Cesar (the French spelling ... not Caesar the English spelling) has joined our pack.  We fell in love with him the second we met.  Our past lives included three American Cocker Spaniels, so we know all about their beauty, confidence and attitudes.  He has joined our two other “boys” and has become the Alpha dog in waiting.  Currently the Alpha is Digger, our St. Bernard/ Golden Retriever cross, with Cesar becoming Digger's new best friend.  Our other dog is Duke, a Golden Retriever, who is just content to be a follower.

When we received Cesar from the SPCA we knew he had some ear problems, as well as some skin irritations.  We are happy to report that with the help and suggestions from our family veterinarian, his issues have all cleared up.  He and I are bonding to the point where he is comfortable with us bathing him, trimming his hairy feet, rolling him over and rubbing his belly and even taking his stitches out.  He is one loving puppy that reminds us how great Cockers are.

He was introduced to the Atlantic ocean awhile ago and wasn’t sure what to make of it.  When the waves went out he would follow the edge and then run as fast as possible when they came back in so as not to get wet.  We don’t know if he is a swimmer, but we will find that out later this year or next.  His new home here in Nova Scotia has three beautiful clear lakes within 200 metres of where he lives so we will definitely be taking advantage of them.

We did however have a great surprise from him … he only understands French.  At this time neither my wife nor I speak or understand French.  However, we have found a groomer in our area that speaks fluent French and would love to have him as a client.  In the meanwhile we are learning the proper pronunciations of a number of commands in French.  I even have one of the radios set to the French language station so he can hear some familiar sounds.  We currently have a house guest from Quebec who is also fluent in French ... Cesar has fallen in love with her!  It is funny to see a “puppy” with “puppy love” in his eyes.  He follows her everywhere throughout the house and sits to listen to her speak gently to him.  I have a large job ahead of me when she leaves, to fill her place, in his eyes. 

We live at the end of a very quiet area where there is a 4 kilometre loop with no traffic that we walk twice a day along with his two new buddies.  As well as his daily walks we spend as much time as we can out in the acreage.  Balls and Frisbees are his two favourite toys that keep him going.  A new game he has developed is helping Digger give the squirrels a tough time.  I repeatedly see Cesar jumping straight up for 4 – 5 feet trying to catch a squirrel.  Somehow I don’t think the squirrels have too much to worry about.

Update December ’10 …

We adopted Cesar in August of 2010 and have "only" had him for 4 months.  He has had his first haircut, which went beautifully.  We realized early on
that he did not understand English commands, so by default we assumed he
was French.  And so he was/is.  Fortunately our groomer speaks fluent French
and she also fell in love with Cesar.  It seems that everyone he meets falls head over heels for him.  We have thought of changing his name to "Too Cute" but have thought better of it.  He is definitely "Alpha In Waiting" in that he is always in close proximity to our Alpha male (St. Bernard/Golden Retriever mix ). 

Our home is decorated for Christmas and all is well including Cesar meeting and greeting people at the door.  He has a incredible habit of springing straight up over 4 feet whenever he is excited.  That would include breakfast and dinnertime or whenever there are squirrels in the feeders or we have visitors at the door.  It is hilarious to see and amazing that he has that much energy.  He could pass for a "Springer" Spaniel ... but we prefer the "Cocker (cocky) Spaniel" in him.

Back to Happy Tails page