Squirrels in trees

This is a picture of Bella, my ugly step sister, trying to climb a tree to catch the squirrel. I have brought a stick to beat the squirrel with when Bella shakes it out of the tree. We make a great squirrel hunting pair. My human says that Bella and I do a wonderful job of protecting the house and the yard. He says that he has not seen a wolverine in our back yard since we moved in. No elephants either he says. Boy are we good, we work for just a few bones, food morsels, head pats and a warm place to sleep. We are much cheaper than an alarm service, and we can keep you warm at night as well.

If any readers are worried about having wild wolverines or stray elephants in their yard, just call Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies. Or go to http://www.goldenrescue.com/index.html to see if there is a Golden Guard available for your home. If you already have a security company or burglar alarm, we are more alert and we are a lot more fun. Besides, if you forget to pet us when you come home, the police don't come rushing to your door. Just try and take your burglar alarm for a walk. My human wants me to remind you that a Golden Guard on duty works even when the electricity goes out and it can keep you warm on a winter night.

Mogley, the 24/7 Golden Guard

Black Cats and Witches

Now I understand! Halloween taught me a lesson. The black cat that haunts my home is a witch's assistant. That is the only explanation as to why the cat continues to haunt my life. The cat is certainly bad luck, I crossed its path and it follows me everywhere. It steals my bed, I have to sleep on the floor. You have already heard that when I play with the cat's toys the humans get all upset. I bring my toys to the cat to share with it and it ignores them. I brought my favorite ball and dropped it in front of it, time after time, and it just sat there. Why would a human want a pet that will not even play ball? If I don't fetch the ball he complains that "His retriever is broken". The cat gets away with a lot. The only time the cat is any fun is when he goes up the tree and chases the squirrel. When the cat climbs the tree the squirrel gets very upset. But the cat never catches it. The cat spends time in the garden hunting mice. Once in a while it brings a mouse inside which makes life exciting for a little while. Cats, you can't live with them and you can't chase them!

Mogley

Halloween Party

On Sunday we went to the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies annual Halloween Party. It is so much fun to go meet all of my golden brothers and sisters. When we first arrived we were turned lose to get acquainted. We ran and played, then ran some more. Several humans were throwing tennis balls, there were enough tennis balls in the air for everyone to show off our "fetch" skills. They let us play for a while without our costumes. Then at 1:00 we were dressed up and lined up for the judging. I was dressed up as a "Golden Angel". I had my halo and my white night shirt on. My ugly step sister, Bella, went as a ballerina. There were so many dogs with cute costumes. The Millers were there with the Poo Crew, Poo Bear was dressed up in a Winny the Poo costume, complete with a honey pot. We did not win anything, there were too many wonderful costumes for us a get a prize. The best prize of all was having a day to run and play with 30 or 40 of our friends. There were dogs running around inviting each other to play and people throwing tennis balls for anyone to fetch. The humans had food set out on a long table. It was "Trip or Treat time", if you can trip a human you can get a treat. Several dogs tried to cheat and take something off of the table but there were table guards who scolded cheaters, you know, the whole "bad dog" routine. Some people ate standing up because if they sat down they were at "dog level" and they had to protect the food and try to eat at the same time. The game is called "To the fastest go the chicken legs". Dogs and humans eating from the same plate, at least when the humans are not looking! What a wonderful world we live in.
Mogley

A Forever Home

When my human sat down on the floor with me, I thought it was time for a tummy rub or a wrestle on the floor. Instead he started talking to me about how happy he has been to have me stay with him. I have been staying here as a “foster dog” for the last four months. It sounded like he was leading into telling me he had found a new home for me. I started thinking about all the bad things I have done recently. I did chew on his glasses. He has two pair and one pair was just lying there, so I tried them on, they did not fit without some modifications to the plastic bows. Before I had finished modifying them to fit he grabbed them away from me and went through the whole “bad dog” routine. Boring! Several days later he left the second pair on the coffee table so I tried those on to see if they fit better. Same result, I had barely started chewing on the plastic bows when he took them away and scolded me again, this time very loudly. I chewed on the handle of the cat’s brush, he was spending too much time brushing the cat anyway. I ran out the door and all the way down into the park, twice in one day they had to run after me to catch me. But I have not done anything real bad, have I?

