A Christmas Letter....

Photo of Mogley the Paper Dog, making his morning delivery.  It has been a long time since I have blogged.    The Paw Challenged One (TPCO)  blamed me for the fleas in his computer, he called them Bugs and Viruses, but he looked straight at me when it stopped working.   He says that Golden Hair on the keyboard does not help any either.    For a while I was not allowed on the keyboard, even to nap.   I think it was the flea powder he sprinkled on the keyboard that caused all of the trouble.   But finally, things are back to normal.

We lost Emma, our cousin in October, that was a blow to us all.   She was the Senior Golden Retriever In Charge, or SGRIC.   When Jenny came back from college, she got her own place and one of the first things she wanted for her new home was a Golden Retriever.   She found Golden Retriever of the Rockies, and then took my family to one of their meetings.  That was the beginning of the Golden Days at our home.   The adoption of Emma led to Bella, then Molly and Piper and I being adopted.   And of course the over 100 fosters that have been through the house.  

We still get to see Molly and Piper, Emma's "sisters" on almost a weekly basis.    Their parents travel a lot and Molly and Piper stay overnight frequently.    That helps to keep the spirits up and the excitement going. 

I still have important work to perform every morning.    I have to fetch the morning paper from the front driveway.    My work load has doubled, they now take a second daily paper, but I have not seen an increase in treats.    My work load has doubled, but no additional compensation?  Maybe some of you can help shame them into increasing my allowance?

Since my heart problem worries everyone, except me, TPCO covers me up when I nap so I can keep warm.   I like that, it is sure comfy.    The problem is that during the night when I get up to make my rounds of the backyard to be sure no intruders are in the park, I lose my blanket.    When I come back in from the cold, no one is there to cover me up.    Maybe I just need to come back inside a little louder?

The basement is full of fish.    Apparently there is a law that once you have over 50 aquariums, you have to go in for mandatory counseling.    When someone asks how many aquariums are in the basement all they get is a mumble in reply.     He is still raising many "extinct" fish in the basement and is starting to ship them all over the world.   He has almost 1,000 angel fish ready to go to local pet shops in time for Christmas.   He says angel fish and bristlenosed plecos are his "cash crop", the rare fish take longer to grow.   He has a new line of transparent guppys, you can see through them, he thinks he can sell them to schools.  I thought that all fish swim in schools, so what is the big deal?   Apparently they are a scientific curiosity.  Anyway, it takes a lot of time and keeps him busy.  

Bella and I want to be sure that Santa knows we have been good dogs, we hung up our stockings on the fireplace mantel, hoping that we get goodies again this year.   Maybe I will get something extra for having to bring in two newspapers every day.

Below is a photo of Sarah cat.    She came as a visitor when our cousins moved to Florida for a few months.   Sarah hated Molly and Piper at her home, they were young and tried to play with her (chase in cat terms).   Here, she thinks she is just one of the dogs.    So she is staying here permanently. 

Have a Merry Christmas.

Mogley, Bella, Sarah, Mini and KeKe cat.

Hazel, seeking a forever home

Hazel has settled in and is ready to begin her search for a new home.  She wanted to share some of her history with you so that you would know her better.   She has not learned how to type, so she asked me to help her to tell her story.

Hazel said that in her old life, she was supposed to have lots of puppies for her owner.   She said he called himself a backyard breeder.  She spent most of her time in the chain link run in the back yard.   She says that she did not have time for socializing, she always had puppies to look after.  Sometimes it was very boring and she often chewed on the chain link fence or rocks in the run. 

Then one day they told her she was too old and she was going to be replaced by a younger golden.   She was taken for a long car ride and let off in a city.     They called it a street, and for several days she wandered.   Then the doggie police came by and took her to a place full of cages.    The accommodations were not great, but at least they gave her regular meals.   The doggie jail did not have room for her, so they turned over to a kind person that spoke softly to her and gave her lots of attention, and something they called "treats".  She was loaded into a car and she was on her way to Denver and the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies. 

