All the news that you can sniff on a fire hydrant

Above, I am helping Abby chase squirrels.

I have good news and I have bad news.   The trouble is that I don't know which is which.   I don't have to worry about getting cold and wet at our big Golden Retriever Party this coming Sunday.   They apparently watched the weather forecast and decided to postpone the party.   I won't be able to play with all of my friends, I won't be able to splash in the water, I won't be able to steal tacos from people at the picnic.    The good news is that I may get to play with my four cousins instead.  

The resident bi-ped has a relative that is very high up in the National Weather Service.  He always complains that it is the government's fault we have bad weather to begin with.   We have perfectly good weather going to waste in Hawaii, but we keep importing that cheap stuff from Canada.   So next time you don't like the weather, write a letter to your congressman.

He thinks they canceled the party for no good reason. I have watched the weather forecasts for years, every night they are on the TV just before bed time. From what I have seen, most weather foreasters could not predict Christmas on December 25, if you gave them three try's.

It looks like this Sunday I will be playing with my rescue cousins instead of playing with all of my rescue friends.   But I will get a second chance at the party in a couple of weeks.     One hundred Golden Retrievers in one place at one time, it's worth waiting for.

Mogley G. Retriever

How to hunt squirrels!

Abby is in charge of giving us lessons on "How to chase Squirrels".   Todays lesson will show you how to chase them up one tree, then when they try to escape by going down a branch into another tree, you climb it too. 

Abby has more fun with her squirrels, she spends the day chasing them from tree to tree, then down the top of the fence, then back into the trees.  She comes into the house to check on us, then back out the dog door to chase the squirrels again. 

Abby is very good at what she does.  Since she has come to stay with us, not a single squirrel has attacked anyone in the household.   The women and children of the neighborhood are safe from the killer squirrels that lurk overhead.    Thank you Abby, you have helped keep our home safe.  We hope that your Forever family has squirrels in their yard, otherwise Abby will be bored to death.    If you are thinking of adopting Abby, please have some squirrels for her to play with!

Mogley G. Retriever

Busy Weekend on tap

We are looking forward to a busy weekend.   We have several people that want to meet with Daisy and Abby.  We will probably bring in Alexis who is our cousins foster, and let them meet her as well.   Maybe one of them will find their Forever Home.  Then on Sunday, May 2, we have our first big Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR) party of the year.   It is open to members (donate $25.00 to join, we will even take your money at the door, bring a food dish) and their Golden friends.  There will be hundreds of Golden Retrievers and lots of food.   No, not dog food, but we know how sloppy people are when they are trying to eat at a picnic.   Tacos will be the main item, and they always leak out the end when bi-peds eat them.   The long term forcast calls for showers, but what is a little water when you have hundreds of friends to play with?  All of us will be playing in the water ponds, why worry about a little more water. 

I hope you have made arrangements to be there!  If you have not joined GRRR, then how can you enjoy the Golden Life we live?

Mogley G. Retriever
p.s.  Don't forget to bring a towel.

Rain, rain, go away.

We have had several days of rain.  We were ready to put on our life jackets just in case.   It has made us four very bored dogs.   If we go outside to play we get wet and muddy, then when we come back in we get yelled at.  It makes playing in the water easy, there are puddles everywhere.    Above, I am on the left, Daisy is laying down, then Bella and on the far right is Abby.    Below, Abby is on the left. 

We posed for our portraits in the front doorway to keep from getting bored.  I don't know how it happened that all four of us were dry at the same time.   We did go through all of our new toys during the two days of rain, how do we recycle them now?  What else can we do to keep physically fit?    Tonight the rain will turn to snow and we will have one last chance to romp in the white stuff.   For our Siberian brothers and sisters back East, eat your hearts out!    We may get 3 feet in some places in the hills, so look out tomorrow, we will be making first tracks early in the morning. 

Daisy has continued her training in case she has to "go native".   She is worried that she may end up homeless again if things don't work out.   She says that being a foster is a very uneasy way to live.  She looks forward to finding her Forever Home, but just in case she does not get a good home, she will continue with her survival training.   This afternoon she silently treed an open can of cat food on top of the counter and managed to kill it, then she proceeded to eat it because as a good hunter you are always told not to waste game when you hunt.   The humans did not understand her need to practice her hunting skills, they were upset again.   Maybe when they read my blog they will understand why she feels that a lady needs to have choices in life.   After all, there is more to life than just "fetch".    Besides, that can of cat food may have been threatening someone's life.    You can never be too careful.

