My wife, Sharon, and I adopted Adam, whom we renamed Smithwick (story on that in a moment), back in April and have been thrilled every day since. The foster family, Mark and Donna, did such a great job with him, I credit them for getting him off to a fantastic start and we picked up from there. I have thanked them repeatedly in emails several times since bringing The Hound to my house. He is a joy to have in our home. His collection of stuffed toys is becoming quite a small zoo. He is incredibly well behaved, getting along with neighbors, kids, pets and everyone he meets in gentle friendly fashion. He has learned to "sit", "down", "stay" and "come" on completely verbal or gesture instructions and jog right on our hips as we run for as long as we want to jog. He loves his new back yard with woods on the border full of sights and sounds. He jumps and races out across the drive way when its time to take a ride in the truck but curls up tight and sleeps like a log in our room when it's time to shut it down for the night.

Why Smithwick? We have a 17 lb Ragdoll cat name Guinness (due to his coloring). Adam is a B&T, a proper Black and Tan pint is the pairing of Guinness and Smithwick, so there you have it! Please enjoy and share the attached shots of Sir Smithwick and his new feline friend and keep up all the great work you all are doing at American Black & Tan Coonhound Rescue.

Thanks very much,
Christopher Desmond

P.S. Smithwick's successes with training and behavior are the result in large part of the great work of Carolyn Frim, our neighbor, a professional dog trainer and the owner of Carol's Canine Behavior Training. She deserves continued thanks and publicity for Smithwick's great training and continued growth.