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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html;CHARSET=iso-8859-1"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" Content="Symantec Visual Page Mac 1.1.1"> <TITLE>Adult Years</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> <H1 ALIGN="CENTER">Adult Years</H1> <P>During his "middle" years, Sebastian became more and more mellow, and also more and more set in his ways. He could finally go "off-leash" with a reasonable expectation of making it less than an all-day chasing affair. He <I>insisted</I> on going through each and every picnic site at the park, on his daily walks. Should the odd rib bone have missed the trash can, well... Sebastian always liked children, but as he aged, he had less and less patience for little strangers. We live near a school and, with his master in tow, Sebastian was the best friend a kid could hug. On his own, though, our own teenagers learned not to stare into his eyes, upon first wakening from his nap. They might get a growl or a nip, followed of course by a sheepish apology.</P> <P>Sebastian learned to swim. Keeshonds aren't a swimming breed, usually. Their feet are small and their wind isn't world-class, but we live where it gets warm in Summer, and we have a pool... The little dog would spend hot afternoons on the swimming step, just barely floating. In the wild, Sebastian knew not to bother chasing ducks--they'd just fly away. But those swimming ones, just beyond his reach... Well, he learned to like swimming, put it that way. He never caught a duck, of course!</P> <CENTER> <P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="4" WIDTH="700"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="61%"> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="cabinbig.jpg"><IMG SRC="cabin.jpg" WIDTH="217" HEIGHT="288" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></A><BR clear = "left"> <FONT SIZE="2">Now don't tell him I like this. Otherwise I'll have to put up with it every night... [~1998]</FONT> </TD> <TD WIDTH="39%"> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="catdogbig.jpg"><IMG SRC="catdog.jpg" WIDTH="326" HEIGHT="238" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></A><FONT SIZE="2"><BR clear = "left"> Sebastian and friend... and his other friend. Who is that guy anyway, and why does he smell so... different? [~1995]</FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </P> </CENTER> <P>Sebastian kept to his "tricky" Keeshond ways throughout his life. "There's mud on the dog's nose!" was a life-long refrain, meaning it's time to search the garden for the bagels again. The dog simply could not peacefully co-exist with peanut M&M's or in fact, peanut-anything. He'd "walk a mile" for a shelled peanut anytime, anywhere. Same with pistachios, go figure.</P> <P>Sebastian's first motion on going outside, day or night, was to rush the back fence (we live next to open space) and bark madly--just in case there's a squirrel, cat or raccoon there which just <I>may</I> have missed his attention. On more than one occasion, 'Bastian tackled skunks in the yard. Having a poor sense of smell, it was always my job to "de-skunk" the little dog, who much preferred the rank odor to the smell and feel of the chemicals (enzyme-based) needed to remove them.</P> <CENTER> <P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="4" WIDTH="700"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="61%" HEIGHT="283"> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="ranch1big.jpg"><IMG SRC="ranch1.jpg" WIDTH="288" HEIGHT="224" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></A><BR clear = "left"> <FONT SIZE="2">Caitty and Sebastsian, working at the Ranch.<BR> What are they doing? Must be tough, <BR> to need such a break. [~1995]</FONT> </TD> <TD WIDTH="39%" HEIGHT="283"> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="onthebeachbig.jpg"><IMG SRC="onthebeach.jpg" WIDTH="288" HEIGHT="205" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></A><FONT SIZE="2"><BR clear = "left"> Back at the beach. Does this little dog <BR> really need such a big rope? [~1995]</FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </P> </CENTER> <P>As with all Kees, Sebastian considered himself a part of the family. Having established "pecking order" early in his life, he would never take orders from our youngest son, even when Gavin outweighed the dog 3-to-one! Not until his last years, when Gavin re-established long-forgotten domination patterns, did the little dog accept his control.</P> <P>Sebastian simply assumed his place in the family heirarchy. I honestly believe he was puzzled all his life not to receive a plate of "fresh" people food at dinner time, rather than having to wait for table scraps at the end. The other kids got theirs, didn't they? On the other hand, I think he never understood just why his "brothers" and "sister" never wanted a piece of his bones and chew toys, either.</P> <P>Sebastian slept on beds, on couches and on floors/in piles of clothes. He was an equal-opportunity sleeper. Early on, we tried to teach him "off furniture," but it was futile; this dog spent several hours everyday alone, and on the couch was where he could always be found. Ah well, Kees are clean dogs, right? We learned to prefer khaki-colored clothing. Goes well with dog hair, no?</P> <CENTER> <P> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="4" WIDTH="600"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="283"> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="ethylbig.jpg"><IMG SRC="ethyl.jpg" WIDTH="288" HEIGHT="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"></A><BR clear = "left"> <FONT SIZE="2">Looking pretty mellow here. Easter at the "other" Grandma's <BR> where the baskets are filled with--ho hum--eggs. [~1997]</FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </P> </CENTER> <CENTER> <P>[You can click on any photo for a larger version for downloading or printing]</P> <P> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="700"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="15%"><A HREF="index.html">Home</A></TD> <TD WIDTH="20%"><A HREF="baby.html">Baby Years</A></TD> <TD WIDTH="25%"><A HREF="teen.html">Teenagers of all species</A></TD> <TD WIDTH="20%"> <P ALIGN="CENTER"><A HREF="adult.html"><B>Adult Life</B></A> </TD> <TD WIDTH="20%"><A HREF="later.html">Later Years</A></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </CENTER> </BODY> </HTML>