My worries were misplaced; he was talking to me about turning my “foster home” into a “forever home”. He asked me if I wanted to stay here forever. I almost said yes right away, but I was too busy wagging and licking him. Then it occurred to me, I needed to be negotiating some better terms. I asked for a bigger bed, Bella and I share one large bed, but she takes the center of it and I often end up on the floor. I asked for some new toys and more peanut butter on my daily “treat”. I was getting everything I wanted, but when I asked for a mint on my pillow every night I must have over reached, he turned me down and started giving me rules. He apparently does not like the way I run into the park whenever a door or a gate is left unguarded, he gets frustrated having to chase me down to bring me home. Most of the time I obey well, but the park is a wonderful place. He does not want me chewing on glasses, phones or TV controllers. He wants me to stop taking toys away from the cats and chewing them up. He even threatened that if I don't stop playing with cat toys that he will put a notice on my blog "Mogley plays with cat toys" and embarrass me. I promised I would try harder to listen to his commands. He told me he will have to do some paper work to make it official with the Golden Retriever Rescue group but he had already asked them if it would be all right.

We celebrated the occasion by taking a walk in the park, then getting tummy rubs and a little ice cream treat. I have a forever home instead of a foster home. I can keep writing my blog. I don’t have to worry about someone taking me away from my step sister, Bella, we have so much fun playing together. Now I can make plans for my future. Maybe I will go to obedience school and surprise everyone by becoming a well behaved, well adjusted dog. Then again, maybe not!

I am so happy I wiggle all over. But then I think about all my friends that are still in Doggy Jail at the rescue kennels, and how happy they would be if they had homes too. Maybe I can help by telling people how much a forever home means to a orphan Golden Retriever.

Snow Fun

Snow is fun. It snowed over the weekend for the first time this year. Bella and I ran out to play in the snow till we got cold, then we came in to dry off. I ran with my nose in the snow, making the snow blow all over my face. We carried toys outside to play with; we got them wet and soggy. Bella and I wrestled in the snow till we were both white. My human came out and threw white balls to me to fetch, it was hard to find them once they landed. Bella told me that he was just teasing me as the balls were made of snow and broke apart when they hit the ground. I did not think that was very nice. I decided I needed to get revenge on him when I got the chance.

The TV controller was just sitting there. The resident human seems to think it is a wonderful toy. He plays with it for hours every day. He went to the store without me, so you can’t blame me for trying to find something to entertain myself with while he is gone. I took it out front so I could lay in the sun and watch the driveway at the same time. I tried chewing on the controller; it does not even taste good. What he sees in it I have no idea, it certainly was not as much fun as I thought it would be, considering how attached he is to it. He got all upset when he came home and found it on the front porch, what he sees in that toy I have no idea. He uses it to make the picture change on the TV, sometimes he watches animal planet and I do enjoy watching the animals, but they do get boring fast. At least he now knows that if he throws snowballs for me to fetch, I will find a way to get even.

I think I will go take a nap in the sun.
Mogley

It is raining Apples!

Apples are for eating. That sounds like a children’s book I chewed on late one night. It was a fair book, not a lot of flavor, but it was fun to chew up. Apples are fun to eat. There are so many on the ground in the back yard that Bella and I chew on them, use them to play ball with, and just tear them up for fun. Bella has been eating so many apples every day that she is getting a little heavy. The humans tried to cut back on her food; all she does is eat her dinner, then run out and eat more apples. Sometimes she pushes me away from my dish and finishes up my dinner, and then I run out and have an apple. It is nice to be able to have a snack when I need one.

They gave us several new toys last night, Bella and I demolished them by noon. The pull toys had weak knots and the rubber balls on the ropes were easy to tear up. The stuffed toys had lots of stuffing, we scattered it all over the floor, it looked like a snow storm had hit the living room. Even the rawhide chew toys only last an hour or so. Bella and I tug and pull on the toys until we pull them apart. The only toy that has lasted is one that is made from a huge piece of rope with several knots in it; we have not been able to tear it up yet, we can get a good grip on it when we play tug, and it’s too thick to chew through. What the world needs is a good, strong dog toy that holds up and tastes good!

Just say "Yes".

My humans are language challenged. They only know one word. “No”. If they would like to expand their horizons they should try the Thesaurus, it lists six more words they could use. Instead they just repeat “no” over and over again. They think that by using the word “no” in higher and shriller tones they are communicating better. The latest was last night.

Trash cans are for trash, right? I looked up the meaning of trash and it means something you no longer want, you want to dispose of it, rid yourself of it. So when the humans throw something in the trash it should be all right for the resident dogs to use the contents of the trash can in their quest for a little fun, right? But no, when I grabbed an empty cat food can out of the trash can in the middle of the night and tried to quietly chew on it in the corner of the bedroom; they woke up and took it away from me. It was not as if they needed the empty can, they did not want it, they just did not want their loyal friend, the dog, to have it. They took it and threw it into a different, and harder to reach, trash can.