When she arrived at Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies, she was taken to a nice veterinary for a physical checkup.   They performed an operation on her to keep her from having more puppies, and they even gave her a tummy tuck.   For several days she did not feel her best, but then she recovered and began learning about what her future might have in store for her.    She was going to have her picture taken, then a story would be put on something called the Internet.   Then she would find her perfect forever home.

In the meantime, she would go to a foster home where she would learn to live in a normal home again, and learn to play with other dogs.   Hazel said she has been socialized with dozens of puppies, but apparently that is not the same thing as being socialised with other dogs.  She would be evaluated to see what commands she knew, and how well behaved she was.  So last Saturday, The Paw Challenged One went across town and brought Hazel to our house to stay until she can find her perfect forever home.   And that is how Hazel came to stay with Bella and I.

She has been through a lot, but she has a wonderful attitude. She is proving to us what a wonderful lady she is.   She is starting to play with Bella and I.   Hazel likes squirrel chasing, she dashes out to the apple trees in a flash when a squirrel is threatening the apples in the trees.    She gets along with all three cats, she even helped Mini Cat chase a mouse today.   Mini brought a mouse in from the field and Hazel kept it from getting away.  It was funny to see Mini Cat and Hazel both chasing the mouse and then being on opposite sides of a chair waiting for the mouse to come out.  She is certified as Cat Friendly.  Even Sarah, who hates dog, gives Hazel an A+.

Hazel has very good dinner manners, she eats her meals slowly and she does not come bother our dishes.   She sleeps beside the bed.  The first two nights here she had some bad dreams and woke everyone up, but now she is settled in and she sleeps the night through.  She explained that she was having nightmares about crates, kennels, and lonely streets. 

Hazel loves toys, squeaky toys, stuffie toys, bouncy toys, even an empty plastic bottle is a toy when you have not had any toys for a long time.  Hazel is living with Bella and I, and three cats.   She is getting along great with everyone.   She loves attention and she is a Velcro dog, she sticks to anyone that will give her a pet or a soft word.   She walks well on a leash, she even knows her basic commands and she obeys them.   She has a great "sit", a good "down", and she has a fair stay, providing nothing exciting happens to interrupt her.   She does know "no", and stops dead in her tracks when she hears it. 

Sunday when the rest of us were swimming and playing, Hazel stayed dry.   She got in the water up to her knees, that was enough for her.   The Paw Challenged Ones decide she needed a bath so they got out the shampoo and gave her a bath while we swam.   It took her the rest of the day to dry her off.  

We will work with Hazel to do a write up to put on the web site.   The photos above should help her find her forever home quickly.   Lets all try real hard to find this lovely lady a wonderful new forever home.

Mogley G. Retriever

The great swim party!

The Paw Challenged One has been working on his movie skills.   He is not going to be a world famous director anytime soon, but he did get several clips of the water games we had this weekend.  He managed to edit them for length, he cut out the shots of his feet and the sky, but it was shot in high definition and he has not figured out how to reduce it yet.   It may take some time to load, be prepared.

River and Riley are the "Diving" dogs.   They don't like to waste time getting into the water.

 

There are three videos, but Blogger will only allow one video to be inserted in a blog.    When the second video is inserted, it replaces the prior one.   We may try a second blog to show another video of the diving dogs.

Enjoy The video, and see how we play pool.

Mogley G. Retriever

Not another foster?

Not another foster?   That was what all three cats said when Hazel arrived this afternoon.    The Paw Challenged Ones had driven over to Golden Retriever Rescue of Colorado to look at the new puppies and to see if there were any new dogs that needed a foster home.   There were goldens in need of temporary homes, and Ted was at the head of the list.   But Ted is totally blind and we were worried that he would walk off the edge of the swimming pool into the water without knowing it, the fence only goes around the pool stairs as our signal that it is not OK to swim, the rest of the pool is unprotected.   So Hazel came to stay with us till she can find a forever home that is up to her standards.    

