Importing Weather

Stella with her favorite duck!

We have some beautiful snow outside, but we were locked in the house after only two hours of play.   Molly thought the Koi pond ice looked strong enough to hold a golden.  It wasn't, she had a very cold swim, so we were locked in the house till she could dry off.   When they called us all in to lock the dog door, Nala came in limping and they accused us of playing too rough with Nala.   It turns out that she just had ice build up between her toes and she was limping on all four feet.   So staying inside melted the ice and cured her limp while it dried off Molly. 

The human is all upset.   He says that some of our friends just came back from Hawaii and reported that there was beautiful weather there.  Meanwhile our government has imported all of this nasty weather from Canada.  According to the weather forecast, this Canadian cold front is responsible for all the snow and cold we have across our country, as well as all the rain and mudslides in California.

Meanwhile we have perfectly good weather going to waste in Hawaii.   Does it make sense that our government would import weather from Canada when we have perfectly good warm weather we are not even using in Hawaii?   Isn't there some kind of a law that we should try to avoid imports?   Write your Congressman, write your Senator, stop this travesty.   Next time a storm cloud goes by, look for the label, "Made in Hawaii, USA".

At ten this morning the humans watched the New Years celebration in Hong Kong, they lifted their glasses of Metamucil in a toast.  Then about noon they watched the fireworks over Dubai.  They said that now they won't have to stay up late tonight, they have already celebrated the new year.  Boy, what a bunch of boring friends we live with.    Molly and I are prepared to find something to bark at at midnight!

We listened in while our human talked with a person that is interested in taking Stella to help her through the operations.  They will need to meet Stella and they will need to make sure she gets along with their current resident Golden/Lab.  Their current lady is pretty laid back, she is a retired assistance dog.  Stella is a very high energy lady, and she may be too much for their retiree.  Several other goldens are also being considered, so we are very preliminary.   We have many Goldens in the rescue that are wonderful and worthy of such a wonderful home.  Besides, some people continue to suggest that Stella already has found her new home, we just have not admitted it yet. 

Have a Happy New Year!
Mogley G. Retriever

Company is here to play

Last night our cousins arrived with their luggage and their enthusiasm.   They will be staying with us while their family braves the snow back in St. Paul.   They brought their food bowls, they did not want to miss out on any food.  In the photo above, you can see the vicious pack of wild Goldens, about to tear a bag of treats apart in a feeding frenzy, that is if the treat dispenser will let us get up from our sitting position.   But alas, we are only seven Goldens.   Below, we assemble for the afternoon treat time. 

Above, Nala is working on her treat.   She does not usually get a hard treat, she has very few teeth left in her mouth, she gets soft treats when we get chew sticks.   This time she grabbed a chew stick and proceeded to gum it to death.    It lasted her almost all day. 

Lulu did not make the trip.   Lulu was upset with Emma, Molly and Piper.   She was stressed out in sharing her home with three overwhelming Goldens.   Her Aussie blood was having trouble living in the madness of constant wrestling and playing.   Lulu was very submissive, and she was being pushed into the background, or out of the picture entirely by the three permanent dogs in the home.  Lulu went back to rescue where she was welcomed with open arms, she is the mascot for the front office at the kennels.    Lulu is spending her days as the greeter dog at the front door.   We hope she finds a forever home soon.   We would love to take her back once we are down to fewer dogs in the house, but we can't give her the level of attention that she needs and the level that she is now getting.  Lulu does not want to compete for attention.  

If you have time, go over to Trudi's blog and give her and Earnhardt some kind words at her blog, http://www.pointedstick.org/trudi/blog/ .   Earnhardt and Trudi both are in need of crossed paws and a some furry encouragement.   

Meanwhile, we party on at the Dog House.    All seven of us have been well behaved today, we have gone outside to do most of our wrestling,  but we did manage to wrestle a little bit in the house.   Here are some of the high speed moments.  You could call it a flurry of activity.

It was 43 degrees this morning, by noon it was 26 degrees and snowing.   After the sun set it dropped to 10 and will go to 0 tonight.  The snow is very pretty, we went out and ran in it while the sun was still up, tumbling and chasing each other.   We invited the camera outside, but it was too cold for them, they stayed in the warm chair while we had fun in the snow.      

We are working on our lists of New Years Resolutions.   No, not for us, we are perfect.  But for our family.   We think they could use a little improvement.  

Mogley G. Retriever

HtDR

Above, the four of us wait patiently for treat time to arrive.   We are discussing the outlook for the HtDR.
HtDR as many of you know stands for "Hand to Dog Ratio."   HtDR is used to predict the level of stress in the house at any given time.  It is an accurate predictor of the level of dog happiness and canine contentment in the home.  Many years ago the HtDR was at 2/1, back in the good old days.  The HtDR has been at 1/1 for some time now, ever since Stella arrived back with us and Nala came to stay.   We have been told that Wednesday evening our cousins will be arriving to spend five days with us while their family takes a trip to Michigan.   I did some projections and the HtDR number came out very bad.   If my calculations are correct we will be spending a week with a HtDR of only 1/2.   This will be the lowest that the HtDR has been in over a year. 

Bella, Nala and Stella reminded me that when the DtHR dips, the number of dogs needing foster homes rises, more dogs are in doggy jail, fewer are in foster homes.   Stella and Nala even offered to let Bella and I have some extra hand time if we will allow them to stay a while longer.  So maybe it is not all that bad.   Because of our increasing HtDR, fewer dogs will be in pounds over the new year. 

