Join Cheryl Ertelt as she shares stories from her experiences with her first dog, a flat-coated retriever name Fireside Cruise Control. This is a work in progress as Cruise was born on January 1, 2005.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my friend Kate Barton, the breeder of Fireside Cruise Control. I met her over 10 years ago when she used to bring 3 or 4 of her dogs into the office where I worked at Christmas time. They would be in costumes, always very well behaved and their tails were always wagging. Over the next few years, Kate introduced me to many other dog owners as I began to photograph dogs seriously. I also got to meet a lot of flat-coated retrievers and found I loved their intelligence and happy-go-lucky attitude. After my black cat Charky died at the age of 20, I decided I was ready for a dog. Kate helped me picked the subject of this book and she has been around to help in the training not only of the dog but also of the new dog owner… Thank you Kate.