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Woodlyn's Whitetail Kite
My husband, Jerry, had a Dalmatian while he was growing up. When we first got married we got a little mixed breed, Tippy, and when he died, Jerry said he wanted another Dalmatian. So, I asked at the vet's to find out if there were any breeders in the area. There was, a Lynne Dauber, who became one of my best friends. I called her and, after going out to meet Bill and Lynne, and to meet their pack, was accepted as a new owner of one of her puppies. We got to see them when they were born, didn't know until then that Dalmatians were born white and developed their spotting in about ten days to two weeks of age. We went to visit every weekend, getting to know our new family addition.
Kite 26 days old (upper left corner), 7.5 weeks old, and 4 months old.
Kite grew too tall to be a show dog, although before he did we were considering it. I had never shown a dog before. Lynne asked me to go to a few dog shows with her to see what they were like. I have always loved dogs, but had never been to a dog show, what a thrill to me to see all the different breeds and be able to pet them after they showed.
Kite is now ten years old and looking and feeling pretty good. I started him in agility about a year and a half ago. Ricky and I were at a place where we could go no further in agility, so I thought I'd try the "old" boy. I trained him for about a year and then entered him in some trials. Because of his age I will only enter him in one trial a weekend, and because of his never having been out and about before, decided to only enter shows where we train, Paw Power Blues Dog Club. In his first two trials he got a 198 and a 199, 200 being a perfect score. He really seems to enjoy this alot. We will be entering another trial in November, hope to get his Agility 1 title.
Jerry and Kite are the very best of friends. Kite still likes to lay in my lap on the couch, but his heart belongs to Jerry. That is why I got Ricky, so I would have a dog who loves me and he does. When it is time for Kite to cross the Rainbow Bridge, then we will look for another Dalmatian.
One time when I was shampooing carpets, I laid a chair on its back on the couch, this is one of Kite's favorite chairs. When he saw where it was, he just simply got up onto the back of it and laid down. Couldn't leave that chair alone.
Kite tends to be a little overprotective of the house. His favorite looking out place was by my flower stand. Needless to say, when he saw something that needed to be barked at he would get too excited and knock down some of my flowers. His head is in the left upper corner.
So this year, I finally talked Jerry into getting a "Dutch" door, a half door, to the front room. Kite can look over it, but cannot get over. It has been so nice having that door. Kite is even calmer, knowing that he can't run through the house like an idiot.
In the winter, we heat with wood in an old radiating wood stove. One of Kite's favorite places in the winter time is laying by that stove. He gets pretty thirsty, but all of that heat is quite good therapy for an old dog.
I will let you all know how we do at our agility trial in November. He has allergies in the fall time, so he doesn't feel real good right now, so we shall see how he does.
Well, I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks, Kite and I qualified three times and acquired our Agility 1 title with UKC. I have decided not to go any further, age and arthritis are affecting him too much.
It's taken me a while to be able to add this part to this page. This spring we had to relieve Kite of his misery. Arthritis had gotten into his spine resulting in the loss of the function of his hind legs. We tried so many things, but nothing brought relief, so with as much love as our hearts had for him, we said our final good byes and released him to wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge. Believe me, I will go there looking for him, with my other loves.
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