It should be a wild house when Emma, Molly, Piper and Lulu arrive to spend a few days.  It will remain to be seen how Lulu adjusts to being in yet another home, she is just getting settled in her current one with our cousins.  Of course, she knows she will be returning home with the cousins, but it may be a hard adjustment for her to make for a few days.   Emma, Molly and Piper come and go frequently and they have everything figured out.   They know how to use the dog door to play outside or come in to get warm.  They know where their food dishes will be at dinner time.  They know they get yelled at if they jump in the Koi pond.  They know where they will sleep at night, each one has a favorite spot on the bedroom floor.  Emma stays out of the way, she sleeps on the living room floor behind the couch.   But Lulu will have to find her own places.  

The cats will also be upset as Lulu is still learning to be cat friendly.  This may be a hurdle as she is pretty aggressive at the moment.    We have warned Mini Cat and she says she has her claws sharpened and ready.   We hope Lulu will respond to having people here all day long, people to work with her and her fears around the clock.   They are also predicting very cold temperatures and some snow for the next week, so it will be harder for us to play outdoors all day long as we have been doing while the weather has been so mild.  Stay tuned for updates.

Mogley G. Retriever

Photos, complaints and new dogs.

Above, a photo of Lulu as she dashes about.   She is hard to slow down, hopefully we will get some clearer photos of her as time goes by.

We do have a couple of photos of our Christmas gifts.   As you know, Santa and his Reindogs have a delayed Christmas gift opening so that we have a chance to rest.  Below, I select my favorite toy.   Stella took her favorite toys to her cushion.   Next photo, Stella shows me some Holiday love.   Last photo, Nala shows us her wonderful form as she keeps watch by the door. 

Lulu:  We are pleased to announce that our cousins picked up Lulu from the rescue before Christmas and plan on keeping her for a while as a foster.  We needed Lulu to make our team of 9 reindogs complete.   We also needed to get Lulu into a foster home because she is indeed a lady in need.   She is carried on the list of adoptable Goldens under "zzLulu" because she is part Aussie.  This makes her a challenge because she also tells us she has been abused or hit by men, she does not like men very well, but men with something in their hand is especially scary for her.   Combine some fear with the Aussie nervousness and high energy, and Lulu is indeed a challenge.   Lulu is a beautiful lady, she has a very dark red coat, with a blaze of white on her tummy.  When we first met her she barked continuously at the Chauffeur, even when he gave her a treat.   Once she got used to him, she would bark again if he moved from one chair to another, or if she had been outside and came back in, any reason to bark at men.   When he picked up a magazine she went wild.   She needs to spend some time in foster homes to learn to trust again.   She plays well with other dogs, and she likes women a lot.   She is a lover, not a truster.     Since everyone from our cousins home is going to spend a week here over New Years, we will get a chance to see if she can calm down with lots of attention. 

Stop over via this link and visit  A life spend wagging.  Kira is recovering from an accident with the assistance of her Golden friend Murphy,  they need the "power of the paw" to help them on their road. 

Santa's complaints have started coming in.  It turns out that Santa's brush with alcohol had greater impact than we had anticipated.  First we had a very irate call from The Trump Tower.   I tried to tell Santa that the card said "Dan at the Tramp Tower", not "Don at the Trump Tower", but he left the black velvet painting of Elvis anyway.   The last time we made a mistake in delivering gifts to this address, two people got fired.   We did get a nice thank you call from the Tramp Tower Homeless Shelter, they are enjoying a fine painting of water Lillie's. 

Mona sent us a tweet reminding us that she is allergic to Reindog hair, and when I handed Santa the gift that he took down her chimney, apparently some hair rode along.   Her nose ran all morning when she unwrapped her presents.   We apologize, normally running in the air for a few hours at high speed removes all of the loose Reindog hair. 

Mogley G. Retriever

The day after Christmas

We are pleased to report that 9 ReinDogs once again guided Santa's sleigh on another successful annual toy delivery.    It was a fairly normal night of work, although there was some heavy snow in the Eastern US.   We think Santa has the worlds best job, he only works one night a year, then he gets 364 days to rest up.   Santa slept in late on Christmas day, when he did get up, he went out to our cousins for a late dinner.   Lots of food, as if he needed it after spending the night scarfing down milk and cookies along with other tempting goodies.  

We had a couple of adventures.  One of our blog readers left something that was referred to as "an adult beverage" on the fireplace for Santa.  Shortly after drinking a small glass of it, he turned to the chimney.  As he laid his finger up aside of his nose, he missed and instead he touched his thumb to the tip of his nose and got wedged as he whooshed up the flue.    He probably would not have gotten wedged if he had not held the rest of the bottle of the "adult beverage" in his other hand, uncapped, and tried to sample it on the way up without spilling it.  Going up a chimney with your head tilted back and a bottle to your mouth has to be tough.  We had to pour a jar of oil down the chimney to get him lose.  

Then there was the incident out of Nashville where Santa was left a whole plate of rum balls.  He had one, then laid a toy under the tree.  He had a second one, nodded and put another toy under the tree.    We had to perform an emergency extraction after the 12th rum ball, dragging Santa up the chimney by his suspenders.   We always carry some "contingent toys" on board just in case we find someone that has been extra good in the last days before Christmas.   Between the extra toys he left at the home with the "adult beverage" and the ones left for the rum balls, we had no extras toys left for the rest of the trip. 

Some of our dog blog readers have commented on the fact that at Midnight on Christmas Eve, all animals can speak.   While we can speak, most of us are smart enough not to.  At Santa's house, only the cats speak, and no one listens as all they do is complain.    The rest of us keep our mouths shut, we know better than to let the humans know we can speak.    If they ever find out we can speak, the next step would have us filling in when one of the workshop elves takes a break from building dolls or trucks.  

But enough about our work, we don't want to bore you with all this "shop talk" about Santa.   After all, how exciting can our lives be when all we do is hang out with a 1,000 year old elf?    Tomorrow we will post some of the photos of us with our Christmas gifts and we will tell you how the Reindogs fared on the journey.