If Hazel looks a little damp in the photos, it is only because she was inspecting the pretty green stepping stones that go across the Koi pond.   She tested them only to discover they would not hold her weight.  No one told her about water lilly pads, she went into the koi pond.   Hazel has a lot to learn, she was a breeder female and spent her life in a small pen having puppies, then watching them be taken away.   But she is learning fast.  

She is enjoying her new life of freedom and people.    She is an attention hound of the first order.  She loves attention, she is trying to make up for lost time by getting as much petting and as many treats as she can.   She knows a few of her basic commands, she will come, sit, and lie down, for about 10 seconds, then she is up looking for a hand to get a pet.    After dinner tonight we all had out finger of peanut butter along with our pills, she was really intrigued by the stuff on the finger, she was pretty impressed with the new level of attention and the new kind of treats.   Hazel is also a toy-a-holic.   She loves toys, all kinds of toys.   Stuffies, squeakys, bouncys and anything she can get in her mouth.    The cats forgive us for bringing her home, she is a perfect lady with cats. She has met all three cats and they all approve of her.   She has not discovered the Self Serve Apple Treat Tree yet, but she will soon, and then we will have to put her on a diet.

Wish Hazel well, and we will keep you up to date on her progress.  

Tomorrow is our rehearsal day, we are having a swim party with lots of our friends coming in to help us enjoy the pool now that it is almost back to clear again.     But it is just a rehearsal for next Saturday.    Next Saturday is the Annual Golden Retriever Rescue Reunion Picnic, tennis ball fetch, picnic and swim meet.     About 200 golden retrievers will gather at the park where we will fetch tennis balls in the lake, romp with our friends and meet many of our former fosters as they return to the reunion to tell us about their new homes.

Mogley G. Retriever

Blue vs. Green, Then vs. Now

This is what the pool looked like one week ago.    One week ago our cousins, Piper and Molly,moved back into their own house, leaving Bella and I to play by ourselves.   In the excitement and attention paid to moving, our Paw Challenged One forgot to add chemicals to the pool for a week.   Today Piper and Molly came back for a visit, and instead of a blue pool, we had a green pool.    We don't understand why they did not want us to swim, the water is still the same.   

Today instead of chasing tennis balls to fetch in the pool, they threw green apples into the water and we could fetch and munch at the same time, if we could find them in the green pool.    The apples are still falling in the back yard and we all enjoy an unlimited amount of snacks, all day and all night long.

Soon the pool will be back to blue again, but then it is getting close to when they will cover it for the year.   So we will enjoy it while we can. 

Mogley G. Retriever

Rocky, the Wonder Dog!

Meet Rocky, the three legged wonder.....

We had a wild party Saturday, it was a great time, a wet time, and a wild time.   There were 10 dogs to enjoy the water, lots of kids and best of all, we got to meet Rocky.

Rocky is a new foster with Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies, who is living with Colleen, Sarah, River and Riley while he is interviewing humans to decide who he wants to adopt and where he wants to go for his forever home.    Rocky has one front leg that was damaged at birth, and is permanently doubled back.   It slows him up a little, but not much.   We wondered how he would do in the water, no problem, he took to the water immediately and he swam like a rabbit.   Like a rabbit because he swams in jerks since he could only stroke with one front foot.   Still he swam with good speed, and he swam with joy.   He is a real water dog.   No, we don't have any photos of Rocky dry.   He came in, saw the pool, and was in it in moments.   

Below, Piper and Rocky bring a toy back.   Rocky plays well with others and he was sure fun to have at our party.  

 Rocky also knows he can get away with more than the other dogs can get away with. He knows he can lay on the furniture, take toys, steal treats, and because he is so cute, no one tells him "no".

Riley is practicing to be a Dock diving dog.   Maybe we can get a new category at the annual Golden Retriever Rescue Reunion Picnic for dock diving dogs?   Below we see Riley getting some big air!

