“Blue is exactly the dog that our hearts longed for, and to us, he is the epitome of all that is Golden,” reports Valerie. It was love at first sight on adoption day and “we were bubbling over with exuberance when we brought him home. Blue made himself right at home going bell-up on the couch for tunny rubs from me and became a 78-pound lap dog with Ken in the man cave recliner. Despite the new addition, our African Grey parrot, Gracie, is still in charge. She tells us when Blue wants to go outside, and what a good boy he is. Chucky, our Maine Coon cat is fond of Blue. They curl up side by side and Chucky has been seen rubbing his face all over Blue’s face, while Blue wags his tail. 
Not surprising as Blue is 100% a pleasure to be with – relaxed and friendly, smart and always up for fun.
Blue’s favorite thing to do is take walks in the neighborhood and look for his skinny-legged girlfriend, a greyhound. He has been on a number of trips and outings with us and his favorite part of traveling is picking out memorabilia patches for his vest! Blue’s favorite toy is a plush otter that we gave him for Christmas while camping at Mistletoe State Park GA). We were lucky enough to camp at the Florida Caverns a few weeks before a hurricane flattened and flooded the area. Blue confidently went down with us into the caverns, close on the heels of the guide. 
He also supported his dad at the Navy’s Rescue Swimmer reunion in Pensacola (FL) wearing a special t-shirt in honor of his service.
Blue is a special needs dog because of his seizure history but he lives each day to the fullest and does not let his medical needs limit his enjoyment. We did our research and eliminated all use of pesticides in our home and yard, changed his diet to homemade organic food, reviewed herbal interventions and possible triggers for seizures. Blue went for acupuncture treatments at a specialty vet and we brought a dog pressure point (Shiatzu) chart with us. The vet and Ken spent 45 minutes on the floor locating the points so we could press them at home. Ken actually stopped a seizure at a later date, and he uses the calming points when Blue’s respiration goes up. The awesome part is that Blue has not had a seizure for one year!
Ken and I have gained an incredibly cuddly companion, who is always with one or both of us – a true Velcro dog.