Mogley G. Retriever

9 Reindogs, ready for their journey

Above, Santa is ready for his journey.   He is inspecting the toys that the elves are putting in the bag. 
WE have spent most of the week with our personal trainer getting ready.  Yesterday our cousin picked up one year old Lulu from the rescue to spend the holidays with us.  Lulu, along with Ginger, will make the team of Reindogs a full nine.   I have been shining up my nose, getting ready.   No more mistakes like last year.  

Last year I came in for a landing in a heavy snowstorm in Michigan, I saw a nice level place and touched down.  I landed on little Timmy's trampoline, hidden beneath the snow.   Between the trampoline and Santa's big belly, it took a full two minutes before we stopped bouncing.   Dancer and Prancer (Bella and Molly), will never let me live it down.  

Then there was the time that Santa ate two rum balls and drank a glass of eggnog in Cleveland, before we were across the line into Illinois he was seeing double.  He delivered a "Tommy the Train" to a little girl named Nancy, and when he went down the chimney next door he left a "Barbie Ballerina" doll for Jonathan.   Realising his mistake, he quickly backtracked, but when you do Santa magic in a hurry you must be careful.   That is why Jonathan thinks that "Tommy the Train" always wears a Tutu. 

But enough of this Santa shop talk.   We have to get ready to make our journey.   Lulu is a little larger than our replacement Golden Reindog last year, so we have to let out the harness a little for her.  We could use a few more dog treats under the tree this year, and a few less carrots!

Mogley G. Retriever

Twas almost the night before Christmas.....

As you can see, even though it is the Christmas season I still have my daily chores.  Here I am fetching the Sunday morning paper so that the Privileged ones can read their paper and don't have to get cold.   If it is to be, a dog has to do it.    You can see that the Sunday paper on the week of Christmas is a heavy burden.   No extra treats for the extra work I did, just an extra ear rub.   Santa works from Dusk to Dawn, but a Reindogs work is never done.     I bet he will want me to bring in the paper Christmas morning after we have been up all night pulling the sleigh. 

Sunday morning our Privileged one was called to Pueblo to replace a mall Santa that had taken ill.   He spent Sunday and Monday down there.  He said it was fun, he always enjoys getting out and meeting the children.   Pueblo is one of the hardest hit areas for unemployment.  It also has quite a few military families.   He reported that he had many children only asked for one or two toys because their family was struggling.   Several wanted their family home for Christmas, they were deployed overseas.  Two children came in with their grandmother, both their mother and father were overseas, all they wanted was to be together as a family for Christmas.   There were some that wanted a job for their parents.   There were also many that wanted a surprise for Christmas, they had not been able to make up their minds.   He was surprised about the large number of children that wanted John Deere tractors for Christmas, it was the overwhelming toy requested, reflecting the farming around Pueblo.   He did get a refresher on his Spanish skills.   Years of loud noise and shooting guns makes whispered Spanish hard to follow, luckily the toy names were the same.

Now we have to get ready for our duties as Reindogs to pull the sleigh on Christmas Eve.   We are happy that Santa has lost weight, it will make the task a little easier.   Going from metal toys to plastic toys over the years has helped us keep on schedule as well, the sleigh is still full, but it weighs a lot less now. 

Our cousins came by yesterday to exercise with us, then they went back home last night.   They returned again this morning for another day of romping.   It is important that we be in good condition when we leave to pull the sleigh.   That should call for extra treats, but somehow that part of our conditioning program seems to have been overlooked. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Happy Tuesday Post!

Today is good friends day at the Retriever house.   Our three cousins came by to play for a day or two.   Their humans had to go out of town on business, so we get to play.   Above, seven of us sit for treat time.  We run and play very hard when we get together.  All of us are alternatively running and playing or taking a nap.   We rest up and then go at it again.   With four young Goldens together, we can have a great play day.   Its better than the dog park because we can just keep going all day long.   We get together often enough that all of us know the rules.  We each have a special place where we have to go to get our dinner dish, we all know that we have to sit and wait for treats.   We know where the dog door is, and where the squirrels play in the trees.   It is really very easy for us to go from four to seven and back again.   We did get into trouble, we went out back and had a bark fest.  We were yelled at and told that we cannot have a bark fest, even if the neighbors dogs are encouraging us. 

Above, Nala on the left, Emma and Bella are in front, asserting their right as senior dogs in the house, to their right to get their treats first.    We are all so happy about Nala, she is running with a bounce to her step, she is running with Stella on squirrel chases, she is taking the lead when it's time for treats or dinner.  The Rimadyl has made a huge difference in her life, her golden years are a lot more golden now. 

Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies is asking for volunteers to take in some additional fosters over the holidays.   We are thinking about it, but we will be seven for several times off and on between now and the New Year.  The question is, would we be as happy together as eight or nine? 

Be sure to go to Luke's site, you can go there with a click on "Luke's Link".   Luke is not doing well and needs lots of good thoughts and wishes.   Leave a comment to let them know we are all pulling for them.

Mogley G. Retriever 

Standing tall for Rescue!

As you can see above, Stella is standing tall for rescue.   She says that if you wondered what to get any of us for Christmas, give a donation in our name to rescue.   We just received the first card saying that a donation had been made in our name, we hope to receive many others.    A donation to a rescue is always the right size, it never has to be exchanged.  It never has to be dusted, it is always the right color.   Here is a link to Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies, but you may want to donate to your own favorite rescue, and put a link in your blog to encourage others to do the same.   The best part is you can donate up to the last minute and no one will know you forgot to go shopping!   A donation to rescue is all any of us want for Christmas, it is always an appropriate gift.    Although, Stella thinks that a slower squirrel might make a nice gift for her. 

Thank you for your support and a Very Merry Christmas from the whole Retriever Family.

