"Gloria von Schubert" and her "Danny" in the Rhododendron - Garden.

One morning, our phone rang and a nice sounding voice identified itself as "Gloria von Schubert". Mrs von Schubert inquired about our Cavalier kennel. She had written to the VDH and they had passed on our name.

We spoke for a long time about dogs and how much joy they can bring to humans when you open yourself up to what they have to offer us.

There was good chemistry from the start and we fixed a date for the following Sunday in order to meet and also introduce her to our gang.

When I put down the phone, I kept thinking of Mrs von Schubert for a long time. She had plenty of dog experience and several canine companions that had been with her to the end. Now she wanted a Cavalier as she had always liked the breed. I tried to remember just how many dogs she had listed as having had, to get an idea of the age of this kind day. I figured she must be in her late 70ties and so I had some doubts now, as she insisted on a male puppy.

A warm and determined woman found herself standing in the midst of a group of Blenheim puppies. It didn’t take long for her shoe laces and silk stockings to be shredded.

Mrs von Schubert took the lead in the conversation, telling us many great episodes from her interesting life, about her plans to raise a puppy again and take it with her to Rome on vacation, to the Baden Baden casino, etc.

I listened for a while and then asked myself, why does she take a puppy when an older dog might be more suitable. She is still in very good condition, but ….
I didn’t get to finish my train of thought as Mrs von Schubert asked me straight out "So, Mr Kirschbaum, now you are thinking why does this old lady still want a puppy?"

At the same time, she took out an antiquated driving license to prove her age. But before I could look for the birth date, she had taken it away again. She must be in her early 80ties, this much I could figure out.

 Now I had the chance, for the first time, to get a full sentence in and so I told her about my doubts whether a puppy would be right for her, rather than an older dog. She told me about having retired from business life and also about being lucky enough to be totally healthy still. Further, she said that she was privileged to have help around the house to take care of all the nitty gritty work and thus would have plenty of time to dedicate to the puppy.

She also said that she had plenty of space for a Cavalier growing up. Her villa is located at the feet of the Schubert vineyards.

Mrs von Schubert fell for the Blenheim male puppy „Danny“ and we all decided to sleep on it for one night.

The next day, Mrs von Schubert called by 7 am. She absolutely wanted to have the little puppy and proposed that in case that her health should decline, she would return him to us.

This was a good solution and so we decided that we would deliver little Danny to the Schubert castle.

4 weeks later the big day came, the Royal House of the little Companero was all prepared. There was a collection of collars, dog baskets and dog grooming items awaiting him, ready for inspection by us breeders.

On the way to his new home, little Danny was accompanied by his sister DIDO so that the long trip would not become too boring for him.

"Danny´s" arrival, acconpanied by is sister "Didjeridoo" "Gloria von Schubert" mit "Danny" in her library

Upon arrival, we got a guided tour through the new home of Danny: it was lavish, complete with blue saloon, reception hall, a huge garden and servants’ quarters.

It was an event-filled day for us and the little puppy drawing to an end and we are very glad that he has found such a good home with Gloria von Schubert.

We promised each other to stay in touch and to drop by the following summer in order to find out how the little one is doing.

Said, done, throughout that year we remained in touch with letters and phone calls, now summer was round again and we were planning for our next visit ...

So, one year later, we were suspense-filled, of course, and impatient to find out how these two had fared. We were confronted with a very well developed little Companero and a totally happy Gloria von Schubert.

These lines I have written in order to show that, although we had our reservations about the combination puppy-elderly person, it really paid off in this case.

The happy-go-lucky ball of energy that is our little puppy has plenty to give to the experienced, calm personality of the older lady, and vice versa – a great partnership!

The only things is that both breeder and new owner ought to make plans for what is to happen should the new owner’s health fail.

But if these matters can be resolved, either within the family or circle of friends of the new owner, or directly with the breeder, then nothig stands in the way of a successful partnership.

The website of the Schubert vinyards

http://www.vonschubert.com/

^back^