Boy did we have fun.   And you missed it!

Mogley G. Retriever

Wet carpets? Blame the fish!

Some of you may be wondering how we manage to have daily golden retriever swim parties and not get into trouble when we "accidentally" run into the house while we are wet.    Remember, there are almost 50 aquariums of extinct, rare and exotic tropical fish in the basement, so we believe in spreading the blame.   Here is how we do it. 

It works like a charm, there is always a fish to blame.

Tundra is one of our favorite comics, if it is not in your local newspaper, you can go to www.tundracomics.com and see the real thing.  Browse the archives if you want to have a chuckle.  If you don't have Tundra in your local paper, complain.

Mogley G. Retriever

Important Notice!

The word is going out.   Saturday we are having a "Golden Retriever Swim Party".    If you are in the Aurora area, be there or be dry.   We have a special occasion to celebrate.   Our cousins, Molly and Piper will be going back to their own home this coming weekend, so this will be the last time we are all together for a while.     The renters are moving out and our paw challenged ones daughter will be back in their own home.  

That does not mean that we won't get to swim, I will still be here to swim, and Piper has her own little pond at her house so she can still swim, it just won't be as much fun without the whole crew.  Also, since Piper and Molly's parents travel a lot now, they will be staying with us a lot during the week.  But it is not the same without the whole crew. 

So if you are in driving range, come on down and bring your dry retriever.
Come on in, the water is great!!!

Mogley G. Retriever

Ten Goldens and a Wanna-be Golden

Can you count the 11 dogs in the photo? There was me, Mogley and Piper, in the water along with Bella and Molly as host dogs. Then Colleen came with River, Riley, Sarah, her foster Polly, and Riggins who is visiting them. Then a new Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies foster mom with her two goldens, Rossi, Ripple and Rocky the dachshund. By our count that is 10 goldens and a golden wanna-be. We wondered if Rocky could "run with the big dogs"? It turned out that Rocky could run with us, around us, under us and even swim with us. What a wild party we had to celebrate the birth of our nation.

 We did not know that Rocky the dachshund was a golden at heart!

  Below, I show the kids how to put floaties to good use.  

If you think it looks like we had fun, you should have been there.   

Mogley G. Retriever

Who knew July 1st was a holiday?

In the above photo,  The Paw Challenged One gives the resident swim team some last minute speed tips before we begin the races.

According to The Paw Challenged One (TPCO), July 1st is a national holiday in many parts of the country, primarily areas that have lots of trailer homes.    July 1st is the day that you no longer have to apologise for not taking your Christmas lights down yet, and you can start bragging about early you are getting decorated for Christmas.   So we celebrated it by taking a swim.    In fact, the golden side of the household celebrates everything by taking a swim.  

This year we have not heard a firecracker in the neighborhood, strict burning and fire bans are in effect for most of Colorado.   People seem to be taking it very seriously, not a pop or a bang can be heard.  TPCO is planning on making some noise by putting whoopee cushions on all the patio chairs.   It may be the best we can do to celebrate July 4th.

Today is the 4th of July and we have invited extra Goldens over to celebrate.  We plan on swimming till the sun goes down.

Today we should make some money, new people and dogs are coming to the party.    Piper and I are very fast swimmers.   If you are going to beat us, you better bring someone that has won medals.    TPCO says he is going to bet on us and win enough money to pay for the picnic.

Mogley G. Retriever

How to turn 10 dry dogs into 9 wet dogs!

10 dogs?  There are four of us, Colleen still has foster Polly and she is baby sitting Riggins (formerly Lion when we fostered him, before he was adopted by her friends), with her dogs, Sarah, Riley and River, that makes 9.  Then Rusty came with his three kids in tow (he was sage when we fostered him).  With the temperatures in the high 90's and into the 100's, keeping cool has been on top of our list of things to do.   Luckily the swimming pool is just a jump away.   We have been swimming every day.   Saturday we invited friends in and had a real party.   With 10 dogs and 10 people, the dogs still rule!  Only Bella stayed dry. 
Below, I stand up in the pool to be prepared to catch the toy before any other dog can get it.

