"I can't think of anything that brings me closer to tears than when my old dog -- completely exhausted after a hard day in the field -- limps away from her nice spot in front of the fire and comes over to where I'm sitting and puts her head in my lap, a paw over my knee, and closes her eyes and goes back to sleep. I don't know what I've done to deserve that kind of friend."
-- Gene Hill
 

In Memorial:
Sunnyview's Damn the Torpedoes (C.J.)
6/17/94 - 11/26/05
(click here to view CJ's Pedigree)

CJ was my first Lab.  He showed me how strong the bond between a dog and a person can really be.   
What can you say about a friend who's gone, other than he is truly missed. 

These are some of the memories he left behind.

CJ never earned any titles, but only because I never gave him the chance.  I had small children when he came into our home and no time or interest in field training, but that didn't mean he wasn't trained.  He was rock solid on all the basics, sit, stay, come when called, and would work great off lead.  He would retrieve with energy for as long as you were willing to throw the ball or dummy.  At the beach, in a field, at the Alsea River, it didn't matter, he'd bring it back every time and hold it until you requested it.
The only regret I have in not field training him is that he would have enjoyed it and it would have been a chance to show everyone else how great he was (which, of course, I already knew).  I have no doubt that CJ was smart enough to learn anything that I was smart enough to teach him.  Any shortcomings he had in training were mine, not his.

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"
-- Unknown

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