From the time she leapt into our hearts and life, Cassie began each day as a great adventure. She was an agile hunter and loved digging giant holes. Once, she even caught a trout in the stream! Her joy of scrambling up and down the most rugged pile of boulders took my breath away. Down a cliff so steep it gave us heart attacks . . . she would scamper to take a dip in a lake or creek. At home, after a big dig, she would serenely float off the top step into the swimming pool for a leisurely cool dip. No splashing about here. She swam smoothly, effortlessly.
She earned all of her titles with only 1 NQ in agility (my fault) and class placements in each. I know she read the rules herself as I was a blatant novice. I believe she was the first PWDC-NC dog to have titles in 3 different performance events. She was tied for #1 overall in PWDCA obedience rankings and was the top Delaney award PWD in 1993 as well as earning a High Scoring Working Breed award from Novice A on her 3rd leg at a big all breed show.
There is no telling what she would have accomplished if Addison’s had not struck and abruptly ended her career. Cass loved to learn. We kept on training and, shortly, she knew the courier and utility exercises. Directed jumping and finding hidden items were her favorites. She knew all of her beloved stuffed toys by name. That presented a real challenge to invent hand signals for each when she became deaf in her last years. At the end of a busy day she loved nothing more than to cuddle up with us in bed or on the couch.
There are no words to express our sorrow at losing her suddenly to lymphoma.
Cassie…. “If tears were stairs and memories a lane,
I would climb right up to heaven and bring you home again”… author unknown”