There was some good to come out of it. When they find me chewing on things I should not chew on, they go out and buy more dog toys. Bella and I go through toys rather fast. We play tug-o-war constantly, and very few toys can take our punishment. Tonight they came back from the store with five new, ruggedly built toys. I appreciate their concern, but it would be just fine with me if they would just leave the trash cans out for me, it would give me something to play with and it would save them money. To my humans I have a simple message. “Just say Yes”!

Daily Peanut Butter

Mogley’s blog for October 5, 2007

My Humans refilled my prescription today, I don’t understand what that is, I guess that my daily peanut butter requires a Doctor’s approval. I thought I got a twice-daily peanut butter treat because I was a special dog. When I read the label on the bottle, it says that I cannot drive or operate heavy equipment when I take my daily treat. I don’t understand humans. I have no intention of driving or operating heavy equipment. I get into the drivers seat when they leave me alone but I just like to make the windows go down. Dogs need to have the wind in our face, it’s a dog thing, humans would not understand. Humans know I don’t have a drivers license, I can’t even reach the peddles on the floor. I am just happy that I will still get a peanut butter treat twice a day, it would be better if they stopped putting that little white thing in it, it makes it harder to lick.

Time for my afternoon nap
Mogley

Company

The resident Human says he is going to use a snow shovel to “pooper-scoop”. For ten days we had company. Our friend Tommy got married and our gift to him was to “dog-sit” with his two Golden Retrievers, Theo and Reba, along with Barkley, their noisy Pomeranian, so they could take a short honeymoon. But we are not that messy that he has to use a snow shovel!

It has been a fun time for me; there was always at least one dog that was willing to play when somebody wanted a romp. Feeding time was lots of fun too; Tommy feeds each of his dogs a different food. We played musical food bowls. Reba and I would switch bowls immediately, then we would both go help Barkley and Theo to finish theirs. Theo is an older lady and she eats slowly, Barkley eats out of Theo’s bowl and leaves her own untouched. That made feeding time so much fun, we got to try new foods. Nobody got grumpy, everyone shared like good friends.

Bedtime was the only hassle. With five dogs wanting to sleep in the same place, it got awfully crowded alongside the bed. When the humans got up, they kept tripping over dogs. This is good because a human on the floor while he is still sleepy is easy to lick. After he picked himself up he had to go wash off five different sets of dog licks. The Pomeranian kept trying to sleep on the bed, which made the rest of us mad because we were not allowed on the bed. It made the cats mad too, they were used to having the bed to themselves. The cats like to sleep on the bed and look down on us poor dogs on the floor. The dog bed was never designed for five dogs, it normally only has to hold Bella and I. Sleepovers are fun, but I am glad that they went home so we can have peace and quiet again.

Tonight I will dream of playing with my friends. Mogley

Fleas in a Keyboard?

I do not have fleas! My human accused me of having fleas. The hard drive on the computer went down which is why I have not been posting to my blog regularly. He claims that “fleas in the keyboard” caused the computer crash. I strongly protest the allegation. Bella, my ugly stepsister may have fleas, but not me. It may have caught fleas from some friends that have been visiting for the last week, but it would be impolite to point a paw at them. I think the computer caught a virus when my human visited one of those naked French poodle sites. He told me to stay away from them, but I think he visits them while I am outside defending the yard from the squirrels. Until the good computer comes back from the shop I am working on a very old computer, in dog years this computer is 60 years old. It is so old it has a crank on the side of it to wind it up. That is old!

My human went to the garden to pick the ripe red tomatoes for lunch. Surprise, I had been there first and I got the ripe ones. They tried to put up a fence around them, but I still eat the tomatoes. In the afternoon when I am chasing away the raccoons and the squirrels, I need a quick snack and tomatoes really hit the spot. I even eat the green ones when they are not looking. The apples are ripe and laying on the ground, they are good too! It sure is fun to be a dog in a big back yard with a garden, fruit trees, grass and squirrels. If you have a back yard you are not using, I know where you can find a homeless Golden Retriever that would love to protect it from varmints!

Dream of happy days in the fall sunshine.
Mogley

Volunteer Appreciation Party

My human reported back from the Golden Retriever Rescue Volunteer Thank-You Party. I should still be mad that they did not include dogs in the party, but I will forgive and forget. It proves how big of a dog I am. He told me to tell you what makes us so special.