Mogley, Bella, Stella and Nala G. Retriever 

Coyotes, again

We are still tracking Coyotes.    This morning about 9:00, the bright sun was streaming in.   Bella and I had just finished our 8:00 nap and we were about to start our 9:00 nap which is how we rest up for more serious napping later in the day.    Stella was outside chasing squirrels up and down the back fence, in the bright morning sunlight.  Suddenly Stella began barking her serious bark.   Bella and I looked out the back patio door and saw a scary scene.   Only about 30 feet from the back fence stood a coyote, staring intently at either Stella, or the squirrel on the tree limb over her head.  We were barking up a storm (not tweeting), the chauffeur opened the back door to look out,  we rushed out and ran to the back fence to protect little Stella.   The coyote watched us run out to challenge him, then turned and strolled off.   Coyotes have been seen picking up the apples that fall outside of our fence, and the squirrels are always sneaking down the tree to pick up the fallen apples inside the fence, there are no more on the tree for them so they wait till we are not on duty, then sneak and apple.   But poor Stella runs funny (she rabbit hops with both rear legs moving together) due to her hips, we worry that she might be a target. 

Obviously he was not impressed with our showing of strength by the way he just walked away.  The coyotes have become much more brazen in the last two weeks.   This means we are spending less time just running inside and then back out.   The dog door is closed more and we are expected to go out together and come back in together.   The open door policy is only during hours when we can be watched.    The chauffeur has a habit of picking up the lid on the gas grill and dropping it before he lets us out, it makes a very loud crash.    Somehow he thinks this is going to scare off coyotes.   It takes a Golden Retriever. 

We will keep our eyes pealed and we will soon scare the coyotes out of the area. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Guard Dogs at work!

As you can see from the photos, the four of us take our guard dog duties very seriously.  We are sitting at the front door, prepared to tear an intruder to bits.  If the intruder remains outside, we will bark loudly to warn our household and to scare off the intruder.    Above, Nala on the left, Bella, Stella and I am on the right.   We are prepared to attack at a moments notice.  Enter at your own risk!

We have had coyote visitors almost every night for the last week.  With the warm daytime weather and the moderate night temperatures, the coyote traffic has been heavy in the park behind the house.   We have been waking everyone up with our barking several times per night.   The dog door has been closed to keep us from going out and challenging the coyotes, but we still hear them and as the good watch dogs that we are, we let everyone know they are there.     The chauffeur says he would prefer, at night,  if we would just tweet him when the coyotes go by, but we don't think that is enough notice for such an event. 

Above, Stella takes a quick nap while the rest of us keep watch.  Last night Nala did not participate in the barking at the front and back doors, she slept through it all.   The night before we barked upstairs by the bedroom window where she could hear it and she joined in.  Nala has a deep, hoarse bark that is distinctive, but she has a hard time seeing what we see.   On Saturday night the coyotes were very active in the next street, it sounded like they had something (a raccoon?) cornered and were having a wild fight.  We did have a neighborhood raccoon and we have not seen him for a few days.

We want to ask you if you think that Tweeting about coyotes is enough of a warning.   The chauffeur says that at night, with the dog door closed, it is enough warning.   If the dog door is open, then barking is permitted so he can remember to count dogs and cats, then close the dog door.   We don't agree, we think that our protection contract requires us to warn of any approaching danger by barking and coyotes certainly are an approaching danger. 

Our chauffeur has finished at Buckley AFB.  Our chauffeur's plan to go to Fort Carson for a week to meet all the children and families has been cancelled.   Someone in Colorado Springs is going to cover for him so he does not have to drive in the snow.   He will be doing a few hospital and charity appearances in the area so that he does not have to face icy roads and snowy days.  Yes, I said snow.   The weather on TV says that the front range of the Rockies is going to get snowed on tonight.    Our home is ready for the snow storm, the chauffeur spent yesterday outside cleaning up the yard so that we start the season with a clean yard.    Apparently after our cousins visited and we had seven Goldens in the yard, it took a lot of cleaning. 

So what do you think?  Should we limit our warnings to Tweeting?   If so, what is Tweeting and can it replace barking? 

Mogley G. Retriever

Santa and his Reindogs get ready

Above, Nala poses for a new portrait in the warm morning light.   She shows why she is the favorite elder Golden in the house.   Below, Nala keeps watch for squirrels that may attack from other directions while Stella does the hard work of chasing the crazed squirrels up a tree. 

We are getting ready to pull Santa's sleigh on Christmas eve.  Surprisingly, many children still do not know that Reindeer are "so yesterday".  Our chauffeur (The Real Santa) spent about 20 days pretending to be a fake Santa by dressing up as a Mall Santa and talking in person to many children.    Most of them did not know that Reindogs pull the sleigh.   If you don't know about Santa and his Reindogs, you need to go back a couple of posts in this blog and catch up.

Many changes have taken place over the years, Santa is not old fashioned, he is up to date on technology.  His "Naught and Nice" list is now on line, well protected from theft by encryption technology we might add, you won't see this list on Wikileaks.   

Some basic changes have taken place at the North Pole.   No longer do bad people get coal in their stockings.   They were enjoying it and using it to keep warm.    Now if you get on the slightly bad list, you get a fruit cake.   No one can use a fruit cake, they won't even burn.  If you have been really bad, then you get a Chia Pet so that everyone can ridicule you and the whole world will know you have been bad.    We dare you to take a Chia Pet to Show and Tell at school when they ask "What did you get for Christmas?"  You better believe that child will work hard to be on the Nice list next year. 

Milk and cookies are still what most children leave out for Santa and his Reindogs.    Eating the cookies and drinking the milk is what keeps us Reindogs strong for the journey all night long.   Although a few more enlightened children are leaving dog treats under the tree, we make sure they get extra gifts for being so thoughtful. 

