Happy Days for us and for Maddie!

Above photo is Maddie at our picnic.

Two big news items today.    First  is our visit to Rescue Central on Saturday.   Second is Maddie and her new Forever Home.   Saturday was the big parade.   Since my paw challenged ones do not walk well anymore, they went to the picnic area where the after parade picnic was to be held to help set up.    We wanted to see how Maddie was going to act around a lot of dogs.    If she is going to be a therapy dog, then she needs to be well socialized.    She did great.    She did not play with the others a lot, but she did join in and socialize.    That is understandable, she was hot and it was all new to her.

The picnic was not very big, most of the people that walked in the parade were tired and hot, they went home to cool off.   A few folks came by and there were perhaps 15 Golden's to play with.    Below is a photo of one of the new rescues that we will be writing more about soon.   He is making his views known about walking in the heat in a parade.   Just wait till you read his story!  He will be up on the web site soon. 

After leaving the picnic, we took Maddie to meet her possible new home.     Boy did Maddie hit the jackpot on this one.    She went out in the big back yard to check out the accommodations and found the resident bunny rabbit.    She gave chase, but the bunny just ran in a circle, he could have been laughing at Maddie's attempts to catch him.   Maddie ran like the wind, but the bunny just hopped away.   The prior resident golden (Scout) had the same problem, after years of trying, the bunny still lived in the back yard, un-caught. 

Maddie took her bed, her bag of toys, treats and her food along just in case.    After getting acquainted, she decided to try it out, Maddie unpacked and stayed.    This morning we checked in on her and she is quit happy, still a little shy and still uncertain.    Maddie had bonded very tightly with Marilyn, it will take a few days for her to settle in totally.    But two walks a day, lots of brushing and petting, nice neighbors, frequent treats, squirrels and her own private bunny to chase, all add up to one fine home for a Golden Lady. 

We have more about the new rescue arrivals, but we will have to save that till later.

Mogley G. Retriever

A meeting for Maddie

Tonight we had a good time.   The paw challenged ones came home with some pizza bones.    We should have been allowed to go pick them out ourselves, but the ones they brought were pretty good.    Maddie likes pizza bones, a lot!  It was fun to share a special snack time with Maddie and Nala.   

Nala gets the first treat, and she also gets the last one.   Something about her time getting short, so she gets extra treats, extra petting, extra everything.   If I get on Nala's bed they make me get off of it.   Nala is still getting around well once she gets up.   Even with her pain management pills, she has a bad time getting up and down.    Once up, she stays up, once down, she stays down.   She walks unsteady on her hips, but she still comes looking for her share of attention and she is always first in line for treats.   She still makes her trip outside just after midnight, she makes a quick inspection of the back yard, then she comes back to sleep.   She still watches out the front glass door and lets us know if someone is coming down the walk.   The morning sun hits her bed, and as soon as she is done with her breakfast, she returns to soak up the sun.  More and more often, people come in the front door and Nala barely wakes up.   She will wake up to greet them, get her attention, then its back to nap time. 

Then there was a long telephone call.    There are two applications for people that want to meet Maddie.   They were told to call them and set up an appointment to meet Maddie.   The first phone call was a long one, it was decided that the home sounded like a perfect match for Maddie.   The lady had lost her Golden and wanted to find another full time companion.    She was offering a home with just two hands to pet her, but they are full time hands.   Lots of walks in the neighborhood, a nice back yard for those times that a lady needs a backyard.   Full time house privileges, room in the bedroom for her bed and lots of attention.    Maddie will be tested to see if she can become a visiting therapy dog at a local retirement center.   If she passes, she will be spending time with hundreds of hands to pet her and enough attention to wear out her fur.    What a life that would be for a loving lady. 

Maddie says she is not excited about the attention right now, but she will see if she can work with it.   She is shy, and she will have to work her way out of her shell.   The reward will be so much attention that she will never be alone again. 

Wish Maddie luck, tomorrow afternoon she will go see if she likes the arrangements.    If she does, she will stay and start her new life.   If she decides not to make that her Forever Home, she will be back and we will call the next applicant and interview them.

We checked the list of our foster visitors.    Maddie is the 73rd foster we have had here.   I was number one, and I have stayed number one.   I was also the first foster failure, the first foster that they took in and refused to give up.   It happens often in the rescue business, and it is what makes rescue so much fun.   73 is not a landmark number, but we are tracking so when we hit 100, we can celebrate. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Maddie, an update.