We have a new format for our meetings. Mary began by standing up and announcing, “Hi, I’m Mary, and I am a Golden-a-holic. The rest of us responded with “Hi, Mary”. Then Mary explained, “It has been four hours since I took a stray Golden Retriever home with me. I have 14 dogs at home now, I am trying to taper off from the 18 dog-a-day habit I once had.” Then one by one the rest of the rescue team stood up and told their stories.

Golden Retrievers, bet you can’t take just one!

The Golden Retriever Rescue group has grown with many new faces present. During introductions around the room it became obvious that the 30 or so humans accounted for about 50 Golden Retrievers. Many of the volunteers were fostering several Goldens in their homes, keeping them out of the kennels that we call “Doggy Jail”. Several people drove long distances to pick up unwanted dogs that were being turned in to the rescue, from Denver to Idaho, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Utah, returning them to be placed in new homes. We rescue many breeds besides just Goldens, helping wherever we can. We have received the dogs from several puppy mills that have been closed down which gives us many puppies to place.

A very special thanks went out to the volunteers that go by the kennels and take dogs out for a romp in the park and even take them for a day hike in the mountains. The people at the party said “thank you”, but if the dogs had been there, there would have been a special “thank you”, doggy style with licks and wags. Can you imagine how much the dogs appreciate the chance to get out of the chain link cages to go run with a human friend, even for only an hour? So a big sloppy doggy thank you from me as well.

We all had damp eyes when they announced that Poo Bear had suffered a stroke. Poo Bear is a 9-year-old Golden that is blind, she was found on a street, abandoned. Her story is an amazing tale of perseverance and of how much love a dog can bring. Poo had a halter just like a Seeing Eye dog; only her halter was for the human to guide her. Poo played with the other dogs, ran and tumbled when she fell in holes, or hit a tree, but she still ran and played with her friends. I met Poo at the picnic and she was a wonderful, loving dog. She is now unable to walk following her stroke, but she is still man’s best friend. Her foster parents deserve an extra lick and wag when I see them again, they gave Poo a loving home and a second chance at life.

Wonderful dogs end up in rescue for a lot of reasons; none of the reasons are their own. Sometimes an owner has to go to a nursing home and an old, loved Golden friend ends up needing a new home, or a death leaves a family grieving and a dog homeless. One dog that is up for adoption was out on a walk with his human when the human suffered a heart attack and died, leaving a bewildered dog standing in the street. The military transfers families and a beloved, well-mannered Golden has to live in a kennel until a new home can be found. Allergies or illness have forced people to surrender their best friends. Often the people who have surrendered the Golden call to find out if it has a good new home, and they follow up with training tips and favorite toys. The Golden is bewildered by being sent away from his best friends. He behaved well, did not chew up furniture, always fetched the ball when it was thrown, did not bark and walked politely on a leash, then he finds himself alone in a tiny chain link run. The foster families provide stability and a new, loving home while a “forever home” is found. Thanks again for taking us in. We just wish there were more of you.

Thanks to all of the volunteers that made 306 placements possible so far this year, from a Golden Retriever that was rescued! Go to www.goldenrescue.com to read more about adopting, becoming a volunteer or to donate. There are still 40 dogs needing homes, and more coming in every day. Please help!
Mogley
PS: My human must like what I wrote tonight, he gave me a long tummy scratch!

Volunteer party

I hate to use my blog for such a purpose, but I need to let the world know about an injustice that was committed by Golden Retriever Rescue. They scheduled a party and did not invite Golden Retrievers! I thought it was an oversight, so I sent them this message to correct it. Since they refused to change the party and invite Retrievers, I am going to expose them to the public.

Sent via E-mail:
I suggest that you need someone to proof read your invitation to the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies Volunteer Appreciation Party (GRRRVAP). Or maybe it's a practical joke and someone is sitting back laughing. OK, where did they hide the camera? To tell you the truth, when I first read it, I was upset. Then my human explained that it was probably just a "typo".

You have probably already noticed that someone slipped a little something funny on the invitation. It says "sorry, no young kids or dogs". You may think it was funny, I did not.

I assume you meant "No young kids or young dogs". I can understand why you would not want puppies at the party. After all, they untie shoestrings, they wet on the floor, they yip and yap at everything and they steal all of my toys. Even worse, they are fast and when something falls from a plate, they often get to it first. I can understand why you would not want young children, I get irritated when they pull my ears and sit on me. Their high pitched laughter is hard on my sensitive ears, and they steal my toys too. So it was a good decision to keep young humans and young puppies away from a classy party.

