time she was healed from that surgery, it was clear that her strength was compromised and she moved with a limp. And six months later, the lipoma recurred again. So we decided that Cassidy had already demonstrated her breed type and structural integrity in the ring and the lipoma had always tested benign so we decided to breed her. We do not regret that decision for a second. We have also steadfastly refused to operate on her shoulder again.
As a Rowdy daughter, Cassidy was always a very sweet, gentle girl. She also lived in the same household as the original queen, Annie Fay, so her personality worked well with Annie's dominant attitude. The week before Annie left us, she and Cassidy laid side-by-side almost every day and you could almost see Annie passing the crown to her granddaughter. After that, Cassidy became Cassidy Ann and she's ruled the household with a firm but gentle paw ever since. When I asked Cassidy what she wanted for her Birthday, she told me she wanted to go for one of our long nature walks and she'd like a new portrait in honor of this special day. So, here's Cassidy Ann at 9 years old.
As we walked around the pond, the Hooded Mergansers I'd spotted last week were still there and I attempted to get a closer view of them. Here's the result of that effort.
And, toward the end of the walk, my old buddy the Wood Stork came cruising in and landed in the same tree where I'd captured him last week.
Cassidy will be getting some special additives to tonight's meal along with a few more treats than usual this evening. Tomorrow, it's back to work managing the rest of these canine kids. Nobody does it better.
Jim
