Cancer in Goldens

Above, Nala shows her intelligence, even in a photo it is easy to see she is very smart.   Just like Albert Einstein, Nala has that disheveled look with the messy hair.

Our cousins went home Monday evening.   We had a good time entertaining our friends, but with the
death of Gracie, we did not run and play as much as we usually do.   We spent most of Memorial day quietly contemplating many lives that have been lost, both our Soldiers defending our freedom, and our Golden Retriever friends.    After the flags were taken down in the evening and our dinner finished, Bella, Molly, Piper, Emma and I sought the counsel of Nala.   Nala has been around a long time and has managed to acquire a lot of knowledge in her 13 or 14 years.   We don't know how old Nala is, and being a lady, she won't tell.

She said that she had been watching the trend in Golden's as more and more of her friends  are catching the dreaded big C.   She said she had some theory's on why it is becoming more prevalent, but she wanted to do some research before she made an announcement.    She sat up late and worked hard on the computer drawing graphs and charting trend lines.   By morning she had prepared several charts that clearly explained the trends in cancer in dogs. 

This morning we were all watching the news, and sure enough, there was Nala's chart, or at least a chart that looked like hers, on the morning business news.     It seems that the latest study has been released and there seems to be a tie between cell phone usage and cancer.      Nala had already gone back ten years and charted the growth of cell phone usage and the increase in  cancer deaths in Golden Retrievers.   As she theorized, if you chart the two together, there is a direct correlation.   With both cell phone usage, up over 300 percent, and cancer deaths in our older Golden friends, up over 300 percent.    The two sets of data are conclusive proof that excess cell phone usage is causing tumors in our Golden friends.   It also proves that Nala knows best.

It is scary, Bella and I may give up talking on our cell phones, and we may switch to text messaging instead.    Now where are we going to find an iPhone with a larger keyboard that we can manage without getting daily pawdicures? 

Mogley G. Retriever

Crossing the Rainbow bridge

Rest in Peace, Gracie, 2000-2011. 

A wonderful lady has left us, there is a hole that only time can fill.

Today should have been a happy post, but some days never go the way we want them to.   Thursday evening our four cousins came by to spend a long week end.    Bella and I were looking forward to five days to play and have fun.    What can be more fun that having Gracie, Emma, Molly and Piper come to our house to stay?   Play Time!   Watch out, squirrels, seven goldens on duty now!

Gracie had been experiencing a little stomach trouble, she had thrown up before she left home.   Friday morning and Friday night, Gracie did not want to eat.    Finally the tall ones put extra canned food in with her dry diet and she cleaned up some of her meal, but not without some urging and a lot of time.   She was locked in the bathroom so no one would bother her while she ate in peace, even that did not get her meal eaten.    Later that evening she took her place beside the big rocking chair, right where a hand could hang down and give her a rub from time to time.    But her breathing was heavy and a little labored.   At 10:00 when the evening potty time was announced, she went out with us and quickly came back inside, then settled down for a long evening nap.   Everything seemed normal, except for her labored breathing. 

Saturday morning at 6:00 everyone was told to go outside for a morning potty run, Gracie joined us as usual, but when she came back in she laid down in the middle of the family room and did not move, she just watched us.   While the rest of us were bouncing around, excited about our dishes being filled and breakfast prepared, Gracie just watched.   Nala is always fed first, it takes her a very long time to eat, so she goes to her corner where no one is allowed near her.   When Gracie's dish was set down in her corner, she did not budge.   The paw challenged one came over to her and tried to help her up, she could get up on her front feet, but her hind feet would not move.    He called the rescue to tell them he was bringing Gracie in to the vets office, now!    He called a neighbor to come help carry her out to the car and they were gone.