But a Golden Retriever event without Golden Retrievers? Are you going to have a BBQ party with out any BBQ? Are you having a cocktail party without any cocktail's? A volunteer party without any volunteers? I think not!

You still have time to redeem yourself in the eyes of dogs everywhere by correcting the error in your invite. Then if you beg me enough for forgiveness, I may attend, depending on what kind of dog treats you offer. It is only fair considering how much humans make me beg!

Thank you,
Mr. Mogley G. Retriever
PS. Don't force me to take this public by posting it on my blog!

A typical "Dog's Day"

I did not get a chance to write my blog last night, my humans went off to dinner and left the computer turned off. It has been a busy weekend. Saturday morning I was “fish watching” when I accidentally fell into the fish pond, again. In the past when I fell in the pond a human was there to pull me out. This time the humans were up the ladder picking apples. By the time they got to me I had made a huge discovery. The front side of the pool is very steep and deep, but I can walk out of the back side, up the little stream that runs into it. As soon as the humans were up the ladders in the apple trees again, I went into the fish pond again. I now have that “fresh fish” smell, the humans keep bathing me, but now I can jump in the pond when ever I want. The fish sure get excited when I get in their pond. They don’t play very well with others. One small step for a dog, one giant leap for Dog-Kind. Yeah! Later when the humans were busy I checked out the steps in the swimming pool again, they still are too steep and drop off too quick for me to wade in easily. But the fish pond is now mine!

The apples that fall on the ground are almost as much fun to play with as tennis balls. I catch the apples that fall and run them around the yard. I take a bite out of a few before I move on.

Sunday the humans covered the swimming pool for the winter. That gives me a lot of new toys. The pool is covered with a big cover, now I have to find out how much I can run around on the cover before I get in trouble. Then there are the water bags, when I jump on them the water sloshes around. I hope they won’t cover the fish pond. I am not sure I am going to like winter.

The kitten was allowed out of the house and into the back yard today. The humans think that if the kitten is allowed to play with me in the back yard, he will be able to find his way back into the house if he ever gets out. The back yard gives us more room to run and play. I helped him find the good places to hide in the back yard. He found the catnip in the garden and enjoyed it, but he was not impressed by the fish pond. He did not seem to like swimming very well. The kitten does not understand how dog doors work, it is going to take a long time before he can come and go on his own.

That is all for now, I am going to dream of dogs and kittens running in the back yard.

Mogley

A Kitten Invasion!

As you can see by the picture, the kitten is not only still here, but the kitten thinks it is in charge. It sleeps on MY Bed! It is not fair. When I take a cat toy to play with, the Humans make me drop it. They are afraid I will swallow it, as if any self respecting dog wanted to eat catnip. When I eat out of the cat’s bowl you would think I had done something terrible like barking at the mailman or sneaking a peak to see what’s on the table a meal time. The cat eats out of my bowl whenever it wants to and the Humans think it is “Cute.” When I chase the kitten off of my bed they tell me to “play carefully with the Kitten!" When the kitten takes a swipe at me with its claws they don’t tell the kitten to “play carefully with Mogley!” My nose is still tender from our last play session. If they plan to give me the kitten for my birthday you would think they would de-claw it first. But no, they think the kitten is cute when it swats me and draws blood, but if I even chase it too fast they yell at me. Life is sure unfair.

Tonight I will dream of kittens running away from home.
Mogley

Just another day of Golden Fun

My Human got out of bed this morning and mumbled something about “Friday the 13th on a Thursday, that is twice as unlucky”. Then he went out to find the morning paper. He could have sent me! I can find the paper, and then help him do his morning exercises to catch me with it to read it. A good run before reading the morning paper is good exercise for both of us. For some reason my Human does not like a game of “keep away” early in the morning. Maybe after he has his coffee he will play “fetch and catch” with the paper.

After breakfast I went out to the pond and pulled out a few water lily leaves. The fish keep hiding under the leaves. I like to see the fish when I am laying on the edge of the pond. Fish watching is a great sport on a hot summer day. If I pull out some of the leaves the fish watching is easier. Then I can catch some fish food as it floats by.

Buckley came by for a play date today. He likes to run with us in the back yard. He and I have lots of fun barking at the squirrels and the people walking on the path in the park behind the house. Buckley stayed to have dinner with us. Buckley is very polite at meal time also. He did not eat until he was invited to.

