Baxter was twenty-four hours away from euthanasia when he was rescued by CSAC and then adopted by Pat in January 2004. Read her recent letter to us about Baxter's and his adopted sister Katie's award winning career! Too often people think a rescue dog is just "getting someone else's problems" and then they go buy a puppy - well, it appears that Baxter and Katie prove that adopted dogs are certainly not 'Someone else's problems'!

 

 
I just received a lovely personal card from Valerie Macys thanking me for my continuing support for CSAC. Actually, it is me who is forever grateful to CSAC for the opportunity to adopt my beloved Baxter and Katie. As you can see from the attached pictures, they have led me on an exciting and joyous journey that I never would have imagined possible before they came into my life. Not long after Katie came to live with Baxter and me, you featured our story in your newsletter. I thought you might be interested in seeing some pictures of them now and hearing an update on their amazing accomplishments.

The attached picture of Baxter was taken this past Fall, when he earned second place in AKC Open Obedience earning him his final leg for the AKC Title of Companion Dog Excellent (CDX). In 2008, Baxter had earned his AKC Rally Advanced Excellent(RAE) title and was nationally ranked for that title as #9 All Breed, #2 Sporting Group, and #1 Cocker Spaniel in the country!! As this is the highest Rally title which AKC offers, I was VERY proud of my rescue boy. Then, in 2009, Baxter was nationally ranked by the Association of Professional Dog Trainers Association (APDT) at the ARCHX level as #12 in the country. 

You may be interested to note that Baxter is "Baron" on the Happy Endings section of your website. In his CSAC picture he is shown just after his foster parents had shaved off his filthy, matted hair. They said he smelled so badly when they picked him up from the high kill shelter that they drove him home with all the windows in the car wide open and got out the clippers as soon as they pulled in the driveway! My, hasn't he has changed???

In the other attached picture, you will see my little munchkin, Katie, pictured with Baxter and the plethora of ribbons the two of them won during one week-end this Fall, competing in an APDT Rally trial in Fredericksburg. To my great delight, little Miss Kate was also nationally ranked in 2009 by APDT as #5 in the country at Level 2. Although not pictured amongst your Happy Endings dogs, Katie truly is the happiest of little imps, and, as you can see from the picture, she is following in Baxter's footsteps having great success in Obedience and Rally trials just like her older "brother". 

 

 

 

Here is the adoption write-up from Baxter's profile on CSAC in 2004:

Baron

In the words of Baron's foster, "he is a sweetheart." This beautiful male American parti-colored Cocker Spaniel is only eight months old. Please read all about puppy love before you think about adopting him. When you are finished, if you think you are up to the challenges, we welcome your application.

This poor little guy landed at a shelter in southern Virginia, with a cherry eye and no evident vetting. Cherry eye is a swelling of one of the membranes in the eye. It can be easily corrected with minor surgery. Baron was very scared and facing certain death at the shelter. We think he was bought by his owners for showing or breeding, but they did not want to be bothered with him for too long. He came to us ungroomed, full of filth and mats. Poor baby.

Baron's foster reports that he is getting along very well with his dogs, and he doesn?t bother the cats. He wants them to play with him, and they seem to like him as well. Sadly, according to his foster, little Baron seems afraid to take food from his bowl. He would rather eat from the floor! He is learning to eat from a bowl in his foster home in Ruther Glen, Virginia. He is also learning what it feels like to be loved and wanted, probably for the first time ever. His foster believes he was left outside all the time. Fortunately, he is doing very well with his housebreaking. He is responding well to crate-training. He is quite smart and learning many things, including his name. He will come to his new home fully vetted.

Baron is the epitome of the Velcro Cocker. He wants desperately to be where his person is. He is happiest being part of a pack. If you work all day and cannot devote a lot of time and energy to working with Baron, spending a lot of time with him, please apply for an older, more sedentary dog. We don't want Baron left alone all day.

Baron's kind foster truly says it best: "I am so glad we saved him. I can?t believe he only had 24 hours before he was to be put down." It's really incredible that precious babies like Baron are abandoned every day. Please open your hearts to our little angel.