She was loaded in the car at the rear of the Expedition, somehow she managed to crawl, using her front feet only, forward until her head was between the seats where she could get petted all the way to the rescue vet office, 30 miles away.   Once there she was helped onto a stretcher and quickly wheeled into the exam room.    It took only a few minutes to determine that her abdomen was filled with blood.   Her spleen had ruptured and she was bleeding out internally.  Her gums were white.   By then she was so weak that she could only pant harder as she tried to breath, she was not in pain, but she was slipping away.    With Mary from rescue petting her, Gracie laid her head on the paw challenged one's lap, and Gracie was sent on her journey to the Rainbow Bridge.  

Gracie was still listed on the rescue's page of available dogs, but just like Nala, Gracie had already found her new forever home.   Gracie was already home when she went to live with Emma, Molly and Piper, she slipped into a new life with lots of friends and lots of attention.   The following was Gracie's post on the "home wanted" section of the rescue book.  As you can see, she was indeed a special lady. 

The answer is Wine, Scotch and Golden Retrievers! The question was, "Name three things that get better with age"? Eleven-year-old Gracie is proof that Golden's don't get older, they just get better. She is a very quiet lady, with the manners of a queen. She is a wonderful companion. She has no bad habits -- no chewing on shoes, no barking at neighbors, no chasing cats. She is cat friendly. Tell Gracie to "Go Potty, Gracie" and she runs to the nearest grass. She uses the dog door when she needs to.



Gracie is slightly overweight, but that is easy to correct with a leash and walking shoes or just some regular ball tossing (she loves tennis balls). She is very affectionate. If you don't like petting a Golden head when it lays on your lap, if you don't like to scratch a Golden tummy, then she is not for you. If you are looking for a loving lady with great manners and a very calm disposition, Gracie will make you a wonderful companion.

Gracie's family went from a house to an apartment. This sweet and very special Golden was a loved and well cared for girl and was surrendered reluctantly by her family who wanted the best life for her. Give Gracie a second chance at a happy home, and she will show you that she knows how to be your best friend. One look at her sweet face, and you're sure to fall in love.

 We are so sorry for her passing.   At the same time we are so happy that we could have her for a little while and happy that we could bring some love into her life and she could bring her love into ours. 

Below:  Nala, left and Gracie on a better day.

It is a very hard thing, it was unexpected and we were unprepared for it.    We had just finished having a discussion about Nala and how we should watch her closely so that when her life became more pain than joy, we would know it was time to let her go.    Nala is getting stronger everyday and has more energy.   Gracie always seemed to have so much energy and so much love.   She was an attention "hound", if there was a hand available, Gracie was under it. 

Gracie was her lovable, sweet self right up to the time she passed on, she had no pain, only love.    Gracie left us with dignity, getting her ears scratched, her chin rubbed, and stroking the bridge of her nose softly.   Four hands were helping her relax and cross the bridge in comfort.

Rest in Peace, we will miss you.  You brought a lot of joy into many lives.   

Mogley G. Retriever 

Update on a wonderful lady

I have not written much about Nala lately, we were very worried about her and we did not want to write a depressing story.   We remember that "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".  She is doing much better.   First Nala had heartworms, then she had a recurrence of heartworms.   The poison they use is very strong and when you are 14 years old and weak, it takes a lot out of you.   Then she had an infestation of mites.    With her heavy coat, when the mites got down to her skin, she had raw places and sores where the mites were hidden.  Bella and I had to have the mite treatment, it is not as strong as the heartworm, but it is still strong medicine. 

Poor Nala, she has very few teeth, bad hips, cataracts, she is totally deaf, two rounds of heartworm treatment, and if that is not enough, she had open sores from the mites.   Her hips are weak and it does not take much to knock her down when Bella and I play.  On top of this she had to have a round of mite medicine.    The good news is that she is getting her movement back.   The mite treatment seemed to take the pain away from movement, the mites were causing more pain in her movement than we realised.  

The bad news is that during the treatments, the rainbow bridge was mentioned and there was discussion as to how good her quality of life was.    In the bright sunlight today, it sounds so cold to talk about her quality of life and the trip to the Rainbow Bridge, but when there is pain, there is a time that the pain is more than the joy that is left.   It was not her time yet, but we do know that when the time does come, she will not suffer needlessly.   Luckily it was decided to give her a chance to get we back to health again, and Nala gets to enjoy some more Golden years. 

