AnamCara Gordon Setters

When my beloved Maggie passed away, I called my good friend and breeder of Maggie, Cindy McGovern, to tell her the sad news. We both cried on the phone, and I thought I would never have a happy thought again. Then Cindy mentioned the impending birth of a litter, out of Maggie's sister, Jazz. It was as though God had provided me with another soul to help ease the loss.

It is thus that I came to have Jade. Born June 24, 2006, just a week after Maggie left me, she is a different soul and personality, and does not replace Maggie in my heart, but she has wrapped herself around it with the ease that Gordons have, and has filled my life with a joy that only Gordons can. When I look at Maggie's photos now, I ask her what she thinks of this new little pistol, and it almost seems as though she approves. We shall see if Jade can fill Maggie's "shoes" in the hunting department. Maggie was a hard act to follow.

Too small yet to play with Zorro and Eliot, and so she must be kept apart from them, Jade loves to go lie up against Zorro's crate door and smooch him through the grate. When he is outside, she constantly asks me if she can go out too. But Zorro is twice her size and doesn't know how to be gentle in play. Eliot is also one of her focus points, and Eliot plays with her in a more gentle way that allows play time with him.

So far, she has accepted everything with ease. She has made herself at home in the house, and is content with our routine. She loves to watch TV with long minutes of interest, and she barks and warns me about all manner of noises. She is an interested passenger in the car and loves to go everywhere with me. She is very vocal, with a different voice for everything. She has the same enthusiasm for learning things that Maggie had, and wants only to please me, understanding new things with little repetition. She also points like a pro. Even the Sea Gulls cause her to lock right up on point.

We are looking forward to lots of fun and competition with Jade. Many, many thanks to Cindy for sending this sweet girl to live with us.

Update March 2007: Jade is growing into a pretty girl (see photo on the left), with lots of sweet qualities. She is a very easy-going girl, and submissive with the boys, but learning to hold her own. She is a bit shy of strangers, but warms up when she finds out they want to pet her. This is disappearing more and more every day. She has become accustomed to going everywhere with me, and loves the car. In the house, she is already the perfect companion and loves to cuddle up with her toys and sleep at my feet or on the sofa next to me.