The Philosopher Dog, Part 4

It has been boring lately. Instead of the sunny winter days we are supposed to have here in sunny Colorado, it has been snow and cold. People don't realize that the snow falls in the mountains, the sun shines on the plains. But when it does turn cold, it is boring. We can not run in the fields or splash in the streams when icicles form on our feet. Luckily our cousins were bored as well so they came by for a play date. We played inside and outside in the snow and cold. That helped for one day.

We do not have a new foster friend to help on to a new life, our human still has trouble seeing and we can not have a new visitor till he sees better. He says that any day now we will have a new foster friend to coach and to help find a forever home. This brings us to our philosophy of the day.

With one eye covered by a bandage, the human still sees more than he can understand. Dogs have much better eyesight, we can see squirrels and birds miles away while humans have to stumble over them before they know they are there. If Bella and I were not barking at the fox in the park, the humans would not have a clue it was there and in danger of trespassing in our back yard. We see much more than humans do, and we understand it all. Humans see very little and seem to spend their lives confused by it all. Dogs see much more, and we understand everything we see.

A dogs sense of smell is thousands of times better than is the humans, the human nose is much bigger and they spend a lot of time blowing it, all for naught, they smell bad, they smell badly, but they can't smell anything. Dogs smell so much more, scents are like writing on a page, smells tell the story of who went where. When the human comes home, I can tell if he visited a home with a dog and I can tell if he played with the other dog. I can tell where he stopped for lunch and what he put on his hamburger, I hate onions and pickles, but he eats them anyway. The scents on a post or in the air are a story waiting to be read by my nose. Outside of the pet store I stopped to read the latest nose news on the post, I had not even read the headlines with my nose before he was tugging on the leash. The human sniffs loudly and announces that he smells wood smoke in the air. Well, Hello! It is wood smoke from a fire that used newspapers to start with, based on the smell it was a Sunday newspaper, they have more color ink in them and smell different. Then they used two sticks of pine, probably western lodgpole from around Dillon. But all the human smells is a wood fire. They miss so much.

They have two eyes and a huge nose, but they still can't see what we see or smell what we smell. That is why it is so important for all dogs to provide leadership to humans. Tell them when we see something interesting,, tell them when we smell something newsworthy. Clearly Dogs have a clearer view of the world, we understand more of what we see and smell. This is why we have the DDW (Dogs Dominating the World) project. We will overcome!

Mogley G. Retriever

For Dogs Only!

ATTENTION: Blogging dogs, do not allow your humans to read this post. This blog is for Dog's eyes only!

Report on the DDW (Dogs Dominating the World) plan: Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? The plan to take over the world is progressing very nicely. Today we will review our progress in taking over the media.

We set out to dominate the Internet, through blogging and through information sites. We have succeeded. We have more than twice as many search engine items for "Dogs who blog", as you get when you search "Humans who blog". Tens of Millions of web sites are devoted to our care and feeding.

Then we set out to dominate print media. We were successful with Marley and Me, and Ceasar Milans books. Search Dog Books and you will find over 113,000,000 items. Far too many books are on training, humans do not yet realize that we are training them, not the other way around. We need more "How to Train Your Human" books on the market. Some dogs are obviously not yet in control of their homes. There are still dogs that allow a human to walk in front when they go for a walk.

Next we set out to dominate the entertainment and movie business. We started years ago with Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin, White Fang and Old Yellow. Then we had Benji and Toto, The Saggy Dog, Turner and Hootch, followed by 101 Dalmatians, The Incredible Journey, the Lady and the Tramp, and All Dogs Go to Heaven. The last several weeks the best grossing movies were Marley and Hotel for Dogs. We still see re-runs of Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Snow Dogs. Yes, we have established our domination of the Movies.

Next our goal was to take over TV with our programs on Animal Planet and national Geographic. Scooby-Doo and Wonder Dog opened the doors for The Dog Whisperer and Animal Rescue. Dog Tales is a new series, along with K-9 Cops on TV. The Westminster Dog Show is not yet in its place opposite the Super Bowl where it should be. We have made great progress in taking over the TV waves, but there is still progress to be made.