We recently started Nala on Rimadyl.  She was getting very slow when getting up and lying down, she was limping very noticeably when walking, her hips were very stiff.   Putting her on Rimadyl has made a new dog of her.   She now can go help Stella chase squirrels.  She does not actually chase them, she just gives Stella advise on how to chase them, based on her 13 years of experience.   She now serves as a consultant on the topic of squirrel chasing.     She is so much more mobile now.   She may be deaf and partly blind, but she still enjoys life.  She bounces and runs in circles when it is lunch time.   She is the clock watcher at our home, she starts telling everyone it is dinner time about one half hour before it is time.    She gets more and more excited and by the time dinner is served, she is bouncing around like a 2 year old puppy, which Stella is, not Nala.    It sure gets exciting at dinner time.    We each have our own place to eat and we have to go to that place, but that does not prevent Nala from jumping up and down at her feeding station.   

Nala is entering her second child hood and we all love it.  Stay young, Nala, you are a great lady.    She is still up for adoption on the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies web site and she is still technically a foster staying with us, but she would be so hard to move now.   She knows here way around, she gets along with everyone so well and with her deafness and blindness it would be hard for her to learn a new home. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Santa and Other fun

Six very vicious Golden Retrievers are protecting the front door.   Notice that the intruder outside is shaking in fear from the attack that would be mounted if he were to open the door.   Yes, we are good at doing our job, and out job is to protect the house from harm and from intruders.   Stella of course, thinks her job is to protect the house from squirrels.    This photo was taken when our three cousins were over spending a few days with us.   Notice how we work together to make the house safe.   All except for Emma, she slept through it all, that is why there is only six dogs in the photo instead of the seven that were staying here. 

Notice how quickly we can go from vicious beasts to relaxed companions.   Here Nala and I sleep back to back with a wary eye on the door in case intruders should dare approach again.

Our Chauffeur is busy being the Santa on the military bases so he won't let me have access to the computer to blog while he is gone.   We grant that it is a good cause, but it sure limits my blogging for a the next two weeks.   With the right make up, he makes a pretty good Santa don't you think?

He is at Buckley Air Force Base for several more days.   Then he will go to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.  Fort Carson has a unit that will be leaving for the war zone soon after Christmas.  There will be many children to meet, families to visit and we will be busy helping them enjoy the Christmas Season. 

So be patient, we may not be able to post as often as we would like. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Sunny Monday

This morning we are jockeying for a good position in the sun.   The front glass entry porch is a great place to lay and soak up the morning sun.  Above,  I am on the couch, Nala is debating joining me up on the couch, Bella is lying on Nala's favorite pillow on the floor and Stella on the far right is trying to find a place where no one will step on her. 

Finally Bella joins me on the couch, and Nala finds her place on the floor where she shows us her wonderful nap style.   Below, Nala knows how to nap with real class, she can sleep through almost anything.   Being deaf has its advantages, you don't wake up unless it is something pretty loud or someone gets excited and trips over her.   She hides her eyes behind the chair so the sun won't keep her awake. 

The Chauffeur is off playing his Santa games, and we have a very quiet day waiting for his return.   You would think that with all of the cookies and milk he gets that he would have some left over to share.   He wanted to tell the children to leave cookies and dog treats under the Christmas Tree, but they persuaded him that not everyone knows about the Reindogs, some poor misguided children still think that Reindeer pull Santa's sleigh. 

Stella and I get to do some floor exercises to keep healthy.   Bitey Face is a favorite game of ours.  

We wanted to point out that Foster Stella seems to have learned her social manners.   Readers will remember that Stella came back to us after going to her new home, then being returned because she fought with the resident Golden, she fought to the point that trips to the vet and many stitches were required.   She spent three days with our three cousins without a single quarrel.   We think it was a bad combination of two dogs and not a permanent defect in character that caused Stella to be aggressive with her sister at the home that she went to.    She has shown no signs of aggression with us, she did learn how to wrestle from Bella, Bella is very loud when she plays, Bella growls, snarls and barks when she plays, sounding like she is about to tear you from limb to limb.   Stella has learned to play loudly like this as well.    

Mogley G. Retriever

Santa at work: Stories from Santa

Above, Stella, Bella and I amuse ourselves with some three way tug-o-war.   Our three cousins went home and now it is just Bella, Stella, Nala and I here to amuse ourselves. 

The chauffeur is busy being Santa on the military bases.  He started up at Warren AFB, Cheyenne Wyoming, spending three days on base.   Now he is at Buckley AFB in Denver.   He has some stories he wants to share.   Santa makes special arrangements for Children in military families.   He says that the children make it so worth while.

Yesterday (Friday) he had a little boy and girl that were very worried.   Their daddy was being sent overseas on Monday, and they wanted a photo of the family together.  Then they wanted to find out if Santa could come by their house early, on Saturday Night.   They wanted to have Christmas early so they could share it with their Daddy before he had to leave.   Santa made sure they would be able to go to sleep Saturday night, knowing that Santa would indeed come by so they could have their Christmas with the whole family.   

Another little boy was troubled, they were being transferred and they could not put up a tree because they were packing up to move to Georgia the following week.   Santa was careful to get the new address so that he would know where to stop with the presents on Christmas eve.   Santa made sure they knew that they could still have Christmas at their new home, even if they could not put up a tree in time for Christmas Eve.

Many children were concerned because they had moved since last year and they wondered if Santa could find them at their new address.  The life of a military family often makes for frequent moves.   Santa is careful to take down new addresses so that he can make sure the address book is up to date.  Many children spend Christmas with their grand parents and we have to check on the addresses to see that the gifts get delivered correctly.   Sometimes it just takes a personal talk with Santa to make sure the children are comfortable that Christmas will find them wherever they are. 