Maddie has had an exciting week end.   She had a visit to Butter's house.   Butter was one of our fosters about a year ago.  She went to a forever home that was only a short distance away.    Butter's home did a count and determined that the hand to dog ratio was lopsided.  There were four hands per dog, and the ideal ratio is two to one.    Butter is left alone for half days during the week, so a companion was called for.  So they asked to meet Maddie.

Since they lived nearby, we drove Maddie over and left her for a while.    Butter and Maddie looked like they could be great friends.  Butter started out by bringing her toys over to Maddie and dropping them in front of her and on her, trying to get her to play.  Then a squirrel ran down the fence and Maddie was off and running.   She was in full chase mode, tail up and running like the wind.    With Butter and Maddie both after the squirrel, it looked like a friendship was starting.  Maddie is very shy, and she was pretty upset that she was not in her home.     She hid under feet and growled at Butter when Butter tried to take some toys away.     Alas, Maddie was told no.   She came home, to start her search all over again, she had become very attached to our home.

Above, Maddie is in full squirrel alert mode.
We need to mention Butter, she looks like a new dog.    Her hair is beautiful, she is bouncy and playful.   What was once a very sad lady, overweight, alone and lost, she has blossomed into a great companion in a wonderful home.    She was having so much fun with her family and they are enjoying each other so much that another Golden was wanted to add to the happiness.    So while Maddie did not fit with Butter, their search will go on for the ideal companion for Butter.    Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies is looking for the ideal match. 

After Maddie came back home,  She sulked for a while, she was not happy that she had been taken out of her home.  Today is a big day, Maddie is out in the back yard chasing squirrels with Mogley and Bella.  She is in full "Tail Up" mode today.   Running and playing.    Bella and I are not toy centric, and if Maddie has a toy, we let her have it.    She feels a lot more comfortable being able to join in at her own speed.   She is coming out of her shell.     When we hit the dog door to go out back and bark at the hikers in the park, she is with us.   She is learning how much fun it can be to run with the pack. 

We are looking for her forever home.    We think she may find a home with an older dog that won't push too hard to play, and will let her move at her own pace.    She is a wonderful lady and she is going to get a wonderful home.   That is our promise to her.

Mogley G. Retriever

Welcome Maddie!

Help us welcome Maddie to the Dog House.   Maddie came to stay as a foster at our home today.  

There are easy rescues, they are the ones where we go out and take a homeless dog from a pound, or we find it locked in a back yard run, alone and unwanted.  It is easy, we are rescuing a dog from a bad situation. 

There are hard rescues.   Where we go pick up a  much loved and very well cared for lady from a home that does not want to let her go.    A home where she is happy, pampered and showered in love and attention.   A death in the family, a move to a small apartment, a downsized home and life style means lots of changes.   Maddie was a much loved member of the family, but she was gaining weight from no exercise.   A family disability meant that her family could no longer take her for long walks, there was no large yard to run in, there were long days in a tiny apartment.   Her family wanted more for Maddie, they asked us to find her a new and very special forever home where Maddie could stretch her legs and live an active life.  

Maddie came with two pages of commands she knows, detailed instructions on "fast potty" commands, how to tell her to stand at the door so her feet could be wiped dry when she comes in from a wet walk.  Come, Sit, Down, Leave it, Drop it, Shake, Heel, NO, Nope, Don't, Jump on, Jump off, Jump up (into the car), and more.   So many commands, so much training and love were given to her, her new home had better be a wonderful place, they have a very high standard to live up to.   The only command she has not followed so far is "Maddie, do the laundry".   That may only be because we have not shown her the laundry room yet.  

It is a good thing we picked her up in a large SUV, or else we would not have had room for her two bags of favorite toys, her large dog bed, a bag of food, two large boxes of dog treats, her medical records and her typed pages of  detailed care instructions.  

We do know that she is shy, she also is slow to take up with men.   Her mommy told us that when she was adopted Maddie had been mistreated by a man and Maddie still has some hesitation when she meets a new man.   The man had better prove he can be her friend, then all is well.  We will post more on Maddie later, she has not yet settled in and we don't know her yet.   Give us a chance to get acquainted with her, and give her a chance to settle in with us. 