Step five of our plan is to plant one of our spies in the White House, we are proceeding with that plan and we expect to have our operative in place shortly. There are two candidates to become First Dog, and both of them are members of our secret canine society. We will soon have a secret operative inside the White House. Meanwhile, one of our most skilled operatives has retired and returned to Texas. Do not forget to thank Barney, the Bush family's Scottish Terrier, for his service to the Canine Cause. The "Barney Cam" was a wonderful way for us to receive detailed information on the inner workings of the White House.

Step Six is to take over radio, we still have some work to do on that part of our plan, any help we can get would be appreciated. At lease I did not hear the barking dogs Christmas Carols this year, that was progress. We apparently chased the Chipmunks off of the air this year as well.

Step seven was for us to run a candidate for the US Senate and US House. There are fourteen dogs that were successful in getting elected. In fact when we complete our inventory, dogs may have control of the US Senate. Obviously because of the secret nature of our plan, we can not name the dogs that were elected, disguised as humans, but you can probably identify them yourself.

We have just received a report on our plan to make humans more dependent on dogs. Our Canine Assistance Dog unit is making good progress in taking the lead in helping humans with disabilities. They report that soon they may have millions of people under their control and guidance.

Good Work fellows! The Dogs Dominating the World (DDW) society is progressing nicely. Just be sure your humans don't read this, we don't want them to be warned.

Mogley G. Retriever

The Philosopher Dog, Part 3, continued

To help humans understand how important dogs are to the national economy and to the national well being, I would like to point out a few tips that have come from fellow blogging dogs.

The Bumpass Hounds (TBH) have reminded us that if you take a dog with you to McDonald's, cut your sandwich in 1/2 and give 1/2 to the dog, you will decrease your cholesterol intake by 50%. Take a walk with the dog and you will reduce it further. Proof that dogs are good for your health, especially good at reducing your cholesterol levels and your blood pressure levels.

TBH pointed out that dogs are the perfect psychiatrists. Simply lie down with your dog, tell him all of your problems, tell him about your hopes and dreams. He will tell no one, he will give you encouragement, he will give you comfort, he will give you a friendly wag and a lick on the face. All for the price of a few kibbles or a stuffed dog toy. This will save you so much money that you might have spent on psychiatrist bills, that you can now afford a new dress or a new Frisbee to throw in the back yard.

If you are not convinced that dogs are important to our civilization, consider this. Where do you think humans learned how to recycle? From dogs, of course. If it were not for dogs, the country would be overrun by used tennis balls. Everyday millions of people play tennis, they rarely use a new tennis ball for long, then they replace it. What do you think happens to all of those mountains of used tennis balls? Dogs dispose of them. Dogs keep the highways and parks from being littered with millions of used tennis balls. Did you splurge on a steak dinner? Guess who is ready and willing to recycle that slightly used "T" bone? Dogs taught humans how to recycle. Dogs are so good at recycling, they even recycle cat vomit. Let nothing go to waste is our motto.

All this time you probably thought that dogs were not deep thinkers and philosophers. Stay tuned for more wisdom from the ages, handed down from dog to dog and disclosed to you by blogging dogs!

Mogley G. Retriever

The Philosopher Dog, Part 3

The need for leadership is so important today. Dogs can provide that leadership if humans will just listen. Dogs not only know everything that is important, they are ready to teach humans.

Dogs provide leadership. You don't think dogs provide leadership? Just give us a leash and head us out the door, we will lead you. If you are blind, take our collar and we will lead you.

Dogs teach honesty. Do you have peanut butter on your face? Your dog will tell you, even if your husband or wife won't. Have you ever heard a dog lie? It is not in our nature. That is why dogs can not run for public office. Hold out a dog toy and ask your dog if he wants it? He can't lie, he will wag yes.

Dogs teach loyalty. For thousands of years dogs have been loyal to man kind, even when mankind locked them up in kennels and isolated them in the back yard, dogs are still loyal. Dogs still wagged their tail and greeted each human as a long lost friend. Well, except for one or two that we have growled at, but that was under bad circumstances.