 Below, Piper, Molly and I fetch toys together like good cousins.   That is right, you don't see Bella in the pool, the queen does not swim with the common dogs. 

 Below, the kids hog all of the toys, but we still manage to find tennis balls and we steal floaties from them.

 Below, Piper manages to fetch three balls at once.   What skill, what talent!

Above, Colleen activates the "Patented, fully automatic, tennis ball activated dog drying machine".   If you wonder how we get dry after we swim, this is how it is done.   Tennis balls, temperature of 101 and humidity of 8% makes drying off easy. 

Below, the party aftermath, sleeping dogs.  

Mogley G. Retriever

R.I.P. Emma and Fires!

Yesterday we took Emma, our 11 year old senior, to the vet when she appeared to be in distress.   After a day of X-rays and tests, it was determined that her lungs were full of fluid and fibers, she was straining to breath, combine this with her failing kidneys and she could no longer fight the battle for life.   We had taken her in for tests two weeks prior, but we had expected to have several more months with our golden lady.   The comparison of X-rays from just a short time before were dramatic.  We were using two tests to gauge her progress, we watched her closely to see when she could no longer come to bed on the second floor, and when she lost her appetite.   The night before, she was still climbing the stairs, determined to sleep with the pack, but when morning came, she could not come down on her own.

 Emma was our cousin, her mom and dad are our families daughter and son-in-law.  Since their move back from Tampa, Emma, Molly and Piper, and their parents have been staying with us, waiting for the renters to move out of their home.  Emma is the reason I live here, she was the original "rescue" in the family, she was the reason everyone else became involved in rescue.   Molly and Piper will carry on in her absence, in her memory.   We will remember Emma as the happy lady that loved playing in the ocean waves when she lived in Jacksonville and Tampa.  

Meanwhile, the fires in Colorado are creating a crisis.  The fire on the edge of Colorado Springs kept the family up all night even though Colorado Springs is 90 miles away.   Our cousin had to go help move people out of care facilities that were being threatened by the fire, into their facilities on the South edge of the Springs.   Today they will be moving more people into the Denver area medical facilities.   Any empty beds are rapidly being filled.   We were on the phone last night looking for a place for a Colorado Springs family to stay and even with help from a phone bank, the closest hotel room was in Dillon, Colorado, 160 miles from Colorado Springs.  With 35,000 people are already evacuated in Colorado Springs, 6,000 in Boulder and 2,500 in Fort Collins, there are no rooms left in the front range of Colorado.  Today is not going to get better, high winds threaten to expand the fire greatly and they are already evacuating The Air Force Academy and its housing.  We are working with a matching service for people that will open their homes to fire victims. 

Wish us well, pray for rain and keep Emma in your thoughts.

Mogley G. Retriever

Ten, yes, Ten wet dogs in a pool party!

Above photo, Polly, wet and happy.   We now know that Polly is a water dog.  Several days ago we picked up Polly at her old home when she was surrendered to the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies.  We kept her to evaluate, then turned her over to our friends Riley, River and Sarah to foster until Polly finds her perfect Forever Home.   Today we invited them all over, including Polly and her grandmother's golden, Callie.  With our five and their five, that makes ten dogs.    We do admit that only 8 dogs were wet, Emma and Bella stayed dry, although Bella waded in to the second step. 

Above, River makes a grand entrance after a ball, at the upper left, he is caught in mid-air.   With ten dogs to run and romp, we had so much fun that we never slowed down.  

Above, Sarah demonstrates her Cannon Ball style of entry.  Yes, there is a dog under that splash of water.

Come on, someone throw a ball already.   We are tired of waiting.

Polly, the rescue girl, learns to chase a ball and swim with the pack.