Tonight I will dream of running in the park with my friends.
Mogley

The Dirty Dozen

Today we went to a picnic at the home of the “Dirty Dozen”. The puppies were so cute, but the mother was very scared of all the people around her puppies, after a life in a crate, she was very timid. She came to the Golden Retriever Rescue from a puppy farm and she was very timid from lack of human contact. Luckily her foster parents are taking special care to make her feel secure, they are giving her a good loving home, and taking good care of her and her puppies. There were probably 20 people and 25 Golden Retrievers. The host had set up a wading pool so we could all play in the water. They know how to throw a party for Golden Retrievers!

They allowed all of us Golden Retrievers to run in and out of the house whenever we wanted to. This meant that we had wet dogs mixing with dry dogs, mixing with people trying to eat and wet floors everywhere. It was lots of fun. I made several new friends and saw old friends from the prior events and from my time in the shelter.

What do you call it when 6 puppies sleep in one pile? One half of a Dirty Dozen? Puppies play hard and then they lay down where they are at the moment and nap. Then they wake up and play again. The Dirty Dozen have a motto, “Leave no shoestring tied”. They immediately attacked everyone’s shoestrings when a human came in their room.

There was good news and bad news at the picnic. Another family of puppy mill dogs is on its way to the Golden Retriever Rescue kennels. That means we will have more fun puppies, but it also means we need more foster homes, more forever homes, more volunteers to walk and play with the dogs, more donations for the vet costs and for the food. My human says to remind the readers that we are a 501(C) (3) organization. Luckily dogs don’t have to file tax returns, but it seems to mean something to my human. You can donate to help us rescue deserving dogs and deduct it as well by visiting our site at the following: http://www.goldenrescue.com/donate.html Then click on the "Donations, Add to Cart" to go to Pay Pal and help us out. Also, go to d"Home "and read about all the other Golden Retrievers that need help.

When I got home I took a nap. It was a long day of running and splashing. Bella and I agree, picnics with our doggy friends are great.

Tonight I will dream of puppies playing.
Mogley

Tomorrow is Picnic day

Tomorrow is a Golden Retriever Picnic at the home of “The Dirty Dozen”. The Dirty Dozen refers to 12 new puppies that we have to find homes for. The mother was a puppy mill captive who arrived at the Golden Rescue just in time to have her puppies in a real home. I sent an E-mail to the picnic hosts to see if I could bring my Humans with me to the picnic. They said it was all right to bring humans, but I have to be sure my humans behave. I am excited to see all of my Golden friends again. So many of them are still in kennels and they only get out to play at picnics if volunteers go by and take them out. We have a fine group of people that go by the kennels and take the dogs out for a romp and play once in a while. We have 40 dogs like me that are looking for homes and have to live in a kennel until some human comes forward to take them in and give them a forever home. We need adoptive parents and temporary foster parents so these wonderful dogs can get out of “Doggy Jail”. Donations are important too, it costs a lot of money in vet fees, food and toys to keep this many dogs healthy and happy. Most of the Golden’s are in poor health when they come to us, many of them need special diets and pills till they recover.

Remember, I have a new kitten at my house. The Humans finally explained that my birthday is coming and the kitten was supposed to be a surprise present for me. I will be the only dog on the block with his own kitten, which makes it a little easier to accept. The kitten still won’t play with my toys, but he runs well and he is fun to lick. He comes and plays with us when he gets bored. He even tries to scratch my favorite dog bed. In the picture you see the cat tying to scratch my bed while Bella just watches.

I have invented a new game; I just don’t know what to call it. Shall I call it Hide and Go Poop or call it Poop and Go Seek? The game is played when I go out in the back yard and disappear. Then my Human comes out and tries to clean up the yard, but he does not know where to look. I am getting good at faking him out, he begins where he cleaned up last, but I fooled him. By using a different corner of the yard each time I go, he gets exercise, he gets fresh air, and he learns to observe his surroundings. He goes over to the fence and looks at the apple trees, he can see how tall the grass is growing and where the weeds are showing up. He goes over and checks around the Koi pond, then over by the shed, then up in the garden and through the aspen grove. When he is done he has had a morning in the great outdoors. It saves him the cost of a health spa, and he does not have to attend exercise class. This could be the start of a new fitness craze, “Golden Fitness, the Golden Retriever way.” We will sell books and videos to help people keep fit. This could be bigger than Doggy Parks. With every video purchased, you get a free Golden Retriever.

Tonight I will dream of all my Golden Friends getting out of Doggy Jail and going home to new forever homes.
Mogley