Dogs teach obedience. Did you ever hold out a treat to your dog and tell him "Take the treat, boy?" Of course he obeyed. I even have an obedience diploma on my wall.

Dogs teach sensitivity. Do you dress with two different color socks? Your dog will politely ignore it, while your significant other will likely make fun of you.Late to work by 1/2 hour? Your boss will scream at you and you will be upset all day. If you are late to take your best friend for a walk and you will still be greeted by a wag and a bark, we hold no grudges. Dogs are so sensitive, we can tell when you are sick, we can tell when you need a head on your lap or a wagging tail to cheer you up.

Dogs have a lot to teach humans, just keep reading our dog blogs and find out.

Mogley G. Retriever

The Philosopher Dog, Part 2

If you search "Dogs who blog" on the Internet, you will get 67,000,000 items. If you search "Humans who blog" you will get 26,400,000 items. Dogs lead by more than a 2 to 1 majority. Clearly when it comes to blogging wisdom, Dogs Rule! Now it is time for dogs to lead.

With a presidential inauguration only hours away, one of the most searched terms on the Internet is what type of dog should be "First Dog" in the White House. Clearly the American voter wants to put a dog in the White House. In spite of all of this evidence, few people take dogs seriously. Humans forget how critical dogs are to the health of our country. If it were not for dogs, millions more people would be overweight. If every home had a dog there would be millions more people taking a daily walk, millions of pounds lost, millions less heart attacks and diabetes. The savings on our health care system would be huge. Healthy people work harder, make more money so the economy would be stronger. People do not understand that the whole economic mess is caused by too many dogs in dog pounds, too few dogs in homes where they could be making people exercise and work harder.

A healthy home is a Doggie home. We should talk to the American Medical Association about writing prescriptions for "Take one dog for a walk every four hours until condition (weight) improves." The new all American diet would be "The Dog Diet; Take one roast beef sandwich, cut in 1/2. Feed 1/2 to dog, eat 1/2 yourself, then take dog for a walk." This would be the ideal national health plan! It would be cheap, it would not increase taxes or the national budget.

Dogs Rule!

Mogley G. Retriever

The Philosopher Dog, Part 1

I found over 60,000,000 items when I typed "Dogs Who Blog" into a search engine. By now even the most skeptical cat will have to admit that dogs have established they can blog with the best.

It is time for dogs to move on to the next level. We need dogs commenting on world events, we need dogs writing editorial columns in daily papers. We need dogs running for public office, dogs reforming Washington. Dogs to help humans cope with these troubled times. When the going gets tough, humans turn to dogs for leadership. Dogs have long been the answer to the question "Who Loves you Baby"?

We need dog philosophers. Yes, it is fun talking about day to day activities, but now it is time to move on to the next level. Dogs need to address the pressing questions of our time. Questions such as: If a dog barks at the back fence and no one hears, is he still a "bad dog"? "If a tail wags in the darkness and no one sees, is he still a happy dog?"

The new motto should be "Dogs do it on four paws!"

Humans have so much to learn from dogs. Economists say the savings rate is too low, dogs have been burying bones in the back yard for thousands of years, showing humans how to save. But the lesson is lost on them without more direct intervention. Humans will not lean over to pick up a penny anymore, but dogs will fetch anything, proving we have a greater dedication to thrift than do humans.

To all of my dog blogging friends, it's time to stage an intervention. Lets move on from just blogging to becoming leaders in moving man kind and dog kind forward.

Mogley G. Retriever

All the news!

Bella and I got to run in the big 12 mile dog park today. Ozzie went along, Ozzie is a recent adoption by a friend and is still getting over his stay in Doggie Jail. Ozzie is a mystery dog, we don't know what kind he is, but he is a wonderful friend. He plays well, he walks and runs with us well, and he is lots of fun. He does not like water very much, but he did get muddy up to his knees. Ozzie's owner had a DNA test done on him to try and identify him, Ozzie looks like a terrier/old English sheepdog cross. The DNA test said he was something that was silly. It turns out that DNA testing on dogs may be a little hit or miss until they get a larger data base. Currently they only have a few dog breeds in the data bank so they have to reply with one of the answers they have. We know what he is, he is a good dog!

