Cassie is wonderful

Cassie is wonderful. She couldn't make me happier. She is my first dog. When my daughter got married, I found myself alone and lonely. I researched dogs that were good in apartments, not because I live in an apartment, but because I wanted that kind of temperament. I planned to take her to work daily. Heartland Classics did a great job of keeping me up to date on her growth and milestones while I waited for her to come home. I was head over heels in love with her before she arrived. I was leery about her traveling alone from Nebraska to California, but I had no choice at the time. She did great, even with a delay when changing flights. As soon as the animal receiving officer opened the door to her crate, she crawled out to me and didn't leave me for several hours. I had arranged for a ride to the airport so that I could give her my attention and comfort on the ride home. Cassie started going to work with me right away. She basks in the attention. The kids all want to pet her and the adults consider her a company mascot. When she gets tired of the attention, she just goes to her crate or under my desk since she knows I won't let the kids follow her - she can get peace there. Cassie was well socialized with people and small dogs. Big dogs give her pause, but we are working on that. She was healthy and responded well to the vet and groomer. She does well in training classes. I think she must have been the stubborn one of the litter (she had 3 brothers). As she is now in adolescence, she is definitely living up to the reputation of preteens. It's a good thing she is cute! From the beginning she didnt like the litter box, but got 50% housebroken within a couple of weeks. 75% by 3 months, and is sitting firmly at 90 - 95% trained at 11 months. I swear it is an adolescent thing at this point. I think training is going to be a life long project because she loves to learn. She just chooses what "sticks". I figured out that if I let go of whatever is not sticking and revisit it later, she does fine. I have recommened Heartland Classics o several people. I had contacted several California breeders who didn't find it necessary to get back to me. Heartland responded to my inquiry within 12 hours and always got back to me when I had questions about Cassie's progress report. They even started calling her by the name I gave her so she already knew her name when she came home. If I ever get another dog, and I am thinking about it, I will come back to Heartland.

- Sharon Torrano