Nala is back!    Yesterday she even ran with Bella and I, we all ran out to the back fence to protect it from a golden retriever running loose in the park.  She is trotting in and out the dog door, making her rounds of the back yard.  She is once again busy protecting the front door from the UPS lady.   When we explained to the UPS lady about Nala, she said that Nala can bark at her all she wants. 

Nala is due back in to get her spring bath at the groomer.  If she keeps looking stronger, we may take her yet this week.   Every day she is a little stronger, every day she is a little more active, every day there is a little more spring in her step, every day she has a little more joy back in her life. 

Welcome back Nala, we are glad to see you getting better.

Mogley G. Retriever

Of dogs and poop!

The resident human Chauffeur has gone over the edge.   He is seeking a Nobel Prize for his work in Poopology.     He is even threatening to write a Doctoral Thesis on the topic, and see if he can not get a endowed chair established at the local University. 

You see, he has this theory that when you compare the number of dogs (d) in the household to the number of dog poops (DP) that need scooping at any given time, you find a number of curious mathematical relationships.

• First, the relationship between resident dogs at any given time, and the number of poops per day seems to be logarithmic.  If you will allow days to equal DY, He believes that you can express back yard dog poop using the mathematical formula of (DP=(d to the tenth)*DY).       
• Although the above formula does correlate well to the number of dog poops in the yard at any given time, there are other formulas that seem to also track backyard dog poops at any given time.   He has a graph of black helicopter sightings and he says there seems to be enough of a correlation to prove that black helicopters are actually sprinkling dog poops in back yards.    It certainly is a better explanation of black helicopters than any other we have heard. 
• He has placed book marks in several Stephen Hawking books.    He has this theory that the number of dog poops in the yard is mathematically linked to they existence of Black Holes and Worm Holes in the time-space fabric.   He believes that in between Worm Holes and Black Holes, they will eventually discover a third window, Dog Holes.   He has sent several e-mails to Stephen Hawking, but so far has not received a reply, unless that fellow with the white outfit and the butterfly net was from Hawing's office, but he did not answer the door when he saw who it was.
• If Dog Holes exist in the space-time continuum,  then the extra dog poops may be linked to the number of UFO sitings on any given night.   He has a graph going that the shows the number of sightings of Green Men and flying saucers, compared to the number of dog poops he finds in the morning.    This chart also shows some strong linkage, with the chart peaking on moonless nights. 
• He even believes that quantum theory is involved in his research.    He says that the quantum of dog poops is the square of the dogs in residence, or Q=Dogs squared.
• He has even kept a chart to see if the number of dog poops in the yard is somehow linked to the number of treats per day.   He has a chart of "Treats per Day" vs "Dog Poops per day".     We enjoy the days when the chart spikes, on the treat per day axis, but it is heck when that axis drops.   
• We have attempted to counter this by putting forth the theory that the extra dog poops on any given day are caused by the neighbor cat who is not only very big, but also too lazy to dig.   We may have to resort to a chart to prove our theory.   
• As a last resort, Bella and I are trying to rotate the "Treat to Poop" graph 180 degrees so that the poops to treat ratio is inverse.    That way we may be able to get increased treats on his lazy days.

Have any of you had a similar problem with your owner?

Mogley G. Retriever

ps.  Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but Google decided to hide our blog from us for most of a week.

Of Mites and partys!

It has been a while since we posted.    I was concerned about how to treat a sensitive subject.    You see, when Nala went in for her heart worm treatment several weeks ago, Bella and I had begun scratching.   Somehow the three of us had acquired mites.    Since the heartworm treatment is a similar, but much stronger, medication than the mite medication, Nala could not take both.    Bella and I were put on a weekly medicine that will kill off the mites, it goes on once a week for 5 weeks, so that the eggs and future generations are killed as well.  But Nala only had one heartworm treatment and she reinfected with mites, but due to the stress on her from the heartworm treatment they were hesitant to put her on the follow up medications until she was a little stronger.   

