Casey was our first dog as a young married couple in our mid-twenties. We found her from a casual conversation with a coworker who's Black Lab, German Shepherd mix had an unplanned rendezvous with the neighborhood Golden Retriever Casanova, and one of their offspring Casey, became part of our family when she was 5 weeks old. Casey had a love for life, an act first, think/regret later attitude toward life and threw caution to the wind. We joke that she was part cat, as she seemed to have many near death experiences. She had a rich life, full of enthusiasm, the ultimate people loving dog, who couldn't get petted enough and died at the ripe old age of 15.

After Casey passed away we put out an ad for a retriever mix and got a call from someone that had a Golden Retriever, Black Shephard litter. We took our three kids to see them, and fell in love with a rollypolly, black fuzzy puppy, and Neeka joined our family. Neeka loved the water, jumped off the dock with a passion in chase of a stick, or whatever she chose to have us throw. She took a more thoughtful approach to life, with a think first and weigh the options before acting rash. We lost Neeka much to soon at the young age of 9 to an illness that was never diagnosed. Our hearts were broken.

Takota was born in the Internet age! We found Takota on the Internet at a rescue center. She's part Rottwieler, part Black Lab, part Golden Retriever and Part unknown. She was also the product of a midnight rendezvous. "Kota" is too smart for her own good, and is the hunter/scavenger of the group. We have no worries that if something happened to us and she was left on her own, she'd be just fine. She's had run-ins with deer, squirrels, skunks and porcupines (twice). She likes us to think she doesn't need us, but if we are packing the car she's likely to jump through the open window of the car to make sure we take her along (she's also the athlete of the group).

Hi, I'm Nate, and I got Nimz when she was about two months old. She was, if not the cutest puppy ever, then easily in the top 5. She lived with my Mom, Dad and Takota for a year while I finished college, but now she's all mine. She loves to do three things, chase a ball or stick, watch anything that Takota (see above) does, and be as obedient as possible. Her favorite game to play is "How alert can I be?" So far she has not stopped playing this game. Nimz is a great dog and I love her.

This is our daughter and son-in-law’s dog, Stella. She’s a two year old Pit Bull mix. Stella was adopted from a rescue shelter and we think she had a pretty tough life before Kristen and Brian found her. Now she’s a happy go lucky puppy that loves adventures. She and Kota like to team up and chase squirrels, rabbits and the occasional porcupine. She also loves fetch and will chase a tennis ball until your arm is sore. Stella is also a cuddler. After a day of adventure, she’ll hop right into your lap and fall asleep instantly. She’s a wonderful dog and we can’t imagine her not being a part of our family.