Chancellor and Bosco

Our Story
Written with Love for Aunt Mary, Our Guardian Angel
By Chancellor and Bosco Casterline

Hi there! My name is Chancellor Casterline and I am 3 years old. One day in 2002, my Mommy, Kim, was surfing the internet and came across a site called petfinder.com. She always wanted a dog and now that she and Daddy, Kyle bought a house, they were ready! They didn't want to get a 'puppy', they wanted to rescue a dog that needed a home. She came across my listing under "Aunt Mary's Doghouse'. She sent Aunt Mary an e-mail telling her why she thought their home would be a good home for a cute fellow like me. The week after, Mommy and Daddy drove out to East Jersey to meet me for the very first time at the Gammaro house. As soon as they brought me into the front yard, Mommy knelt down and I ran straight to her for a hug. It was love at first sight! Mommy and Daddy visited with Lorraine, Anthony and the kids but the whole time her attention was really on me lying next to her at the picnic table. Two weeks later Anthony and Lorraine drove me out to my new home….in Ottsville, PA.

My very first 'Casterline Experience' was with my new brother, Simba. Mommy thought he was outside but was really in the spare bedroom so when I checked out that room, Simba chased me through the house! Anthony and Lorraine said, 'do you think this is going to be OK?' and Mommy said 'sure - they'll be fine' while really she was having heart failure behind her smile!

I didn't show any sadness after the Gammaro's left that day - Mommy felt badly for them because she knew how sad they were to have to say goodbye yet at the same time she was so happy to have me 'home'. Here I am with my new 'Mom' my first weekend with them. They took me up to Nana and Pap-Pap's cottage and I went swimming for the very first time - took off right after the decoy duck Nana had floating for decoration - it was second nature to me!

Being at the cottage and swimming in the lake are still my favorite things to do in life! I love it so much that I must include a few more pictures of this! (The dog lying next to me in the picture below is my Uncle Remy!)

The first night at my new home Daddy said 'We just can't let him sleep in bed with us. He'll be fine on the dog bed on the floor next to us.' It took one sad puppy-dog look from me and Daddy said 'Oh, all right, come on up' and we've been jockeying for bed space ever since!

Mommy and Daddy take me for ice cream, for walks at the State Game Lands and even to Steve and Rene's farm to play with the animals!

In August 2003 I found out I was getting a brother….

Hi there! My name is Bosco Casterline and I am 2 years old. In August 2003, I was living outside in a cage behind a row home. One evening, this couple showed up to meet me, with this really cool labbie they called 'Chancellor'. Little did I and they know, we were going to be a family! They said that "Aunt Mary' had sent them and that I'd be staying with them for a couple of weeks because my former owners had to go away. They said something about "fostering" but I don't know what that means because I'm still with them and loving life!

That night was the very first time that Mommy and Daddy got to meet Aunt Mary in person! They felt like they had known her forever but this was the first time they got to give her a hug!

My first day home was a bit crazy! Chancellor and I chased each other around the house for hours on end and Mommy was on the phone with Aunt Mary saying 'I don't know if this was such a good idea' and Aunt Mary, who was always there with love and support reminded Mommy that Chancellor and I were fine - Mommy was the one that was the basket case! Here are some pictures of my new brother and me from that day….

Chancellor and I both had a lot to learn. I needed to learn that being petted and cuddled was a really good thing! The first week or two whenever Mommy and Daddy tried to touch me, I'd flinch! I also had to learn that the cat wasn't a chew toy ~ that was temporary and we became great friends really fast. I did get in trouble once that first week when I helped myself to the pork roast that was on the table. Hindsight is 20/20 and I probably wouldn't have gotten busted if I'd waited until my parents and their two friends had actually left the table before I stole it! Mommy and Daddy still laugh whenever they have pork roast for dinner and they say…remember when….

Enough about what I had to learn ~ let me just tell ya what Chancellor had to learn! He needed to learn how to SHARE!!!!! He wouldn't let me play with any of the toys. Not just his toys but all of the new toys Mommy and Daddy got for us when I arrived. He would stuff as many of the toys in his mouth as possible so I couldn't have them! I'm not making this up…I have pictures to prove it!

Mommy and Daddy said I was entirely too thin. You could see my ribs and my nails were worn down from playing on the concrete in my old home so I had to wear those silly looking boots for awhile so it wouldn't hurt me to go out in the cold wet grass. They fattened me up in no time because we always get some 'people food' on top of our dog food for breakfast and dinner and a little 'snack' after Mommy and Daddy eat their meals. Because of this we're angels at dinner time, lie on the floor and don't have to beg because we know something yummy is on its way.

Shortly after I arrived Chancellor got very sick. He had to go stay at the vet's and I was very lonely without him. Mommy spent a lot of time there and because she knew the vet personally, he let her sleep in Chancellor's cage with him! Imagine that - Mommy in a dog crate! When she was home, she cried a lot and I knew something was wrong. I even heard her on the phone with Aunt Mary. Once again, Aunt Mary came through and got Mommy in touch with another vet who told her Chancellor had hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, whatever that was. It didn't matter to me though because by that time, Chancellor was back at home with me where he belonged and on the road to recovery!

My big brother continued to show me the ropes! He taught me how to fetch, drink out of the faucet in the tub, wait by the fridge for ice cubes, what a peanut butter or liverwurst-filled Kong was, how to torment the UPS driver when he came to the house by getting in the big brown truck and refusing to get out, and so many other things! We became best friends!

