Pamela and I drove up to Macon to get Ginger on 12/22/08, "Gotcha day". It was a little sooner than I had hoped. I was waiting for Abigail( 17 yr old aussie mix) to pass on before we got a new dog. However, my first Bouvier taught me that when a door opens, go in. We went in.

We met Marcia and her children and Ginger at a mall in Macon. I was surprised at how small Ginger was. My previous bouviers were all adopted at older ages and I just didn't have much experience with puppies, even 8 month old puppies. The other thing is she was not black! I already knew that from pictures but still, a not black Bouvier? She is also my first female Bouvier. This is unimportant stuff but I like change.

The drive back to Tallahassee was quiet. Ginger was in the back seat being still, a little frightened, and feeling bad from just being spayed. I sort of got the impression she was to be a quiet gentile girl. I knew better. I just allowed myself a little comfort.

OK, some people may agree with me or not about renaming adopted dogs but I almost always rename them. The main reason is for me. I feel that the new dog should have a 'family' name. The old name, the life as a dog without a home, the uncertainty is over. Gracie, you are home. Why Gracie? It is a little like Ginger (which I liked) and it seemed to fit. 

After introductions to the current animal inhabitants and the nervousness that goes with it, the settling process began. It usually doesn't take long. The current dogs, Jeremiah and Abigail were cautious and wary at first but Jeremiah warmed up to her. Abigail was just too old to care.

Sometimes we just get lucky, blessed, rewarded or whatever you want to call an unexpected benefit. Jeremiah and Gracie began to play. Despite living with several dogs, Jeremiah never had a playmate. All the dogs he lived with were too old. Gracie is a puppy. Jeremiah was a little overweight. He lost about 7 pounds and is now a fit 9 year old puppy. He has some arthritis in his right rear leg but even that seems to have gotten better. Watching Jeremiah revert to puppyhood has been wonderful. Getting between the two bouvs can be hazardous so we try to keep a little distance and just watch. I've never seen anything like it.

Jeremiah is a therapy dog. He is getting older and has some arthritis. The hospital visits were getting too much for him. Now he only visits with children so they can read to him.  The next dog was to be his replacement in the hospital and eventually everywhere we visit.

Gracie passed her evaluation about a month ago. It was touch and go with her because she is so young and arthritis in my lower back has limited the training I could give her. She is mostly kitchen trained (a no no). We have been to classes and gotten help with her. Socialization is so important for a therapy dog that I would go to the park, sit, and let her attract the people she needed to interact with. It worked! She is the most social bouvier I've ever had. She snuggles with strangers! That is definitely new. My previous bouvs would greet people, allow petting, and then retreat. Gracie burrows in for a snuggle. As a Delta Society Evaluator, I've seen many dog reactions to being hugged by a stranger. I've never seen any dog (all breeds/mixes) that didn't show some stress when hugged. Both myself and our evaluators agreed that she was the first dog we had ever seen accept the hug with no stress at all. I don't know why she is that way, I don't care, and I love it.

Gracie has an off the charts prey drive. She is banned from cat territory. So far she has brought us two squirrels, a baby raccoon, and some moles. All were dead. She is being socialized with the cats but her banishment from cat territory will not be lifted until she is around 4 years old. This is based on my experience with Jeremiah and a behaviorist I've consulted. She also watches TV and will jump at the set when animals are displayed. We are working on stopping that. The worst part is the remote will not work when she is in the way.

Gracie has been a joy and a challenge for us. Training will continue. The ones that challenge us the most turn out to be the favorites. I am really looking forward to the mature dog she is to become. I will have a rare jewel and a companion the equal of any. This adoption is a slam dunk.

Bently was our first bouvier and my first therapy dog. He was very patient with my training. It was his idea to get involved with therapy dog work. What I learned from him has helped with all the dogs we've adopted since. We owe him and the ABRL a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you Marcia and everyone who helps out. I don't know who benefits more, the dogs with their new homes, or the people who adopt them. We have definitely been blessed by our bouviers. - Paul Brazier, Tallahassee, FL

July 2009: We've had Chloe around for just two months now, and she has settled in nicely. She graduated from her six-week Basic Obedience class last week and she sits anywhere, anytime, for anything. She knows down, stay, wait, and heel as formal commands, and for treats, she'll actually do them! She always comes when called - especially when we use her "really reliable recall" word and special treat. We've even used that command for real when the garage door was left ajar and she pushed though it and took off down the driveway. One quick call by Dad and she came right back. She also knows "go away" and "enough" as informal commands. We'd like to take her through the next level of obedience classes and have her test for her AKC Canine Good Citizen certification, but we're going to wait a bit and get her more socialized first. It took our trainer, Michelle, until the last class before Chloe would work for her in class.

