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| Name: |
Clifford
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Age: |
Seven years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Golden Retriever, Labrador mix
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| Home: |
Austin, Texas, USA |
Meet
Clifford. As he gets older, he is not as red as he once was because more
and more white is creeping in. He is an 85-pound (38 kg) love bug. We adopted him
from a shelter three years ago and, of course, they were not sure of his
exact age but we feel that is he now around six or seven just based on his
coloring. The shelter had given him a temporary name of "Bryce" but that
seemed too dignified for such a goofy guy, so, we decided Clifford would be better.
When we adopted him, we had recently become pet empty nesters, having lost a
sixteen-year-old German Shorthaired pointer as well as a sixteen-year-old Lab not long
before that. We had thought we'd wait a year or more before having another
pet in our family because losing them is just so painful. We thought we'd
just wait a little bit. Then, one day, we saw Clifford sitting up tall and
stately at a pet adoption event at our local farmer's market on a Saturday.
He had been found on a busy road and had been picked up by the shelter. We
knew a good thing when we saw him but went home without him, trying to stick
to our guns. On Sunday, we called the shelter and, even though they were
closed, they returned our call and let us come up and see him again. We took him home that day!
During Labor Day weekend of 2011, shortly after Clifford became part of our
family, we had to evacuate our house due to a forest fire. Luckily, we were
home when we were told to evacuate so, we just left immediately and, of
course, took Clifford with us. It turns out our house and many of our
neighbors' houses were lost in the biggest fire in Texas history. The only
important thing is that we were fine, as material things can be replaced. We
now have a new house and Clifford seems to like it too!
What a good dog. He only has two toys (well, a few more if you count his
tennis balls). He keeps his toys pristine. As is true with many big dogs, he
is very gentle with them and loves that they squeak. He loves chasing tennis
balls and we play ball most nights before I give him his dinner. That is a
fun time that he seems to look forward to! What a double treat! He has been
through two complete sets of training and has his CGC (Canine Good Citizen
with the AKC). He has also been through training to become a Certified
Therapy Dog but is not certified. He is a good dog in most ways but he has a
mind of his own. So, at this point, he just provides informal therapy to my
husband and I and any neighbors he encounters on his daily walks!
We don't have too many pictures of Clifford, as he seems a bit camera-shy.
However, these are a few that turned out well. The picture of him sitting in
the Texas Bluebonnets last Spring is my favorite. The one with him with his
head on one of his toys is also very nice. He has a funny trait of sleeping
with his belly up and his teeth showing when he is extremely relaxed. He does
this every day. We hope that you enjoy meeting Clifford as much as we enjoy
living with him.
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