Meanwhile, welcome Maddie to our foster home.   We will have her swimming and playing in no time.   Soon she will have a waiting list of people that will want to adopt such a beautiful, well trained and well mannered Golden lady.   Maddie will carefully review her choices and make a selection of an active home, a home that knows how to treat a lady.    If you want to adopt this lady, you had better offer a very special home to her, she is going to hold out for the very best.    

Join us in saying  "Thank you" to her family for seeking what is best for this wonderful lady, they made a huge sacrifice so Maddie could have a better life.   From all of us in rescue, Thanks. 

Mogley G. Retriever

A Forever home for Leia

Mark the calendar, July 16, 2011 will forever be Leia's "Forever Home, Adoption Day".    We hope she celebrates many, many more of them.    We took Leia over to Rescue Central yesterday to meet the family that has been trying to meet her for several weeks.   They live on the Western Slope of Colorado so they don't come over every day.    We had exchanged e-mails and they had read all about Leia's adventures.   We had talked about the cats, she has a older cat to share her new home with.   Leia will also share her home with Cosmo, a young male.   Cosmo is into chasing and being chased, so that will be a great place for Leia, she can run and run.   On the ride home she had a new snow goose to keep her company in the back of the car, along with her new best friend, Cosmo.  Her new home has 13 acres to run on, with a pond nearby so she can keep up her water training.   Her family will dote on her a lot, based on their conduct when she was getting acquainted.  Lots of tuns in the mountains and walks on the trails.  We are happy for Leia and happy for her family, they will have a home filled with golden love once again.   We are sad to lose her, but so happy for her and her wonderful new home. 

Meanwhile, back at the home place, it is quiet without Leia.    Bella and I moped around all evening with no one to wrestle with but each other.   This morning after breakfast I was left a special treat, a whole banana was left right at my nose level in my special place, on the end table, right by the big chair.    It was one of the best bananas I have eaten all week.   I don't understand how the paw challenged ones think.    After leaving it there for me, he yelled at me when he saw the last of it disappearing.   Almost as if he did not want to admit that he left it there for me.   They are sure hard to understand at times.

Today we are scheduled to go pick up an older golden lady to foster.   They have to give her up, and they don't want to  so they are putting it off as long as possible.   Late this afternoon we will go meet this wonderful lady and learn her story.   This is the kind of story that makes us glad to be part of rescue.   When a special lady needs special care at a very trying time in her life, and her family's life, we will be there for them.

Don't forget to vote, twice a day in two catagories, for Ruby the Service Dog.   Go to this link if you have forgotten to mark it.  http://dogtime.com/petties    Vote early, vote often.   Go to yesterdays post if you don't remember why you are voting.   Also, visit Ruby at her blog page, http://servicepuppyruby.blogspot.com/  and give her some good vibrations.
Mogley G. Retriever

Help, we need help!

Above, Service Dog, Ruby in her working uniform!  
The power of the pack, we are calling for the power of the pack.    Call in the hounds, call in the poodles, call in the Siberians, call in the mini-dogs, call in the big dogs.     Calling all fur friends!   If we had a horse, we could ride down the road calling "To Paws, To Paws, the Blog Voting is coming!"

A wonderful blog is up for an award.   Raising Ruby is a blog about the daily life and training of Ruby, a service dog in training.    Go to her blog and see what it takes to make a beautiful puppy into a wonderful service dog.    Follow her life, and you will also be learning a lot about training and service to others.  Go to http://servicepuppyruby.blogspot.com/  then save it because you are going to need it every day. 

Save this link as well,  http://dogtime.com/petties which is the blog you will go to to vote, twice, through July 29th.   You vote twice, because Raising Ruby is nominated in two different categories, so be sure to vote in each category.  Ruby is under Best Blog Post, and under Best Cause Related Blog.   Apparently the rules allow you to vote twice a day.   If you have more than one computer, you can vote twice each day on each computer.  

Ruby has told us that Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies is the charity she chose to win the two $1,000 awarda if she wins.   If she wins, we win!   If she wins, all of rescue wins.   If she wins, all service dogs win.   

So get to voting!    Tell all your friends.   Tell all your computers.    Spread the word.   Remind them every day!   Vote!    Fellow bloggers, post this on your blog to help spread the word!

Mogley G. Retriever

p.s.  Don't forget to vote!