One serious little girl only wanted two things for Christmas, both small toys.   When Santa questioned  her about what else she might want, she was very serious when she told Santa that she wanted her daddy back from overseas, and she said that was all he mommy wanted to have for Christmas too.   

Santa had his photo taken with a band, and with several units that were scheduling Christmas parties.  We scheduled several photo shoots with two units that were moving out.   Sometime in the following week, Santa will turn out to muster and join several groups for photos before they move out.  Santa has scheduled hours at the Base Exchange, but he is finding more things to do after hours and across the base.   The only thing we wonder is why we did not start doing this years ago.

Mogley G. Retriever

A Public Service Announcement

To my regular readers, please forgive me for this, I just could not resist.

How to recognise a Meth Lab:

I probably should have labeled it "A Lab Family Tree".

Mogley G. Retriever

Santa and his ReinDogs!

Seven Reindogs train for our Christmas Journey!  Today our cousins, Emma, Molly and Piper came by to train with us.   We are seven of the eight original Reindogs.   In the photo above, we are getting our high energy treats before we run and train for our night of pulling Santa's sleigh!   I am the leader, they call me Rudolph when I am at the head of the team.    Before Christmas we will do a night practice and post a photo of my red nose.

For our new readers, this blog has long been the leader in exposing lies and distortions in the media. Several years ago we first exposed how Reindeer have gotten all the credit for pulling Santa's sleigh, but Reindogs do all the work. This year we are again asking for your help to spread the word and expose this cover up of the truth. As proof that Santa uses Reindogs, we have listed below the facts and truths that prove Reindogs are the real hero's of Christmas. Just because the Reindeer could claim endangered status and could afford better lobbyists and public relations firms does not make it right that they should continue getting the credit and all the good parts in the movies.

See the above photo we posted yesterday of Bella and I with Santa, how many pictures do you see of Santa posing in malls with his reindeer? How many family photos show a smiling family gathered under the family tree with their faithful reindeer? Its always Reindogs, isn't it!

We put a lot of the blame on the error on National Geographic Magazine.   Years ago a photographer was roaming near the North Pole taking photos.   All he could find were reindeer, us Reindogs were sound asleep on Santa's hearth, basking in the heat from the fire, taking a well deserved rest from our labors of pulling Santa's sleigh.  So photos of reindeer ended up in the national press at Christmas time and the big lie began. 

The reference in the poem “Twas the night before Christmas” to Santa and his eight tiny reindeer was an error; reindeer was easier for the writer to rhyme with than Reindogs. He knew that the eight members of Santa’s team were Reindogs, he just used poetic license. Talk about an inconvenient truth!

Who is it that pulls sleds and sleighs at Santa's home at the North Pole? It’s Dogs, not deer. Go look at the annual Iditarod race results and see how many teams of reindeer finished last year? There were over 50 teams with over 1,000 dogs and not a reindeer among them. If those reindeer are so good at pulling sleds, why don't they win the Iditarod race? How many Eskimos use reindeer to hunt walrus and seals? Just open your National Geographic magazine and see for yourself. They don’t show pictures of Eskimos hunting polar bears with reindeer. They use dogs!

Still not convinced? Santa’s last name is “Claus”, not Hoofs or Horns. They just misspelled Claws. It’s that poetic license thing again. So who has Claws? Not reindeer, but Reindogs do! Reindeer with their sharp, hard hooves could never keep their footing on the steep and slippery roofs that they have to land the sleigh on, but a dog’s paws with claws and pads grip the ice and snow to keep their footing on the roof. At the end of the poem “He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,” finally the writer got it right. You don’t whistle at deer, you whistle at dogs!

One "Santa" pointed out that Santa's rounds might go faster if his Reindogs did not have to stop and smell each fire hydrant on their rounds, but we don't think he was a "real" Santa. That argument does not hold water, we have to stop with Santa on every street anyway. Those sniffs are how we update the long "Naughty and Nice List" that has to be kept up to date, even on Christmas Eve. Long before E-mail was invented, Reindogs used Scent-Mail (or P-mail as some would say) to find little boys and girls homes. Lets see a reindeer do that!

“Dogs are man’s best friend”, but somehow you believe that reindeer bring your presents? That is the kind of logic that made Mr. Spock glad he was not human. Dogs are recognized as man’s best friend because we are responsible for bringing everyone their Christmas gifts, for protecting them and for bringing joy to children. Beginning at the manger, 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, when the very first Christmas presents were delivered, a dog guided the Wise Men to the stable, A dog stood watch over the gifts and the Christ child all night long. History suggests that the bright star that guided the Wise Men was Sirius, the Dog Star (check Wickipedia to verify this). Hence the origins of Christmas and Reindogs!

If you were Santa and it was your job to ‘Fetch” toys to children all over the world in one night, who would you turn to, reindeer or Reindogs?  Not only are Reindogs the real heroes of Christmas, but Santa’s Reindogs are Golden Retrievers. Look at the pictures, are they golden colored? Are they long legged? Are they intelligent? Do they fetch toys to millions of boys and girls in one night? Go to any dog park and see how many reindeer are playing fetch and bring tennis balls to little boys and girls. Golden Retrievers make children’s faces light up by fetching them toys and balls, doing every day what they do for millions of children on Christmas Eve. Just try throwing a ball for a reindeer and see how good they are at "fetching". Proof the Reindogs are Golden Retrievers!

You all have heard that according to long standing tradition, you are asked to leave milk and cookies out for Santa and his team. Who do you suppose drinks all of that milk and eats all those cookies? Reindogs, that's who. Reindeer eat hay dummy, if you don't believe me go search Wikipedia. This year we are trying to start a new tradition, instead of milk and cookies, could you leave a good scotch and some chew toys?   That way Santa and his Reindogs will all be happy!