Monday Nala went in to the vet's office where she was supposed to be kept overnight so she could be closely monitored when she received her mite medication.    She was not happy, she did not like being confined, but she made the best of it.    Her trip to the vet included a major grooming.    Her coat was very matted, she had been scheduled for grooming several times, but her treatments required a recovery time and grooming kept being postponed.   This time she had her coat combed out very well, so that the mites would have few hiding places.    She says she likes her new spring look!

When she came home on Tuesday, she was very stiff from all the stress, but she was feeling better because her coat was clean.   She made her rounds, checking out every corner to make sure her home was just as she had left it, then she had a serious nap.   This morning she is feeling much better, and is walking without any wobble.   She still has a weekly mite treatment for four more weeks, but she will get her meds here, no tiring trip to the vet.    So once again, Nala has faced adversity and overcome.

Meanwhile, Bella and I have stopped scratching, we have several more weeks of meds as well, but hopefully by the time we are done, they will all be killed off.

But this raises another terrible situation.   This weekend is the first Golden Retriever Rescue dog party of the season.    Hundreds of Golden Retrievers will be gathering for the Spring Fling.   But Bella, Nala and I are quarantined.    We can't even have play dates with our cousins until our cycle is complete.    Our cousins family do not even pet us when they stop by, just in case we still have mites.   We can't go to the groomer, we can't go to the dog park, we can't even go shopping at the pet shop.    In four years, we have not missed a single dog event.    In four years I have been there to demonstrate my prowess at ball fetching, and I have proven that they were wrong when they said I would not live to play this long.    Woe is me, and woe is Bella.   Nala says she is quite happy to stay home and nap.   But Bella and I are very upset that we can't go.  

Bummer.

Mogley G. Retriever

View from the Cat perch

As you know from reading this blog, it is so canine centric that you would think dogs had minds.   Mini Cat and I like to sit on the computer, it is always warm.   When I took over the computer this morning, my intent was to shed on the keyboard or perhaps cough up a hairball or two, but when I moved the mouse and the screen came on, I figured "Why Not?"

My name is Buddy Cat.   Since I am a rescue too, I don't know why I can't get a little blog time in as well.   Mini Cat and I are in charge of day to day activities in the house.    With three large dogs, you may think that they run things, but nooo.    Cats Rule!    Any dog that forgets that Cats Rule, is quickly reminded of it.    Why do you think Mother Nature put those big fat, tender pink targets on the end of a dogs face?  It is part of her grand plan, Cats Rule.    Those things they call noses are really just "Stop Buttons" on a dog.   One quick flick with the claws and the dog stops!   They are so convenient and so easy to use.  Mother Nature was so good at planning ahead.   Mini Cat is much better at it than I am, she is fast and her claws are sharp.   When a new foster dog arrives at our house Mini sits in the center of the floor and dares them to try it!

It is all part of the grand plan to move dogs out of the house.  Mini and I certify foster dogs as Cat Safe, so that when they do go up on the web site, they are much more adoptable.   This means they leave our house quickly and we don't have to be bothered with all the slobber.   If a foster is not Cat Safe when they arrive, they sure are when they leave. 

The dogs have served a useful purpose on a rare occasion.   Once when a fox came over the back fence to chase Mini for lunch, Bella and Mogley came storming out of the house after the fox and turned the tables on her.   They almost got the fox before she went back over the fence and disappeared into the park.   The dogs also teach courtesy to cats, when a new foster comes in, they show they are not supposed to chase the cats, and in conjunction with the "Stop Button", the new fosters learn very fast. 