Mogley G. Retriever

New Duck Day

Bella, Abby, Daisy and I received new toys today.  When our cousins were visiting on Sunday, our toys took a beating.  Here are a couple of photos of Abby playing with my duck.   She got a pink toy that she took outside and hid in the bushes.  Then she came back in to see what else she could borrow.

Daisy tells us she is very worried about her future.  She has been in the rescue system for several months now while her medical issues are taken care of.  One family has asked to meet her, she is looking forward to meeting with them and showing what a wonderful lady she is.   They are a long ways out of town, it will be a few days before we can set up a meeting.  Daisy made a trip to the vet and she now has ear drops for an ear infection and she has prednisone tablets, she may be itching because of allergies.    Daisy says that a homeless dog has to watch out for her own future, she never knows when she might have to go native.   Yesterday she practiced her survival skills by stalking and killing a loaf of bread that she had treed on the top of the counter.    She got into trouble when the bi-peds discovered her with the last bit of bread and a torn plastic bag.   She regrets getting in trouble, she was just keeping her survival instincts honed.   She said it was whole wheat so it was healthy. 

It is overcast and cool, scattered showers are going by, the swimming pool is still not open for use.  When it opens we will be inviting our friends in to share our opening party.

Mogley G. Retriever

An exciting weekend

I have not blogged lately but I have had an exciting life.    Sunday morning our cousin was having a reception at their home for a group of foreign exchange students.  Several of the attendees were "non-dog" people, although why you would want them at your party is beyond me, but I guess since it is only one day and one party we can live with it.   We are still four, and with their new foster, Alexis, they are four, so we had eight goldens together for our own party.   We don't need humans to have fun when there are eight of us on a warm spring day!  The photos above and below are of "treat time" shortly after arrival.  We all had a treat or two before we set forth for some serious running and playing.    Bella is not being pushy by jumping up, she just wants to make sure that the treats are of a high quality and worth sitting still for. 

In order to make room at their house, our three cousins and their foster, four in total, came to play.    What a fun  day, eight of us in one yard, with a warm, sunny day to run and play.  

Below is a photo of Alexis, our cousins new foster.   If she looks like she was running in the water, she was.   There was still several inches of snow melt water on top of the swimming pool cover.   She jumped in to see what it was and investigated it thoroughly before getting yelled at.   Her story is that she was an outdoor dog, her neighbors finally convinced the owners that if they did not want to allow a dog in the house they should give it to someone that did want her.   She is staying with my cousins while they teach her some manners.   She is not scared of anything outdoors, but inside every noise is a new reason to be scared.  Even sitting is still a challenge for a dog that has had little interaction with humans and other dogs.  She is learning to love the warmth, companionship and fun that comes with sharing a home with humans and other Goldens.   She has a lot of energy and she played very well with us even though it was her first  time with a big pack.  She has such a fun personality that she will make someone a very wonderful companion.   We suggest that her Forever Home should be with someone that likes to hike, run or jog as she has a lot of energy to burn.

We are still looking for a suitable Forever Home for Abby and Daisy.   Abby is having so much fun, she comes inside, watches the back yard through the glass patio door, when a squirrel comes down a tree or an intruder takes a walk in the park, she is out the dog door like a shot.   She must run 20 miles a day, just keeping the back yard safe for dog-kind.  Daisy takes a different view.  She finds a good place to lie down and watch carefully.   She considers herself the house historian, she will keep close eye on Abby's actions, without having to participate unless someone comes too close to the back fence.  Then she will run out and help.  Daisy is a lover, not a barker. 

The swimming pool cover is cleaned off, they pumped the remaining water off of the top after Alex took her romp in it, so the opening of the old swimming hole is very near.  Life is good. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Friday, wonderful Friday

It has been a while since Bella and I had our portrait updated.   Above is Bella and I at the top of the stairs.