Meanwhile Bella and I made a mad dash to the river. It has been warm in our area, almost 60 today, and it will be warmer for the next several days. The river was running free of ice, we had huge fun running and splashing in the shallows. We even ran into several other Golden Retriever Rescue dogs who were enjoying the warm weather. Our owner reminds us that everything has a price. The price we had to pay was baths. By the time we were home we were covered with little balls of dried mud. Now we are clean and ready to start all over. I wonder if we can do it again tomorrow?

The trip to the dog park was to compensate us for not getting a foster friend today. The Doctor said our human has to take it easy for a few more days. This will give me time to write more blogs, perhaps I can add a few more pages to my dog/human dictionary.

We received a very nice comment on our blog from our friends The Bumpass Hounds. Sophie, their current foster, sent word that she has already found her forever home, she does not know why they continue to look for a new home for her, she is ready to sign the paperwork and stay. We will watch and see if she gets her way. If you like reading about dogs, be sure you visit http://bumpasshounds.blogspot.com/

Mogley G. Retriever

A boring day

Yesterday was a boring day, except for a couple of things. We learned that we have another foster dog coming from Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR) as soon as we can make arrangements to pick it up. Our human is not driving until Friday evening, he is grounded by his doctor. We will let you know who we get to have as a foster friend. GRRR is not only about Golden Retrievers, our volunteers can not say no to other dogs that are in need of rescue. We have a number of "Honorary Golden Retrievers" in the system. We have so many new dogs in the rescue system, we need all the help we can get to find homes for new abandoned dogs. Stay tuned.

Above is a picture of how Bella spent her day. There is a couch and a chair in the glass entryway where the sun shines on cold mornings. It is the only furniture that we are allowed on. Bella always hogs the best spot to lay in the morning sun.

Here is a picture of how I spent my day. The local exercise pool was throwing out its broken pool floats. They want to see broken, I will show them broken!

Mogley G. Retriever

Dog Cruelty

We had another e-mail from Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR). We have a big influx in new dogs, several under very bad circumstances. The call is out for foster homes to help these dogs until they can find their forever homes.

One puppy in particular was described by the animal control officer that took him away from his home as "being used as a football". This puppy was only 6 months old and probably did not respond fast enough to commands, was not trained or schooled in them, so his owner took out his frustration on him by kicking him.

We have a puppy to place in that home.
I dare you to kick this puppy!


Mogley G. Retriever

Happy Birthday Party

Above, Bella and I are joined by our three cousins to play and celebrate my birthday in a snowy backyard!

Since I am an adopted member of the family, I don't know my exact birthday. The humans decided that I should have a birthday party to celebrate, they know my birthday was in January, but what day? We decided to celebrate on the 14th, because that was the day everyone could come attend my party.

I am now officially 2 years old which is about 21 years in human years. I did not get a beer but I did get to play with my cousins and I received many new toys. If one dog year is about 10.5 human years, as one expert suggests, then it would make sense that dogs should get to celebrate 10 birthdays a year. I wonder how I can sell that plan?

Above, I pick out my favorite new toys from the toy basket.

We had snack time on the back porch. It was a little snowy but warm enough to play outside. We had some very good treats, and we all had lots of toys to play with. Below from left, Bella, Piper in front, Myself (Mogley to the rear), Emma and Molly. We were waiting for them to bring out the treats so we could begin the party.

After my cousins left, I was faced with a huge pile of toys. It was difficult to make up my mind which toy I wanted to play with next. Because the foster visitors have torn all of my toys to shreds, I received many new toys. It will be a week before we get another foster friend, our human had to take some time off from being a foster parent.

It will be weeks before we can de-stuff all of those toys, but Bella and I are up to the task. I have to go now, I have to tear up some toys.

Mogley G. Retriever

Help your rescue!