On Tuesday they took Nala over to the vet for her follow up visit.    After her heartworm treatment she was very weak, at first she improved for about 10 days, then she started slowing up again.    She was diagnosed with a sore on her rear paw, and a spinal problem.   She is now on a heavier pain medication, antibiotics, and she seems to be coming along on it.   She is slowly gaining energy again and acting like the real Nala.  She still sleeps a lot, but as you can see, so does Bella.   Nala needs a bath and grooming very badly, she is shedding in big clumps, but until she is a little stronger we don't want to put her through the wash.  So the house smells like old dog, it should smell like old cat, a much better odor. 

Buddy Caty

A new step

This afternoon has been spent making a new step for Nala.   Bella and I think Nala is pretty spoiled, at 14, she is the senior member of our Golden Pack, we understand her special treatment,  it is for a good cause.  She can't hear, she is losing her sight, she has lost most of her teeth, and she is getting very stiff in her hips.  She gets special food, special supplements, even special treats so she does not have to chew on hard treats with her gums. 

For Nala to go in and out to the back yard through the dog door she has to go through the garage.   She has to go from the hallway, through the dog door, down onto one step and then onto the garage floor.   When she comes back in, her front legs are coming through the dog door and onto the hallway carpet before her back legs have stepped up onto the concrete step, then one more step up to the hallway level as she comes through the dog door.    She can't push with her rear legs, they are getting quite weak, she sometimes stalls and struggles hard getting her feet up and on the step, then pushing and pulling herself up, over the threshold and into the hall.  

Today's task was to build a platform out into the garage, making the step much larger so that she can step up onto it and then come in on the level.   If this does not work, then a ramp will need to be placed up to the platform.   So far, she has navigated up to the platform and in twice with no struggle.   We hope the platform outside the door will let her continue to come and go when she pleases.  There is already a light on all night over the step so she can find her way in the dark, her vision is getting weak in the dark.  She does enjoy her freedom and her ability to go outside and enjoy the yard with us when we are running.  She does not like being confined, she likes her activity.  As much trouble and as much pain as it causes her, she still makes 10 or 15 trips in and out each day, we wanted to see her continue to be active.   They will let her in the back door, then she will run out the dog door and around again.   We will give this a few days and then see if the ramp is needed or if she will function without it. 

We hope you had a Thankful Easter, it is a wonderful day to celebrate family and friends, and especially old Goldens.

Mogley G. Retriever

Death to Warthogs!

Mogley to the rescue!   This warthog managed to conceal itself in a plastic bag during a shopping trip.  Once it was safely inside the house, it charged out of the bag and chased the family into the kitchen.   Luckily I was on duty, I grabbed the warthog and immediately killed it with the classic strangle hold.    You just can't relax around the house, enemies are everywhere.    The coyotes and foxes have killed off most of the squirrels and all of the rabbits, so there is nothing to chase outside.   Most guard dogs would have relaxed, but not me.   I stayed on "red" alert and it paid off.   When a warthog threatened our home, I was on the spot to throttle it before it could damage anything.

Nala is still slower than she was before she had her heart worm treatment, but she is getting around OK.   She has a harder time getting up once she lies down.   She is showing her age when she starts moving after napping for a long time.   She has a little harder time getting her rear legs to push her up the two steps into the house.  She has to work at it to climb up.   We are looking at building a ramp for her to make it easier on her to get in and out.    She still has her wonderful outlook on life, she loves every minute.  She has such a wonderful face and she brings cheer when she comes into the room.    She gets a special allotment of attention, as a senior Golden, she gets many special privileges.  She does not have to climb into the car, she gets lifted in and out.  She gets special vitamins and special canned food to help her eat with her few remaining teeth.  

We have been hearing from Golden Retrievers all over the world, they are getting ready for their  duties of delivering eggs and treats on Easter morning.    If anyone else has photos of themselves getting fitted for their delivery duties, let us know.

Mogley G. Retriever

Getting ready for Easter

My followers will remember that we proved that Santa uses Reindogs to pull his sleigh on Christmas Eve, while reindeer get all the credit.   After all, we are there to help, we just want to serve, let the reindeer get the credit, dogs are really man's best friend.  Now it is time to dispel another myth.