Swimming with the gang!

Above, Leia and I play tug-o-swim with a water Wubba.   Today, Sunday, our cousins came by to try out the pool again.   They wanted to see if we could have any fun.    As you can see below, we had a very fun time.    Maddie came, she is the golden lab in the photos, you have to look closely to tell her from Star.   Star has a very heavy, curly coat, but in the water it looks like a flat coat.   Look for a fluffy tail to see if it is Star or Maddie.   We had to stop early, the thunderstorms were coming on and we wanted to be dry and in the house before the lightning started.  In the photo below, Leia and Star are both diving off the side, after a ball.    Star is great in the water, but when she climbs out, she is so heavy with water in her heavy coat that she has trouble standing till she drains off. 

I hope you enjoy sharing our fun day with us.  

Above, from the left, Piper, Leia in front, Star behind her, then Maddie (Madison) and I am on the far right, and in the lead as you will notice.  What a fun summer we are having.

We hope you are having a great summer too!

Mogley G. Retriever

Swimming with Leia and Star

Above, Leia is heading in with a ball, I am standing on the pool bottom waiting for someone to throw one my way.   Our play mates came by again today to help us enjoy our weekend.   The three children are good at helping us work out.    Star is a super swimmer.   She jumps in to retrieve balls, she jumps in just to do laps.  She is a water dog and no one knew it.   She has a hard time standing up when she gets out, her heavy coat is so wet that she can't walk for a few minutes till she drips off.   

Above photo, Leia is the grand champion water dog.   She loves the water and she loves the children.   They swim with her, throw balls in the pool for her, and they give her a place to rest.    Leia likes finding someone to give her an arm to rest on when she gets tired, then she goes back to swimming and playing again.    Leia can launch herself off the side of the pool after a ball, just like a championship dock diving dog.

Leia has added two more items to her list of what she wants in her new home.   She would like to have children, and a pool.   Or at least a stream nearby.   She loves the water.    We are all told that we can't go in the pool until we are told it is OK.   Leia is getting bad about not waiting for the OK before she gets in.   That means she may be wet when she is supposed to be dry, like just before bedtime. 

We can't tell if the children enjoy playing with Leia more than she enjoys playing with them.   Or maybe its a tie.  

After we were told to leave the pool and put on our leashes to dry out, a thunderstorm came by.  Star is a little thunder shy, she does not like storms.    Leia likes to nap in the crate, its a very dark and secure place.   So today when the thunder started, Star went in to the crate to hide, but Leia was already napping.   So here is what happened.

Mogley G. Retriever 

Thursday tails

Above, Leia and I are taking a morning walk on the edge of the pool.   We had a wet late afternoon and evening on Wednesday, up to 2 inches of rain in an hour.    The thunder and lightning was keeping some of us awake during our evening nap, but just barely so.     Star is staying with us, she is supposed to have bad thunder phobia.   She was OK, she did try and hide, but then she would see us ignoring thunder and she would calm a little.   It helped that she had some calming pills.    Star found the crate and went inside where it was dark and quiet, that seemed to make everything OK.    She came out when the skies had cleared and she saw us outside playing.   Below, Star is waiting for diner to be served. 

Leia has several people asking about her, but she has not decided on a home yet.   She wants an active household.    This place is full of older dogs and she tries constantly to get a game going, but we just go lie down and nap.   She would love a family that hikes mountain trails, or jogs regularly.   She has to go run in huge circles in the back yard several times a day to keep her pent up energy from getting her in trouble.    Below, Leia is resting between runs. 

Sage is enjoying his new home.   Lots of hands to pet him, lots of play time.    He is being spoiled rotten.   He says that as soon as Mary is back from her trip, that his family wants to fill out the papers and make him a permanent member of the family.    He hopes he will get a little cake and ice cream for his Adoption day party. 

