Scout Victoria (Little Witch Sorceress) was our first Cavalier. She came to us at the age of 10 weeks old in 1998 and was an "only child" for the first 2 years. She is our Cavalier athlete and loves to play frisbee. You might say she's "obsessed" with it. She is a therapy dog through Therapy Dogs International. I'm so proud of how well she behaves! Scoutie has mild mitral valve disease, diagnosed at age 2, but it hasn't progressed in all the years since it was first discovered. She will be 11 years old in April this year and still has the energy of a puppy, although she has lost some hearing. We named her Scout after the character Jean Louise "Scout" Finch from my favorite book "To Kill a Mockingbird". Her middle name is Victoria because Queen Victoria had a Cavalier, and Scout is quite the Queen herself. She's a tomboy, just like Scout Finch. We say if Scout were human, she'd be scraping knees and climbing trees and playing in Little League.
Lainie May (Cobblestone Eleni) is our second Cavalier. She came to us at the age of 9 1/2 months old in 2000. She's a love-bug and loves to cuddle. She's our littlest one and our "forever baby". Lainie's middle name is May, since our favorite vacation spot is Cape May, NJ. She is exclusively clicker trained, and knows all the basic obedience commands as well as some fun tricks. Some of the tricks she knows are "high five", roll-over, growl on cue, bring me a tissue out of the tissue box, and open a cabinet door on command by pulling on a rope tied to it's handle. She is quite vocal on walks and she's been called a "pip" by several folks, so we call her "Pip","Pipper", or sometimes "Mrs. Pippy". Lainie was diagnosed with a grade 3 murmur at age 5, which progressed to a grade 4 at age 8 1/2, but she still has no symptoms. Now going on almost 10 years old, she is starting to lose her hearing. If Lainie were human, she'd be dressed up in petticoats and having a tea party with her dollies. She is my clown and always makes me laugh.
Chester Finch was our third Cavalier and our special boy. He came to us in April of 2002 at the age of 7 1/2 years old and he lived with us til his death at age 14 yrs, 3 months in February 2009. His previous owner had to give him up due to her own deteriorating health. She turned him over to Cavalier Rescue in order to give him a chance at another loving home when she could no longer care for him. Prior to living with that owner he had been an FIC kennel dog, living as a stud dog in a commercial kennel for his first 4 years. We took him in to foster him and fell in love with him, and so he became a permanent member of our family. He was the sweetest, most loving, gentle, calm, content dog we have ever met. He had some significant health problems, including syringomyelia (a spinal cord disease), seizures, MVD with a grade 3-4 murmur, a heart rhythm problem called sick sinus syndrome, luxating patellas, deformity and arthritis of the bones of the spine, and allergies, but none of these ever interfered with his wonderful personality. Chessie was wonderful with all people (even young children) and with most dogs, but he did have "issues" with other dominant male dogs. We believe this was because of his early life in a kennel. Chester could be the poster boy for why it's important to buy a Cavalier from a reputable responsible breeder who tests breeding pairs for health problems. We dubbed Chester with many nicknames, but our most favorite was "Uncle Chester". He just always had the soul of an old man. To go along with the "To Kill a Mockingbird" theme, we gave him the middle name "Finch". If Chester were human, he'd be a kindly old Grandpa whose lap you could crawl into and cuddle with whenever you needed special hugs. He gave the best kisses!! He is now with Ellen's Dad, his "PopPop" in heaven.
Our fourth Cavalier, Charlie, came to us in early October 2006 from Lucky Star as a rescue from a puppymill in Ohio at about age 2. He's quite a cuddle-bug and loves nothing more than to snuggle up as close as possible to his Mama. Scout, Chester, and Lainie have accepted him without any problems. He is quite the mischief maker and curious George, getting into and exploring everything he can. We love him bunches!! One of his nicknames is "Monkey", since I swear he's half Cavalier and half monkey. That boy can get into more mischief!!!!!!!!! His other nickname is "Alvin the Chipmunk" because of his propensity to get into trouble. That being said, he was the STAR of his basic manners training class and continues to do quite well in obedience classes. The name "Charlie" is also tied to "To Kill a Mockingbird". In the book, Scout's best friend is "Dill" whose real name is "Charles Baker Harris". Hence, our Charlie.
Gertie Maude is our fifth Cavalier. She is another Lucky Star rescue from an Amish puppymill. We don't know how old she is; we're guessing about 5-6 years old. We were not actively looking for another Cavalier, but I checked the Lucky Star website and absolutely fell in love with her at first sight and just had to have her. She is a doll baby and very sweet. We've had very minor adjustment issues, in that she has decided that the humans belong to her and has jealously guarded both me and Jim when in our laps a few times. This behavior is not unexpected in a puppymill dog, and we're dealing with it with positive training techniques. She is a great eater, and a fabulous potty-er. No accidents at all!! She is smaller than Lainie, so is now the "baby" of the family. We haven't figured out her personality yet, but so far, she is our little "Puddin Pop" and has earned the nickname "Puddin". To go along with the To Kill a Mockingbird theme (my favorite book), we gave her the middle name "Maude" after "Miss Maudie Atikinson", the Finches' neighbor in the book. Welcome Miss Gertrude Maude!!