There are so many things you can do to help the rescue's besides volunteering and sending money. Today we would like to bring "Good Search" to your attention. When I need to find how much smarter us Golden's are than other breeds, I always use Good Search instead of that Google thing. I get the same results, but each search I do earns money for our rescue. When they leave me alone, I search a lot and I earn a lot for Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies.

It's so easy even a Poodle could do it! Just go to http://www.goodsearch.com/ , then find Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies in the window, "Who do you search for?" or enroll your rescue organization if they are not on the list. There is even a place to see how much your organization has earned. Each time the Good Search window pops up on your computer after you tell it what charity you want to search for, it defaults to your settings. It is soooo easy to set up.

With Good Search as your home page, every time you search you will earn money for your favorite group. This is a way you can "Surf and Save" at the same time. Now you can surf the Internet without guilt, after all, you are surfing for a good cause.

There is a "Good Shop" option as well. Evey time you purchase something on "Good Shop" your charity gets a donation. Everyone that cares about dogs, cats, or any animals, should be searching with Good Search. It just makes sense, or is it cents? Help your favorite rescue, or type in "Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies" in the "Who do you search for" and help us help homeless dogs.

Mogley G. Retriever

Snicker's Forever Home

After 3,000 years of the Dog/Human relationship, how much trust has really been established? Bella and I wondered how much we should believe the stories our human tells us? Over the past several years we have had over 20 foster dogs in our home, all of them have left for a wonderful forever home, according to our human. But we have only been allowed to go along on a few of the trips to deliver our foster brothers and sisters to their new homes. When it came time for Snickers to go meet his new forever home, Bella and I demanded to go along. We wanted to be sure he was not dropping off our friends at the local dog pound where they would be imprisoned behind glass windows and chain link fences. Trust but Verify is our motto!

Today we were taken along with Snickers to meet his new home in Parker, Colorado. Bella and I could have gladly stayed with Snickers in his new home. Snickers has a new home on a huge park, the back yard overlooks a stream with trees and all kinds of wildlife. Deer come up to the back door, coyotes run up and down the path just beyond the fence. The living room windows come all the way down to the floor, Snickers can lie on a dog bed and watch the joggers and the wildlife in the park beyond his fenced back yard.

There are two other dogs, Rosie, an older black Lab, and Brian, a little yapper. Brian is fun to run with, he is fast and playful. There are three humans, that makes a total of 6 hands to pet a Golden. There were two dog beds in front of the big windows so everyone can be comfortable while they watch outside. There were dozens of toys and tennis balls. Snickers will be allowed to sleep in the bedroom with his new family.

Snickers' new owner says they will be active in Golden Retriever Rescue. They plan on attending our meetings, picnics, and our reunions. It is so much fun to see our friends again at the many events. Now we need to convince our human to take us along all the time, after all, how can he judge whether a home is good for a dog? He needs us to provide a dogs eye view when we evaluate prospective new forever homes for our friends.

Have a wonderful life, Snickers, you deserve it!

Mogley G. Retriever

Retrieving 101

Can I help it if I am an overachiever? Can I help it if I do everything better than others? Humans apparently don't like or appreciate dogs with a high IQ. Humans don't like dogs with manners.

When I was a little puppy, enrolled in Retrieving 101 at Dog U, they told us never to go to greet a human without your prize, a prize is the object to be retrieved. It is really very simply. I am a Golden Retriever, we retrieve, it's our job. So why do humans have a hard time with this concept? Did they skip this course at Human U? I never walk around without a prize in my mouth, and remembering my course work at Dog U, I never greet a guest without a prize to hand over. I received an "A+" in retrieving! Every morning I go out the front door, run down the driveway and pick up the morning paper, then bring it in, hand it over to the human as a morning gift, for him to read. He loves my fetching.