Dad has a new phone, with a fold out keyboard.   He says he needs new tiny fingers to type on the tiny keys.   He says there is one very good thing about texting instead of calling people.    When he is mad at someone he can write a very pleasant and nice message, using only his middle finger, and they never know. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Wednesday Update and Star comes to visit

Above, Leia does what she does best, look very cute!  
So many things are happening that it is hard to keep up.     Sage is trying out his new home.  One of the couples that came over with their grandchildren to swim on the 4th were waiting to see if another couple were going to adopt Sage.    We finally received their reply and they were going to wait a little while as they had a recent death in the family and felt they needed to wait to adopt.    We called the swimming couple, or rather they called us and we told them Sage was still available.  In the meantime, they had volunteered to become foster parents as well.   So their first foster is Sage, until we can get the paper work done for his formal adoption.  Good going Sage, you have a great back yard, a very nice home with toys and even better, grandchildren who will regularly spoil you rotten.    Good going Sage.    Below, I and Leia are playing tug-o-war with a pool toy before the contest gets started.   She will be soaking wet in just a moment or two.  

At noon, Star arrived.   Star is a former foster that we found a home for a long time ago.   Her mommy had to go out of town on business for a few days.   Star has anxieties, so leaving her at a boarding kennel was not a good answer.   Star came to stay a few days with us.   She has some thunder anxiety and when a thunder storm passed over we were worried, but she was fine.     Star brought some toys, but Bella tried to shred them immediately so we sent them back home.  Star did keep an old shoe as her comfort toy, Leia immediately started throwing it around.   Star does not seem to mind, she plays well with others.    Her first few moments were exciting.    We thought she was not going to be a water dog, no worries about the pool.   She jumped right in and swam.   Not once, but several times.   She is a real water lady.   Which does raise a small problem, she is a heavy coat Golden and when she gets out, she is heavy and can hardly walk.    She also takes hours to dry.   So we may restrict her access to keep her dry.    

For all of you that want to help rescue, but are not sure how you can help, here is an idea.   We are keeping Star, but the payment for her boarding is a donation to Golden Retriever Rescue.  That helps everyone out, and helps the rescue.   So you may want to follow our lead and keep a Golden to help a rescue.   If you are looking for a place to board your pet and want it to get special attention, call one of your rescue friends, offer to donate to their favorite group for a few days of boarding.   Because of liability most rescues will not formally sanction this as a fund raiser, but you can do it privately and it is a real win-win. 

Nala needs mention.   During the madness of our days of Wet dogs, we tried to keep Nala in the house.   She gets knocked down constantly by the other dogs as they run and play, but she won't stay out of the middle of the madness.    If there is something happening, she is going to be part of it.   She was so upset when she would get locked inside that she had to be let out and she had fun.    Being part of the family activities is important for her, even if she does take some punishment from the faster and more active members.   She still loves being in the middle of any activity.   But we see her moving more slowly today, I think it is just a one day thing from overexertion and that she is back up to full speed soon. 

Princess Leia is still here, there are two people waiting to meet her, but the scheduling has not worked out yet.   She will find a great home very soon.   Leia has great manners when she is on a leash.   Off leash, she is a bit of a terror.   She is very mouthy, trying to grab hands, trying to jump up to greet guests.   We are working on her manners, but we are not going to get her under control before she is adopted so her new family will have to take her to lessons.   Leia has become a real water dog, she loves swimming and she will gladly do laps in the pool with me.   She has such a wonderful disposition and she is so smart that someone will adopt her and make her a wonderful member of their family. 

Mogley G. Retriever

A Very Wet Dog 4th of July!

Wet dogs to left of us, wet dogs to right of us, shaking and spraying.    If you want the dry look, you are in the wrong place.    Imagine the fun, the madness, the chaos, the water, when you have 18 dogs.    The entries in the contest were 15 rescued Golden's, one poodle, one Labrador and one Sky Terrier.   The Sky Terrier was a good swimmer, but she looked like a patch of sea weed drifting across the pool.   She liked swimming, but she liked the shaking and drying off even better.  

The Lab came via our cousins house.  He is visiting while his family has a job in California for a month.  He is a little chunky, and he is ball obsessed.   He is on his way to losing a lot of weight.   Below, on Saturday, our cousins waterfall and pool, with Mandy in it with Molly.   He joined in the party, and we had fun with him, and all of our friends. 

The wet dog contest is going to become an Olympic event.   They already have the pool, all they need are the dogs and we have a great new event.   Below, one of our Olympic coaches gives the competitors last minute instructions on correct conduct.   Get in the pool, get wet, and stay wet.

Below, in my yellow officials vest, I am bringing safety equipment into the pool so that everyone is safe and no one drowns.  

Below, I am bringing a safety float to a young swimmer.

Here I am giving a young swimmer a pull to the shore.