As you can plainly see, the Easter Bunny is really a Golden Retriever.   In fact, the Easter Bunny is multiple Golden Retrievers, all over the world.  Our friends, Hamish & Rescue Sophie have sent us photos as they try on their costumes and get ready to "fetch" eggs and treats to good little boys and girls all over the country.   Below, Hamish gets fitted for his costume.  

If you will just think about it a little, you will understand how you have been duped all these years.    Doesn't it make sense that if you want something "fetched" you would not call your local bunny rabbit?   Come on, what are you thinking?  Try throwing an egg (or tennis ball) in your back yard and see who brings it back?   Your Golden Retriever or your bunny rabbit?   Below, Sophie poses for a "pre-delivery" photo.

You know that bunny rabbits don't carry baskets around, they don't deliver anything.  If you have a basket of green grass, a rabbit is more likely to eat the grass than share it with little boys and girls.   That is where the Golden Retrievers prove once again how unselfish they are.    They allow the rabbits to get all the credit.   They allow the rabbits to pose for all the publicity shots.    They allow the rabbits to get all the good advertising endorsements.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the Golden Retrievers go about the business of delivering and "fetching" gifts to good little boys and girls.   Unselfish devotion to the cause of helping bring joy, it's what we do as dogs.  It's how we bring joy into so many lives.    Luckily, there is a Golden Retriever nearby, no matter where you live.   There is a Golden Retriever nearby to sneak out and make their rounds, hiding eggs and toys in time for the morning egg hunt.    Remember kids, there is a reason everyone knows that dogs are your best friends.

So now that you know the real story, I hope you will continue to pretend that the rabbit is the star of Easter, they have this ego problem, so they need the recognition.  We all know that the real hero's are the Golden Retrievers that will deliver the treats and the decorated eggs all over the country.    So give your Golden Retriever an extra treat or two, they deserve it for their devotion to helping without worrying about who gets the credit.    And special thanks to our friends Hamish & Sophie for sending us photos as we suit up for the special day, and thanks to them for giving us permission to use their photos in this issue of our expose!

And don't forget the real story of Easter.  We hope you all have a very Blessed Easter. 

Mogley G. Retriever

A rainy morning

Nala is patiently waiting for the sun to come shine on her favorite resting place.  Bella is sleeping next to her to keep her company.   I am sleeping on the couch.    What else is there to do on a rainy day?

We have not had any rain or snow for so long that we had to go outside and investigate it.   It was funny stuff, water from the sky?   Who thought of that idea?    Anyway, we checked out the big outdoors, we got wet, and we came in to dry out and enjoy being house dogs with a warm house to lay in.

Life is quiet.   Our computer is back and it is working faster than ever.   By removing everything and starting with a blank computer, we picked up a lot of speed.    The new computers all come with tons of junk on them that slows them down right from the start.   No fleas on this computer.......

The paw challenged one says he has blocked the racy "French Poodle" web sites that I liked to visit late at night when everyone else is asleep.  He thinks that is where the fleas came from that infected the computer and took us off line for a while.   I wonder if he blocked the "Golden Retrievers Gone Wild" site?   I will check tonight.  Since he signs on the foster dog adoption sites, I can still visit the local shelter web site, it has a lot of racy photos of dogs, some in very suggestive poses.   

Mogley G. Retriever

Testing, one, two, three......

We are testing to see if the computer is now free of fleas.    Nala is licking her lips, she is ready to begin reporting on her exciting daily activities.    It took four days to get the computer back, it had multiple viruses, even the back up had viruses.    We think we are clean now, we ran three different virus programs on it and they now say -0- found when they are done.    We are terribly behind in reading our friends blogs and exchanging notes. 