By the end of the day we were too tired to even jump in to chase tennis balls, Bella and I just waited for them to drift by.

What a day.   Everyone is tired, we played till we dropped, honestly.

Mogley G. Retriever

Polly is looking for a forever home.

Say hello to Polly, the latest arrival at The Dog House.   Polly was a surrender to Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies, and we were lucky enough to be allowed to welcome her into the rescue family.  Her family surrendered her because she was too much for them to handle.   2 1/2 years old, she had a lot of energy and wanted to run and play.   Her family had suffered a stroke and other health problems that prevented them from taking her on walks or runs, she shared her home with an older Aussie that did not want to play, in spite of her continued attempts to romp with him.   All he got was grumpy with her constant attempts to liven up the house.  

She arrived at The Dog House and was immediately mobbed by the gang of five we all wanted to get acquainted at once.   Getting mobbed by 5 dogs who wanted to play was a little much for poor Polly, she was frightened at first, then intimidated.   It took a while for the mob to turn their attention to something else and let her explore and get acquainted on her own terms.    In less than an hour after she arrived she was doing the play dance and running with Molly, Piper and I.

Since part of our task was to conduct a "Cat Scan" on Polly, Polly was introduced to Sarah, the grouchiest cat in the house.   Sarah hates dogs, a lot.   Sarah came down from her perch and met Polly nose to nose.  Polly backed off, she passed her cat scan.  Later they met again, Polly passed her second cat scan also.  Then Mini cat entered the room, Polly still did not attempt to chase.  Knowing that Polly was cat safe, many more doors open for her future.   Now she can be a foster at Colleen's home, and she can be adopted into homes that already have cats. 

We sent an e-mail to Colleen and to the rescue.   Polly was a grand lady.   She rode in the car, staying in the back where she was supposed to.   She walks well on a leash, she knows her "sit" and "down".  She went in and out the dog door with us as we ran, she will find her own way in her new home. She obeys her commands.  She is proving to be a perfect Golden.  She is going to be a great companion for someone, now the question is, who will be the lucky one that will provide Polly with her forever home?

We were hesitant about sending Polly over to Colleen's house to be fostered.   Colleen has a reputation as a "Serial Foster Failure".   She takes dogs in to foster them, but she won't return them.   She defended herself from our accusations.   She pointed out that she has fostered 17 Goldens and she has only adopted 3, so it is not as bad as we make it out to be.  According to our math, that is only a 17% failure rate, on par with most government projects.

We spent the day socializing with Polly, playing a little in the back yard, and getting to know this wonderful lady.  At 6:30 her new foster mom arrived to take Polly to a new home, and to begin a new life.   Polly will be in good hands, or rather paws, until some lucky person adopts her and takes her to a new forever home.   She left here with her tail up, a bounce in her step, ready to start her now life.   Good luck Polly, and we know that you will find the perfect forever home, you are a perfect lady.

Mogley G. Retriever

National Take Your Dog to Work Day!

We have important news today.   Friday, June 22 is National Take Your Dog To Work Day.   Our parents are retired and work at home, so it is no big deal for Bella and I.   But Emma, Molly and Piper's mom and dad work outside the home so we want to see how they handle the day.    Their daddy is a pilot, their mommy is traveling, by plane, to different medical facilities around the country.   So we are watching closely to see how they participate in this important holiday.  Maybe Molly could put on an assistance dog harness, her daddy can wear dark glasses and carry a white cane, and pretend she is helping a blind pilot down the isle.    It would give passengers something to talk about.  

Meanwhile, we are back on board the rescue wagon.    We had a call last night that a little Golden lady, Polly, is in need of a home extraction and a cat scan.    Mini Cat, Tiger Cat and Sarah Cat are all three qualified to perform cat scans after living with 5 to 7 goldens for a year.  Polly is coming by here to determine if she is cat friendly.    If she passes her cat scan, she can go to a home right away.   If she flunks her cat scan, then she will have to be transported to a foster home across town.