The story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindog has long been a family tradition in our family. According to our family history that has been handed down from mouth to ear for many generations, Rudloph is an ancestor of mine. It all started with Great,great,great, great, great grandpaw. He had an extraordinary nose and had long used his special talent to track lost explorers and packages at the North Pole. He had a red nose from following scent trails in deep snow, his nose used to get cold and red from the exposure to snow and cold. One foggy Christmas eve Santa needed help in finding the route to take for his scheduled Christmas Eve run. Rudolph stepped forward and offered to guide the team by scent, tracking good little boys and girls with his nose,  thus saving Christmas that year and establishing a wonderful family tradition, that is until the reindeer lobby stepped in to take credit for it all.  As further proof, when police need to track a missing child, do they call in the reindeer to do the tracking?    No, they ask dogs to follow the trail and find the child.   Don't you just hate it when you work hard and someone else takes credit for all of your hard work?

Most of the crowded dog shelters and homeless dogs are directly caused by this travesty. Millions of unemployed Reindogs have been thrown out of work by the upstart reindeer. The reindeer take all the good parts in the Christmas plays, manger scenes and movies, leaving Reindogs truly out in the cold.

The Golden Retrievers of the world will be waiting for our apology from the press. We will expect the artists and movie producers to book Golden Retrievers for the publicity shots and movie roles so that at long last Reindogs will get the credit due them. We need you to help us spread the word and reverse this great lie. Help us keep this great dream alive and tell others about the great heritage that has been stolen from us.  

But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
Fear not, children, Santa and his team of Reindogs will be there for you on Christmas Eve!

Mogley the Golden Reindog!

Christmas on Warren Air Force Base

The official Mogley G. Retriever blogging computer arrived back home last night, along with the chauffeur.   He brought back a photo of what he calls "being hard at work" at Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, WY.   He spent three days at the base with a photographer, being an official "Santa's Helper", listening to what all the boys and girls want for Christmas and getting photos taken with "Santa".      He said he had a good time, and saw quite a few families and children.   He has a couple days to help us, then he will be at Buckley AFB for ten days, getting photos with military families.    Bella and I have helped him improve his "act", see below how he looked several years ago when he first started helping Santa. 

He says he is going to have a pet night or two and maybe we can go in and have our photos taken with him again.   He said that Bella and I would have to pass a real strict background check before we could accompany him on base.    I wonder if they will find out that I stole a toy from Stella? 

Mogley G. Retriever

Happy Thanksgiving

Above, I offer the official Thanksgiving Duck which I have "fetched" for dinner.

We are in trouble.   It seems that the humans have an old saying "Too many dogs spoil the broth".  Apparently that means the same as saying "Stay out of the kitchen."   So we are now supposed to stay out of the kitchen, in spite of all the wonderful smells and the greatly improved chances of something falling on the floor.   We still have not been invited to have any samples.   It looks like enough for everyone, even if everyone includes Bella, Nala, Stella and I.    Then tomorrow we get to go have Thanksgiving dinner with our cousins and many friends and neighbors.   We plan on a big dinner, followed by long naps. 

We won't be blogging for a few days.   It seems our chauffeur is going on a trip to Cheyenne Wyoming to be the official representative of Santa Claus at Warren Air Force Base.  Then he is coming back to Denver where he will be spending two weeks at Buckley Air Force Base representing Santa Claus for  the military families.  He may then go down to Fort Carson as well.  This is the first year that a Santa Claus representative will be on the military bases for Christmas so that the military families won't have to go to a mall for photos.   The bad part is that he is taking the official Mogley Blogging  lap top with him to process photos.    We understand and will not complain, too much.  He is doing it for the families in uniform. 

Have a happy Thanksgiving and get ready for a Merry Christmas.

Mogley G. Retriever   

Duh !

Above, Bella and Min Cat keep warm. 

Duh!  As a service to dogkind, I am including several studies, proving that dogs are smarter than cats, and dogs are even smarter than many children.  We have always know that, but there are non-believers out there that don't always give dogs the credit they are due.   Link to source here.

Dogs Are More Clever Than Cats, Study Says

"In an experiment, scientists gave cats string with a treat on the end. The cats would pull the string and get the treat. Faced with two strings — one bearing a treat, the other not — the cats were befuddled.

Dogs figured the two-string experiment out, however. "Cats do not understand cause-and-effect connections between objects," the researcher says. Perhaps that explains how they can sneak up and scratch you, again and again, even though you make it clear you do not like it. Dogs, well, they learn to please, don't they?

A study in 2007 found dogs could use touch-screen computers to accurately classify color photographs by recognizing the concept of a dog vs. a photo with no dog."

Then to follow up on that 2007 study that proves that dogs can use computers, I have included the following for your reference:   Link to source here.

They sport bejeweled chokers, lavish in spa bubble baths and have their own leather-bag chauffeurs. And now our almost-human dogs might also try their paws at computers.

Four dogs strutted their stuff recently by using touch-screen computers to classify color photographs for a study of animal cognition.

"Using touch-screen computers with dogs opens up a whole world of possibilities on how to test the cognitive abilities of dogs by basically completely controlling any influence from the owner or experimenter," the University of Vienna, Austria, researchers write in the most recent online issue of the journal Animal Cognition.

Getting inside the brains of our canine pets has been frustrating for researchers, because a foolproof method for testing dog smarts has remained elusive. Until now, methods relied on the dog's owner or an experimenter to cue the animal, a variable that could influence the results.

Friederike Range and colleagues turned to computers. In order to test whether dogs can visually categorize pictures and transfer their knowledge to new situations, four dogs were shown landscape and dog photographs, and expected to make a selection on a computer touch-screen.

