Duke is our eldest and has been in our family since 1991. Duke was a stray with a broken leg when we found him at the Blue Cross Animal Shelter in Oxfordshire, UK. At the time, the shelter staff thought he was about a year old. We decided our first boy, Sam, needed a companion and we got a good one in Duke.
Duke also participated at the Chiltern Canine Obedience Training (as did Basil) but we remained very comfortable in the intermediate level. Since moving to Oregon, Duke has found that the variety of environments here suits him very well and he's settling in to a very content old dog.
For
over a year now, Duke has been a monthly participant in our Dog club's pet
assisted activities program. He visits residents at various care
facilities in the Eugene/Springfield area. These facilities range from
Assisted Living to Full time residential care and we meet people of all kinds of
abilities and needs. He shares himself while I get to hear stories from the
residents remembering when they had dogs. An extremely rewarding time for
all involved!!!
Duke has been with us through quite a lot of changes and he
endures all with calm, sweet acceptance. It is still up for debate whether
the airplane trip to Oregon or Monty's arrival to the family was more traumatic
for him, but you can see that he's quite happy to share his space ... the bone
is his own!
Duke is one of the softest dogs both physically and mentally that you are likely to come across. This is not just the "proud parent" opinion here, he truly is a gentle, loving, loyal dog bursting to share his affection with family, friends and anyone he deems in-need!!