It has been a few days since I have blogged.    The photo of Daisy above was one week ago following the last snow storm.  What a difference a week makes.  The weather has just turned nice, the last of the snow melted yesterday in the back yard.  Today it is 70 out and life is good.     The big news is that the resident bi-ped is working on cleaning the debris off of the pool cover, the spring grand opening of the pool can not be far away. 

As you know, Daisy came back to stay with us.    She has been a perfect house guest since she arrived.   They did work with the vet and they changed her med's.    It looks like the new combination is working, no seizures and more energy.   Daisy is doing so well they are going to put her back up on the adoption web site again.  

Abby is having a ball here.   She has the best of the worlds, she has squirrels to chase, someone to chase them with, and lots of tennis balls.   So far no one has claimed her, but they will.   Abby was given a new toy and she is making the best of it.   She is looking for her forever home, but she is enjoying life in the meantime. 

I got a new toy for being such a good dog when I went to the vet.    Buddy the cat promptly took the toy away.   Buddy is our resident toy tester and this toy crinkles when you chew it or pounce on it, so Buddy loves it.   Twice the bi-ped has gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to take the toy away from Buddy, he was making too much noise with it.  

Mogley G. Retriever

Boomerang Dog

I suppose we should not call her Boomerang Dog, her real name is Daisy.   By whatever name, Daisy came back.   Daisy had the most wonderful forever home, her new family walked her twice a day in a beautiful park, they bought her special dog treats, they bought her new collars and leashes, someone stayed home with her most of the time, they spoiled her rotten.  They said she was such a lover, she attached herself to them and would not go more than a few feet away.  She was a great snuggler and she was a lover in the first degree.  Still she did not find her new home exciting enough.  

She opened the cabinet doors and scattered the garbage all over the house when she was left alone for only a short time.  Then coming back from her evening walk, she broke away and it took the help of several neighbors to catch her and put her leash back on her.  She snapped at her new owners when she was lying down and they tried to put a leash on her.   She showed aggressive behavior from time to time.   They provided her a perfect home, they did all they could for her.  Daisy was a perfect home companion, except for those times when she was unpredictable and lashed out at them. 

She had exhibited none of this behavior at our home when she was here, but with 5-8 dogs, she had so much company that she was seldom alone and she seldom had time to interact alone.  .  She did chew a leash in 1/2 when she was left tied up in the car, but she only climbed in the front seat.  Apparently no one had heard her call "shotgun".   She did appear to have some small confused spells, her eyes would be open wide and her tongue would roll out as she lay down, these may have been small seizures, the books say that dogs may snap when they come out of these spells because they are scared and confused.   We had always stroked her gently or just left her alone until she snuggled up again.  In a few minutes she would be up and around again, looking for attention.  She could also run away if she was confused and scared, she had the dog door and she would frequently come and go on her own, we would take little notice except to look outside to see who had gone out.   

We did have a talk with the Doctor about her med's to see if we need to adjust them.   We may try a slightly different approach with her medications, perhaps her seizures are not fully under control and we did not recognize the problem because she was passive with us.

We swear that she had a smirk on her face when she came in the door, she enjoyed the excitement of a busy house with 7 friends.    She came home because of her own actions.   We wonder if she plotted and schemed until she found a way to get back to the more exciting place?   It was only minutes from her arrival back till she had set up shop under the foot rest of the recliner.  Now we have to find a way to make her want to stay at her next forever home.   Since she likes the excitement of dog companions, we may have to look for a home with another dog.  We always leave the radio on when we leave home, it tends to keep all the dogs out of trouble and since we normally have 3 to 8 dogs in our home, there is a lot of trouble to be kept out of.    After dinner all 7 dogs went out and had a huge romp in the back yard, Daisy has not lost her ability to play with the pack.  If anyone else has some suggestions, let us know.    Bella and I are the only "Forever Dogs" in this "Forever Home", our job is to help our fosters find their forever home, and stay in them!

We want to thank the nice family that took Daisy in.  They gave us good insight into Daisy's behaviour.  We should have worked with her med's more before she left here, they did not sign on to take in a problem dog that needed much work and understanding.  We hope they will try again with one of the other fine Goldens that are in the system.  They tried hard to give a good home to Daisy,  they will make some Golden a fine home.  Those of us that work in rescue expect medical and behavior problems.  They just wanted a companion and we made the wrong match.  

Mogley G. Retriever