Our bad news is that Nala is slowing up.   She was recovering fast from the heartworm treatment, then she seemed to peak and begin going down.    She was eating mixed dry food and canned food, but she stopped chewing the dry food, so now she is on canned only.    She only has teeth on one side of her mouth, only one canine tooth.   It was getting harder for her to chew on the few remaining teeth.   She hears nothing, she is so deaf that we have to run in front of her to get her attention when it is dinner time or time to go outside.    Her vision is decreasing, she was almost up to a visitor today before she even knew they were here.    Her hips are weaker and she has a hard time getting up after a long night.   Her medications are a good help, but they can't make up for the age in her joints.  Her spirit is still strong, she gets up and goes outside through the dog door, then back in, around the house and back out again.   She will do this three or four times, then take a nap in the sun.   She gets lost more often.   When she wakes up in the middle of the night and she does not know where her pack is, she will sit and bark till someone comes to get her and tell her that everyone is still there.    Then she will happily go back to sleep.    She used to wake up and bark at every car that drove in the circle at night, she could see when the lights came in the glass front door and swept across her face.   Now the paper boy comes and goes without being announced.

We keep our paws crossed that it is just a temporary thing, that she will perk up.   She has slowed up in the past and then bounced back, so we are hoping......   We even miss being awakened at 4:00 a.m. to greet the arrival of the newspaper. 

Mogley G. Retriever

The case of the missing note!

My last post was just a note to update on what is going on.    It turns out more, or less was going on than we thought.  We could not even post the last post. 

First, the last note was supposed to say that it was not my fault.    In the past when the computer has caught a virus, the human has always blamed the Resident blogging Retriever.   He walks around humming the tune "My Dog Has Fleas", accusing us of giving fleas to his computer.    This time it is his fault.   We were not surfing those x-rated dog sites again, he was listening to on-line radio.    He has a friend that has a radio talk show in Colorado Springs.  The house radios do not pick up the station, so he listens to the radio on-line.   It turns out that he had not updated his anti-virus data base for two days, he turns it off when backing up as it interferes with the back up program.    So a devilish virus invaded.   

Now the computer is at the shop, getting totally scrubbed and having a new operating system installed.    So Monday we may be back on line.    Today we are using the computer in the basement, the one with the hand crank on the side of it.   The one that has a plaque on its side that says "Historical Archeology Site, do not disturb!".   The museum curator will really get mad at us when they find out we used it.

We can't load photos on this computer, it thinks that photos are still made on tin.    In fact, we can't even use the computer if the wind is not blowing and the lightning is not striking.    We have to attach a key to a kie string to boot it up.    "How old is it, you ask?"   The keyboard only has the number 1 through 9 on it, the number 10 had not been invented yet when this computer was built. 

We will be back, with a new system soon and then we can resume blogging.    Please do not adjust your sets!

Mogley G. Retriever

No photos, just a note

The Orkin man to the rescue!

Gracie is still not a camera ham.  She lays her ears back when the camera comes out and the flashy thing goes off. 

It started innocently enough.   The one who is paw challenged noticed that a swarm of ants was covering the front driveway.    The warm spring sun had brought them out to do their thing and apparently their thing is forming large swarms in sunny places.   He grabbed his spray gun and went to work on them.     Shortly thereafter he was out back and on the logs by the garden was another swarm of ants.    

So a real search was conducted.   He was searching for swarms of anything.  He found another one.   He called the Orkin man.    The Orkin man made an inspection of the house, looking everywhere.    Then he delivered the bad news.

"You have a terrible infestation!  One of the worst I have ever seen, it will be terribly hard to control this one."     He then took some photos to document the extent of the infestation.   Below is his photo of the worst Infestation of Golden Retrievers he had ever seen. 

The photo was a little blurry, the pest control man took the photo as he was fleeing out the front door, he was in fear of his uniform.  His black pants were rapidly being covered by golden hair.  We did not think it was funny, and we think the resident chauffeur should be ashamed.    Besides, the infestation will cure itself tomorrow when our cousins family gets home from their vacation and we are back to being just three.

Mogley G. Retriever

A Lazy day!

