Rudy is a 12 year old, neutered Gentleman that was turned in to the shelter by his family who was moving and could not take him. We have six cats here, including a couple of 8-month-old male kittens who are ... well, typical male adolescents. They rip through the house, jumping over and on everyone, swinging from the chandeliers. Rudy hasn't paid much attention to any of the cats, and he shouldn't present any adoption problem at all in that regard.

We're both very taken with Rudy. He's the first Dal we've sponsored, or even known at all, and he's just a wonderful guy that I think anyone would fall in love with. He was, understandably, a bit shy and intimidated by our twelve regular house dogs (mostly rescues that we've kept), but within days began to feel very comfortable and was eating well. Within weeks he was mixing right in with all these other rowdy (and much larger) dogs, going out with them to the yard every few hours and enjoying himself immensely.

Rudy's personality has really bloomed. He no longer stays at the back of the pack when we're passing out treats, but gets right up in front with the big dogs. Instead of waiting until he sees me wave a treat around in the air (to get his attention), he often just comes over to me and puts his head on my knee, to get petted. He's not a pushy dog, and isn't really demanding of affection or time, but he does love whatever attention he can get. He takes treats and food from your hand very gently. He is, of course, well-housebroken, and works very hard to let you know when it's time to go out, by pacing back and forth.

He is very bright and quick to learn. Clearly, he had never been exposed to the concept of catching treats in the air, and they just bounced off his nose and puzzled him a lot at first. After watching the other dogs, though, within a day he had caught his first one, and by the second day was a very accomplished "catch," often intercepting those thrown to other dogs. His reflexes and eyes seem very good for his age. He has picked up weight very nicely and looks great.

He's not only tolerant of other dogs, but very congenial to them, even our rowdy year-old Bassett puppies and the Great Danes that tower over him. We've had two more rescues since Rudy -- a skinny, sweet little Dal bitch and an 18-month old English Bulldog bitch -- and he's been great with them, quite the gentleman.

As I said, after 50 years of raising and training dogs (mostly field trial retrievers), plus many years of rescue, these are the first Dals we've known. I think we expected something a bit more nervous and hyper, but we've been pleasantly surprised at how calm, personable and sweet these dogs are. We've grown very fond of Rudy, and really hope he finds a good home. For his age (assuming it's correct) he's remarkably fit, and his personality has really bloomed as he trots around the house confidently, wagging his tail. He's a bright, happy dog and truly does not show his age.

12/19/06