In the training phase the dogs were shown a landscape photo and dog photo simultaneously on a computer screen. When they nose-selected the dog, they received a treat.

To test whether the canines could transfer the learned info to a new situation, the researchers flashed onto the screens a different set of dog-landscape photographs. Sure enough, the four-legged subjects chose the dog photographs.

Then, the researchers added a twist: The dog pictures were pasted onto the landscape pictures used in the training phase. In this test, the dogs had to choose between a dog-on-landscape image and a landscape-only photo. Good doggies ... they aced the test, selecting the images that included dogs.

The results indicate, according to the authors, the dogs were able to form a concept of a "dog." Whether the dogs recognized the pup pictures as actual dogs, however, is unknown.

Here is the article that proves that the average dog is smarter than the average toddler:

Dogs are cuddly, playful, loyal -- and smart. But you totally already knew that. Now science tells us just how smart they really are.    Link to source here.

The average dog has mental abilities akin to those of a two-year-old child, according to Stanley Coren, a dog expert and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. Coren presented an overview of dog-intelligence studies at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting this week.

In tests of language development, Coren said, the average dog can learn 165 words, including signals and gestures. That's comparable to the performance of a two-year-old toddler. The brainiest breeds can do even better, with some smarty-pants mastering a whopping 250 words (we're guessing half of these are synonyms for dinner).

Dogs are also impressive when it comes to crunching numbers. Pups can count to four or five -- a skill on par with a three- or four-year old child, reports Livescience.com.

Other studies have found that dogs have good spatial problem-solving skills, and can show basic emotions such as happiness, disgust and anger. One emotion man's best friend doesn't suffer from? Guilt. What may seem like a guilty look is actually a dog's fear, according to Coren.

Not all canines are created equal, and Coren weighed in on which breeds are smartest -- and which aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. He surveyed more than 200 dog-obedience judges to rank 110 breeds by intelligence. The top five smartest dogs, in order of their scores, were border collies, poodles, German shepherds, golden retrievers and doberman pinschers. The five breeds that aren't the sharpest spikes on the collar? Borzois, chow chows, bulldogs, basenjis and, in dead last, Afghan hounds (ouch!).

Coren noted that the dog varieties which scored lower on intelligence tests were often older breeds developed for skills like hunting. They might do better on tests of instinctive intelligence, such as in locating something by sight or smell. The craftier canines, meanwhile, are more recent breeds that were likely bred to be more human-friendly.

Today, people often go for the smartest breeds when adopting a new pooch. "We like dogs that understand us," Coren told Livescience.com. But having Einstein for a pet has a downside. Super-smart dogs will easily learn precisely what they can get away with, Coren warned. And on the flip side, Coren said, some dimwitted dogs like beagles make popular pets, thanks to their sweet and sociable natures. "Sometimes people love the dumb blonde."

The above article has been included in my blog as a public service. Not to mention that it is going to irritate our cat readers immensely. Humans are the ones that need to be evaluated for intelligence! Hey, Mr. Scientist person, who do you think writes all of the dog blogs? Do Scientists think that humans are smart enough to do it?  How silly.

Border collies, poodles and shepherds have esteem problems, which is why they listed them first in the intelligence rankings.   Golden Retrievers and Labs are really the smartest, but we don't have self esteem problems, so they listed us as fourth to help the others feel better about themselves.    I guess it is a small sacrifice to make to help our friends. 



So there!  Take that you "smarty cats".  Dogs Rule!

Mogley G. Retriever

A tugging, mouth wrestling kind of a day

Today a storm was moving in, it suddenly turned cold and windy outdoors.   So what are we to do when the weather won't let us romp outside?    Romp inside!

Before you get the idea that it is nothing but fun around here, I had better admit to some bad times as well.    First thing in the morning I go out front and fetch the morning paper from the end of the driveway.   I carry it all the way into the family room where I lay it down, then I get head scratches, chin rubs and chest rubs as a reward for bringing in the paper.   This has been our tradition for several years without interruption.    Until yesterday, Saturday morning.    The chauffeur was in the shower when his daughter stopped by.  On the way in she let me out to get my paper, when I brought it in she took it from me at the door.   I am waiting for my attention, head rubs, ear scratches and praise, but Stella grabbed the paper out of her hand.   When I tried to take it back, a fight broke out.  Neither one of us got hurt, but it was noisy and fast.  Now the humans are mad at me for starting a fight.   Stella is at our home because she got into bad fights, damaging fights, ending in a trip to the vet, at her foster home.   So people are very sensitive about Stella showing any signs of aggression.   So when I reminded her that fetching papers is my job, everyone got upset.   There was no damage, no blood, no sore feet or ears, just a lot of noise and very concerned people.    This morning, Sunday, I brought in the paper, got my reward, no problem.   I just had to remind Stella that she is number four dog in the house and that fetching newspapers is my job.  Now, as you can see below, peace and Harmony is restored to the house.   To show there is no hard feelings, we had a great morning of play in the house.

Stella and I engaged in a series of mouth wrestling and tug-o-war challenges to determine the world championship of mouth wrestling and tugging.  Naturally, as you can see, I won.   Once again I am the world champion mouth wrestler and Tug-o-War player. 

First we had the Mouth Wrestling championships.   As you can see, I won best in class and best overall.  I not only defeated Bella, I defeated Stella as well.  Below are several scenes from The semi-finals between Stella and I. 

Then we moved on to the Tug-O-War championships.  Stella and I began with a sock tug, it was an easy victory for me.   

Then came the Tog-O-Ball, with me taking the ball away and keeping it, another win for me.

Then came the Tog-O-Broken Toy, where I again won with out even breaking into a sweat.

This is a great way to spend a day and do a little bonding.   We also proved that we are still friends, and I am the undisputed, designated newspaper fetcher.

Mogley G. Retriever