We will let you know how everything works out.   Be sure to let your people know about National Take Your Dog to Work Day, so you don't miss out on the fun.

Mogley G. Retriever

Life is worth living once more!

Today life became worth living again.   It was a long, cold and boring winter, but now summer is here.    Today they opened the swimming pool for swimming.    They uncovered it a week ago, but apparently some dog ran across the pool cover when it was frozen and their paws punched holes in the winter pool cover.   When they took off the pool cover, all of the dirt drained into the pool.   They examined paws and tried to match the paws to holes in the cover, but so far no charges have been brought against any guilty dog.  The pool was a little dark and dirty looking.   We did not mind, but they still would not let us in the pool until they had something called "chemicals balanced" in it.   Today we were given the word to jump in, and we did.

 The pool water is still green and dirty, but only people care about that.  Piper, Molly and I enjoyed the first swim of the season.    As always, Emma and Bella, the queens, stayed on the bank.   They are more concerned about keeping their hair and collars dry.    We are still working on when we are allowed in the pool, something about not being allowed in the living room and in the pool in the same few minutes.     Being dried off is fun, piper learned to come out of the pool, get toweled off, then jump back in so she could get toweled again.   It took along time before the tall ones could go to lunch, it seems that the dry dogs kept getting wet again.

The tall one is busy in the basement most of the day.   He has dozens of tanks of tropical fish, rare, endangered and extinct, and now several fish that were recently collected and have not yet been identified or named.   It turns out that once a certain number of each rare fish is available, then they can be offered for sale.   Because they are so rare, they sell for lots of money, but only after a breeding population is available.  Several different species have reached the trigger point and he is busy working on a web page to market these fish, so he won't let me have the computer to blog.     But if anyone wants an aquarium of "extinct" fish, we know where they can get them.   Meanwhile, he sells some of the more common ones to the local pet stores.  

Since dogs are not allowed in the basement, we can't even swim in the fish tanks.  We are not even allowed in the koi pond, its all a waste from our view.    But we are allowed in the swimming pool, so life is good once again.

We will use Memorial day to remember our service men and women, thank you for our liberty and our freedom.

Mogley G. Retriever

The Magnificent Seven, the remake!

Yes, we are introducing some new paws and tails today.    Meet Rusty and Johnny.    Rusty was our foster last spring, and he was adopted by some friends.    Johnny is a very elderly part greyhound, part Aussie. 

We are doing a remake of the classic "The Magnificent Seven".    The five in the Wild Bunch have been joined by two of our friends and now we are The Magnificent Seven.      Rusty and Johnny are spending a week with us while their family visits Micky Mouse in Florida.   If we had a wild bunch before, the house is now totally out of control.   The Dyson Special Pet Hair vacuum was waving a white flag when we plugged it in this morning. 

Today a visitor met the Magnificent Seven, and observed that "you have enough dogs to open a Vietnamese Restaurant".    Then after touring the basement aquarium shop, they pointed out that we could run a sushi bar and be the only restaurant in town serving extinct and endangered fish for lunch.   The advertising slogan of "Take an endangered species to lunch" would have a whole new meaning.

Rusty is no stranger, he was known as Sage when he came to live with us as a foster, looking for a new home on June 25, 2011.    He had incurred an ACL injury and he was not running well at the time.   Since then, he has been getting multiple doses of calcium and glucosamine.    He is running much better and he is showing almost no sign of his old injury.   He is keeping up with us pretty well.   He rarely shows any trace of favoring his old injury.   He does lift the foot from time to time when he is standing.   He spent time with us this last summer when we had swim parties, he did not like swimming too much, but he sure had fun playing with us.   Johnny is a great friend to have with us, he is in love with people and spends his time following everyone around.   Johnny may not look very golden, but he sure is a great member of the pack.  We will have a great week. 

It is a great time to be a dog.

Mogley G. Retriever