Below, 6 of us demonstrate the un-synchronised swimming that we are so famous for.  The gallery looks on with envy.

Below, a photo of the time trials.    One loser is leaving to drip off.   I am standing up in the pool, waiting for a ball to get thrown.  

I won the gold, of course, but my cousin Piper came in a close second and if I had not saved several of the judges from drowning, Piper may have won.   Piper came in the front door, ran out the back door at full speed and into the pool   She did not come out again until three hours later when the contest ended.   I was forced to wear the officials vest, the doctor did not even want me swimming so when I get tired, they make me wear the vest.  Humiliating, but better than not swimming at all. 

The real winners were five children that spent the day swimming with their dogs.   They had a blast.   How often do you get to enjoy an exciting day with your best friends?  The kids loved it, the parents loved it, and a good time was had by all.

We may have to make this a weekly competition.

Mogley G. Retriever

A wonderful day at the Rescue!!!

Above, Butters, in her new ride, ready for a long ride to her new home with her wonderful new family. 

There are great days, there are wonderful days, and there are Stupendous days.  Today was even more than that!    We drove over to the Rescue Central for a 10:00 date for Sage to meet the couple that drove in from Chicago, about 14 hours, just to meet him and several other Golden's.   Bella and I rode along so we could supervise and coach Sage on how to respond.    Once we arrived, Sage went for a walk with the couple.   Butters was there and she was already impressing them with her good behaviour.   After meeting Sage and Butters, they had a hard decision.   Butters won the new home, and left to conquer the big city.    The photo above is of Butter, settling in for her trip home.    We are really happy for her and for the family that chose a wonderful lady.   They have a small house and yard, Butters is a better fit for a smaller house.  Sage was thought to be a little exuberant for a small place. 

While we were there, the paw challenged one got busy with his camera.   He volunteered to help take photos of new arrivals for the web site, and to help write biography's for our homeless Golden's.   He spent several hours working with new arrivals, but they kept arriving.   He ended up taking photos of 10 different orphans.   Now the hard part comes, writing up their stories.  For the blog and for the web site. 

Above, Ruby, a very young (10 mos) and very small Golden lady.  We had taken photos of Ruby to post her on the web site, then Ruby went to work and turned on her charm.   She had not been posted yet, but she was a special young lady.  A family came along while we were taking her photos, they wanted to meet Leia and Ruby, they decided they liked Ruby best, and offered her a new home.   With several children making over her, Ruby quickly accepted her new home, and went home with four hands petting her and giving her treats.   She will spend the next few months in dog heaven.   We just hope they don't wear her fur off, they were giving her so much attention.     Good going Ruby, you found a great home.

Above, Leia is a blur, and this is the only photo we took of her that was not completely blurred.  She is a Whirling Dervish.  To keep Leia's feelings from being hurt, we offered to take her home and let her stay with Bella, Nala, Sage and I.   Leia jumped in for the ride and we arrived home.   Leia came in one door, ran out the back, saw the pool and followed me in for a swim.    She came out, a little startled, she had not been in deep water before and she was a little uncertain about the deep water. 

Above, I am returning with a ball, Leia is turning back to shore, Sage is supervising from the shore, but notice that he is dripping.  We had just gotten out of the water and shaken off, when the phone rang.   A lady was over at the Rescue looking at Golden's, and she wanted to see Leia.   She received directions on finding our home and in only 40 minutes, she was here, taking Leia for a walk.   Then everyone went into the back yard, and play time became a three ring circus for her to watch what happens when five goldens go mad trying to impress.    Sage kept loving up to the lady, he thought she was very nice and she gave very good ear rubs.   Then we found out that her husband wanted a big red male, just like Sage.   Sage looked just like the golden they had just lost.  But she wanted a smaller lady, just like Leia, plus her sister was looking for a golden lady like Leia.   After an extended play time and getting acquainted time, she went home, promising to bring her husband by to meet Sage and her sister is coming to meet Leia.    We may have homes for both Sage and leia soon.    In the meantime, we have two more playmates to romp with.  All in all, it has been a wild day.
The weekend is just beginning.   The next two days are the annual Wet Dog Contest.   We have invited about 20 goldens to come by and see who can win the prize for the best wet dog.   I expect to be a top contestant, I have been practicing for days.

Mogley G. Retriever