The only thing he couldn't teach me was how to swim!!!! Imagine that, I'm a lab and couldn't swim!

I'd try really hard because I could tell my brother was having so much fun in the lake but my butt would sink, I'd panic and start flailing my front paws and Mommy and Daddy would help me get back on shore. Instead of giving up on me, they came up with a plan! My uncle Remy wasn't such a good swimmer either so Pap-Pap had bought him a doggy life vest from LL Bean to help keep him afloat. Sure enough - it worked great for me too and I knew when I didn't have it on and wouldn't go in the water without it! Finally, at the very end of the Summer of 2004 I learned how to swim without my vest! I can go out as far as Chancellor does without any worries - Mommy says I'm getting all grown up!

It didn't take me long to figure out how to hoard toys like my brother - two can play that game I say! Check this out….Chancellor hoarding the water toys and me hoarding our yellow balls!

We even appeased Mom with the whole Reindeer Christmas Card thing as humiliating as it was. Hopefully our dog friends in the neighborhood will never see this! (It's bad enough she bathes us in honeysuckle scented dog shampoo so we smell like GIRLS!)

Last year our Mommy started growing - outward! She was getting as big as a house and we thought maybe she was eating a few too many dog biscuits if you know what we mean!!! Then one day after Mommy was up all night long, Daddy took her away in the car and we didn't see her for days! Nana and Pap-Pap and our Aunt Kate came and stayed with us while Mommy was gone and everyone was very excited about something. Daddy brought home this little blanket from the hospital for us to smell and we could care less. Finally, Mommy was home and we could tell there was someone else in the back seat of the car but we couldn't see up that high. First Mommy got out and gave us big hugs and told us how much she missed us. Chancellor was sad because he could smell that Mommy had a boo-boo on her belly but she told him it was OK and that she had something for us! Then she opened up the back of the car and handed us two of the biggest dog bones you ever saw!

We didn't even notice that they were bringing a 'little person' into the house to stay! The 'little person' that they call 'the baby' and 'Paige' really isn't so bad! She makes a lot of noise and sleeping was a chore the first couple of months but she loves us and we love her. She even pets our ears! Mommy and Daddy are real good about going out of their way to give us lots and lots of attention. Mommy plays ball with us whenever Paige takes a nap and we're allowed to lay on the couch next to the baby as long as Mommy or Daddy is there with us. The first thing Daddy does when he comes home is takes us out to play and the baby has her own bed so the master bedroom bed is still ours - Mommy, Daddy and the Furry Ones.

Our personalities….Mommy says we have to share our quirky personalities with you because they give her and Daddy such a chuckle.

Let's start with our towel fetish. When either Mommy or Daddy gets out of the shower they must lay their towel on the edge of the bed so that Bosco can rub up against it. He loves cold, shampoo/conditioner smelling towels! If they forget to give them their towel, he'll whine to remind them. Chancellor, on the other hand likes his towels and blankets fresh out of the dryer - nice and warm and smelling like fabric softener. Silly rabbit! He loves the smell and heat from the dryer so much that he actually rubs up against the vent on the back of the house when the dryer is running!

Chancellor is still a klepto! He loves to steal things - especially clothes. He doesn't try to destroy them, he just wants to have them and cuddle with them.

Bosco is just happy to carry his bone and ball around with him all the time. If he comes in the house without one of them, he'll 'ask' to go back out and get it.

At bedtime, Chancellor jumps right in and buries himself under the covers in between Mommy and Daddy and likes to 'spoon' against one of them with his head on the pillows like a person. (Nana always asks Chancellor 'Who's in that dog costume!?' ) Bosco will wait until everyone else is in bed and then jumps up and sleeps on the bottom corner of Mommy's side. He's still shy that way so Mommy will lift him up and bring him up next to her for some cuddle time and you can tell he loves it even though he won't do it on his own.

Chancellor is a big fan of his 'Hiney scratches' and will walk in between your legs so you can scratch his back by his tail. When you do, he marches in place, he's so happy! Bosco loves to have his face massaged. His nose, his cheeks, around his eyes, he's in heaven!

Chancellor is a 'Daddy's Boy' - if Daddy isn't home at 5:30, he'll lie at the top of the steps and whine. Bosco, on the other hand, is a 'Mama's Boy' and follows Mommy wherever she goes even if Chancellor is off doing his own thing. This tires Bosco out because Mommy doesn't stay still for very long and as soon as Bosco gets comfy in one room, she's off again to do something else and he has to get up and follow.

When Mommy and Daddy adopted us, Aunt Mary said 'new home, new start, new name' but Mommy and Daddy just couldn't do it. So instead of changing our 'formal' names, we've developed nicknames over time. Mommy would always sing Chancellor's name when she called him and it sounded like 'Chance - Loo!' So Daddy started calling Chancellor 'lou' and it stuck.

For some reason they ended up giving Bosco the nickname of 'Beepers' - no one is really certain how that came about. He's also jokingly called 'Kramer' because he comes flying up the deck steps without even touching them, and slides into the back door at 100 mph just like Kramer used to enter a room on the Seinfeld show.

Last but not least, here are some recent pictures of us from Christmas 2004 through April 2005. Can you believe how much we've grown!?

~Thank you again, Aunt Mary, from all of us. ~
We just cannot picture our lives without these two!
We love you!!!
~Happy Birthday!! ~

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