Chloe is still very much a one (small) family dog. She's still hesitant to meet strangers, even when we welcome them into the house and/or yard. Of course, large and tall men are even more of a challenge. I'm back to teaching music lessons every week, and Chloe has made a few brave attempts to come into the Studio and meet students, but she's happier staying in the house in the cool AC on the tile. She's very curious to meet other dogs, but only nose-to-nose. Anything more than that, or if they get excited or try to play, she just backs away.

We're still learning more about her - she's starting to play with a few toys, but it's obvious she's not had toys before. We have a couple toys with squeakers in them, and when you squeak one of them, she lifts her head up and starts to lick and chew - hmmm. Finding treats to train her with was also a challenge - string cheese is her favorite, and smoked turkey jerky is a close second. We also discovered she loves bread. She may have gotten bread on a regular basis in the past. She's doing well on dry kibble of chicken, brown rice and oatmeal, especially if we add a little bullion or gravy to it, so it has more smell. She's also learning that if we're eating something, she might like it, too!

Chloe loves to run through the dog door, down the steps (you'd never know she'd never negotiated them before she got here), and around the back of the house just as fast as she can! Then a quick U-turn and right back again. If we're outside she'll run and run back and forth and around us like slalom poles. And all with a great big silly grin on her face. And walks around the neighborhood are a fun adventure, too. She walks very well on leash, not pulling (most of the time) unless we're getting close to back home. She's just so involved in checking out so many new things, with her nose and her eyes, that sometimes she just walks right into you. She's gotten very good at not startling and shying away from unfamiliar sounds anymore. She's not really thrilled to go in the car for rides, but is good at getting in and getting buckled up. She's just really happy when she's finally back home.

Chloe has developed an allergy of some sort in the past month or so. Or it may just be dry skin in this climate. The vet doesn't think it's food related, so we're working on eliminating other causes where possible. If she's got seasonal allergies to pollen or such, we may not be able to do much for her - medication will be a last resort. We'll just have to see how things go.

We're more than pleased with Chloe and how well she's adapting to her new home. We dearly loved our first Bouv, and Chloe is every bit as much of a charmer, and is maybe even smarter! Though she isn't as persistent or as stubborn as Molly was - which is really a good thing for us. We love her smaller size - she's settled in at around 70 pounds - and we just laugh at all her crazy antics, especially her four-foot high "Bouvier bounce" with perfect tucked-paws form! We have no doubt Chloe was to be our dog, we have absolutely no regrets that we adopted her, and she's with us for life!  Cheryl, Pat & Grant Blackley

This is a match made in heaven! Valerie and Fred were meant to be with Cora. They adore her but more importantly, she adores them. Cora is such a sweetie!! What a great girl. Even though it's only been a week, it is obvious they really care about Cora. Cora has a nice house and has everything she needs. She has her own bed, but we think she's sleeping with them. The bed is awesome and made our visitor want to take a nap the minute she checked it out. Thanks to Greta Huygen & Karen Kennedy for helping to make this adoption a success!

Maggie is absolutely wonderful and is a well adjusted happy girl!!!! EVERYONE that knows her or even those that just meet her on her daily walks become her buddy. She has a play group at the Old Towne Pet Resort that she frequents several times a month. We drop her off on the way to work and pick her up on the way home. Maggie, Butch, and I took obedience class together. At the final testing she came in first place 4 out of 5 times. There were 10 pets and 2 instructors. All of the other dogs (except Maggie) were busy with their owners or snacks and not paying any attention to the instructors until it was their turn. Maggie sat perfectly still between the two of us and watch/paid attention to the instructor at all times. She was really cute!!!

She definitely has a problem with car sickness. We have discovered that when one of us sits in the back, we put on her seatbelt and have her lying down w/her head on our lap. We place a small towel around her eyes and then we can drive for hours and she is perfectly fine. In fact she is so comfortable that she ends up on her back and snores away. Every time we drive with her sitting in the back and looking out she'll get sick within 5-7 minutes. We have not been diligent in taking her out daily for the short rides. We plan to start this weekend to take her out every day after her afternoon walk to take her for a 5 min drive. When she clears 5 min for a week then we'll increase 6-7 min. etc. We'll keep trying. But at least we know the sitting in back with one of us works. We took her on our summer vacation to Bethany Beach, DE. She had an absolute blast playing on the beach. We only took her out twice in the early part of the day (to hot later) and loved surf and went crazy pouncing the sand. What a job cleaning her up, it took a total of 2 showers each time to get out all of the sand. We can't thank you enough for connecting us with such a wonderful dog. Butch & I, my folks, the rest of our immediate family, and our close friends take such a delight in being with her.