My human became very upset today when I greeted a guest at the door by giving him a gift. Since there were no stuffed ducks handy, no paper on the driveway, no tennis balls by the door, I picked up one of the potted plants and gave it to our guest. He seemed to be real happy to have it. he did not even mind that all the stuffing fell out of the pot. But my resident human sure was mad. He even brought out that evil sounding machine and took it all over the floor. If you ask me (which humans seldom do), my greeting at the door with a gift was a lot better greeting than the human greeting a guest with a vacuum cleaner. Using an evil machine to greet guests it is a wonder anyone stops by to visit.

Humans, you can't please them but our job is to try. So we dogs labor on, doing the best we can with their limited ability to reason like we do.

We have an appointment to take Snickers to meet a prospective Forever Home at 3:00 today. The humans are going to brush him and make him look good. He is practicing his loudest and meanest grrrr, he heard that they have coyotes there and part of his job is to scare them off. He wants to make a good first impression. Their home is on a huge park, lots of space to run, lots of wild things to sniff. There is even a lake in the park so we can play when summer comes. It is sounding better and better, Snickers is getting excited.

Mogley G. Retriever

The Dog Toy Fairy

When we came home today a large basket of dog toys was sitting on our front step. When we wondered where they had come from, our human told us "The Dog Toy Fairy left them for you". We each grabbed a mouth full of toys as we ran into the house and then we ran around the house like nuts.

Later the human told us the truth. Our friend, Henna, passed away several months ago. Her human dropped by with a huge basket full of toys. they were almost new, Henna was very protective of her toys and took good care of them. The human told us we had to write a thank you card before we could play with them. Too late, we have the squeakers out of two of them already. Below is a photo taken two hours after the Dog Toy Fairy made his delivery. The Dog Toy Fairy does not offer a decent warranty either. Snickers is sitting on the left.

Above, Snickers relaxes after a long day shredding toys. Good job, Snickers! We just hope your future Forever Home does not see this.

Before you panic, the human thought it was funny to dump our toy box on the floor in front of us. What you see above is the work of many foster dogs, only a small part of it is our fault today. Still, it was a lot of fun tearing them up. I get the last laugh, he has to clean it up.

We overheard a telephone call with a human that wants to adopt Snickers. Tomorrow Snickers will go meet their female Labrador and see if they get along. The family recently lost an older Golden and the Labrador is lost without a friend. We hope it works well for Snickers, they certainly sound like good people. They have a dog bed for Snickers, and lots of chew toys. They promised that Snickers can sleep in the bedroom with them. We will update you as soon as we can tomorrow. Snickers, we will give you a good brushing so you look your best tomorrow.

Mogley G. Retriever

Snickers, again

Snickers is still here. We had hoped to find him a Forever Home for Christmas, but we did not. Snickers does not think it is that big of a deal, he is quite happy here. He is warm and comfey in the cold spell we have been having. He is quite happy he is not at his old home where he would be outside in this below zero weather. Where else would he get steak for breakfast? We shared a steak that had freezeer burn this morning, how do we make the freezer burn more?

Snickers is busy making our toys into scraps. Snickers is the perfect dog except that he chews up all of my toys. I have to admit that I help, when we get into a three way tugo-war, nothing lasts long.

Here is Snickers "Match.dog.com" posting:

Good looking, single male dog seeks home.

Object: Mutual affection.
Good supply of chewable toys and a soft dog bed required.

Four year old male Golden Retriever seeks forever home. Snickers offers all that you could ask for in a companion. His Dark red coat stands out on a leash during daily walks. Impeccable leash manners make hikes and walks a dream. Likes long walks in parks, strolls along the river or runs in the mountains. Behaves well off leash which allows expanded possibilities on outings. Snickers is well house trained, will cause no embarrassment to a new home or its carpet. Snickers is very affectionate, he hopes you will return the favor. Head pats, tummy rubs, chin and ear scratches are welcome. Snickers is not demanding, he just asks for a human companion who will be there during the good times and the bad. He is not a "treat hound" who only loves his humans when they give him treats, he is a person dog, he only wants love and affection. An encouraging word and a pet or two will make your cold house into a warm home.

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to look forward to the cold days ahead. A warm, golden friend will make the snow and cold seem warm and inviting.

Please help our friend find his forever home.

Mogley G. Retriever.