Cassie's Story
Cassandra was born in March 1989 and, as a puppy, went to live with a family in Gloucester. 
She was never ill-treated, quite the reverse and, unfortunately, by the age of two she was so out of hand that the decision was sadly taken, in May 1991, to seek another home for her.
Her owners got in touch with Daneline and she was eventually, after much heart-searching, taken to stay with Lissi at her home in Bristol.

The previous month, my own dear fawn Dane bitch Cleo had succombed, at the age of ten, to a gastro-enteritis that had failed to respond to treatment, leaving my Deerhound, Tristan, absolutely bereft.  Although, still grieving badly for Cleo, I knew I had to put Tristan's welfare first, even though the last thing I wanted, at the time, was another dog, so I responded to an advertisement from Daneline in the Western Daily Press. Thus it was that Cassie and I came together.

We had many trials and tribulations in the early days; she chased cattle belonging to the neighbours on one side and poultry belonging to the neighbours on the other side. She harassed my horses, my sheep and my pigs and attempted to bully poor Tristan. She made countless attempts on my cats' lives. When we went out in the car, she barked at every animal she saw. In short she was totally and utterly disobedient, but I never doubted that, deep down, she had the right temperament and there was no way I was going to give up on her.

I did what training I could with her at home and, after six months, I was ready to take the plunge and join the Stoke Bishop Dog Training Society. That was the turning point, really. It was wonderful for socialisation and it gave more of a pattern to my attempts at training, in fact, she ultimately won the annual trophy for the most improved bitch.

If you visit Cassie's Photo Gallery, you will see how well she settled down with other animals, forging particularly close relationships with Ming and George and when Tristan died, at the grand old age of twelve, Cassie was already aged eight. If you are interested enough to be reading this, I'm sure you are probably aware of the likely life-span of a Great Dane, so, as she did not seem to be missing Tristan too much, I decided it would be nice for her to have my undivided attention for such time as was left to her. In the event, she lived another four years and did not even start to age significantly until she was ten and a half.

During that time, my second husband died and I honestly believe that, if it had not been for my animals in general and Cassie in particular, to give my life shape and meaning, I would never have coped.

That then, in a nutshell, is Cassie's story, I only hope it may inspire some of you to take on a rescue dog, of whatever breed and maybe even to consider a special needs dog.