Above and below, Molly is the only one up and about today.   We had a little snow last night and Molly is the only one that wants to be outside playing.   The rest of us are napping.   Each of us has our own nap place.  Our cousins are here often enough that they each have a place to nap.   People wonder how we handle this many guests.   It is easy, everyone has a place for their food dish and when it is dinner time, everyone has to go to their place and wait for their bowl.  Gracie is learning where her place is, so she gets fed second, right after Nala.   Nala can't hear you tell her to go to her place, so she gets fed first to keep her where she belongs, besides, Nala is the slowest eater in the house,  we are all done long before Nala is done.   Gracie then is taken to her place, then while she is busy the rest of us get our bowls.    Then it is off to our nap places. 

Below is Molly in her favorite nap place, where she can keep an eye on the squirrels in the back yard.   Remember that Molly is the only member of our pack that has actually caught a squirrel.   We are waiting for her invitation to become a member of the Golden Retriever Hall of Fame. 

Bella and I share the couch on the front sun porch, as the sun moves around we get warm sun a little later in the day.  

Nala always claims her Golden Senior right to nap in the warm sun inside the front door. 

Below, Gracie naps under the computer table, that is where people are all day long and she keeps everyone close.  

So goes life in the Golden House.   Another lazy day!

Mogley G. Retriever

The wild bunch Rides again!

The Wild Bunch is assembled for treat time.   You can see the newest member of the bunch, Gracie, on the left, behind Emma.   Gracie is fitting in just fine.   We were told she would be a little shy around new dogs, but she is taking it all in.   Day two of the Wild Bunch reunion is going fine.    We had three children over to play with us Saturday.  We had a wonderful time running with them, chasing tennis balls, and getting attention from six friends that just stopped by to get a much needed golden fix.  The Wild Bunch lived up to our name, we played hard and entertained everyone.   But we have a big legend to live up to.  Here is part of the legend!

Our dad has told us tales about the Wild Bunch when Butch Cassisdy and the Sundance Kid hid out in the Hole-in-the-Wall near Kaycee in Northern Wyoming.   He is obsessed with the Hole-in-the-Wall.   Everytime he went to the old family home nearby, he would do an off road trip into the Hole-in-the-Wall.   I have gotten to run there several times and it is great.  No fences, no boundaries.  I can be out of sight and only be 10 feet away.  They made me stay close, too many rattlesnakes and too many places where a flat trail skirts a 1,000 ft drop into a black hole.  Once I barked at a bear that was only 500 feet away, but it was across a chasm on the opposite edge of a cliff.   It would have taken us a day to travel around the canyon, or a day to climb down one side of the cliff and up the other side. 

He says that Historians have gotten the story wrong, the real story isn't about Butch Cassidy, it should have been about the place.  The Hole-in-the-Wall is about 10 square miles of impossible canyons and rock cliffs, places that you can not even imagine can exist.  It is where Chief Little Wolf and Chief Dull Knife led their band of Cheyenne and Arapaho after fleeing the Custer Battle in 1876, the band of 300-600 hid from the 6th Calvary and remnants of the 7th Calvary for three months before escaping out the west side.   The rugged land is the reason the Wild Bunch could hide out from hundreds of lawmen so easily and for so long.  So he named us the Wild Bunch in memory of his child hood when he would climb the rocks and ride horseback with his father up the network of cliffs and canyons of the Hole-in-the-Wall.

There is an even more compelling story about his trips into the Hole-in-the-Wall to join a search for a friends daughter who's murdered body is hidden in the wild canyons and impassible rock cliffs of the Hole-in-the-Wall.  Over 400 searchers spent months in the mountains and along the cliffs.  They found several bodies, some thought to be from the Wild Bunch gang, but even now they have not found the young lady.   He had started a book on the lost lady and tried to interest Ann Rule into taking up the mystery as a book.  It is just one more testament to the labyrinth that is the Hole in The Wall.  And a story waiting to be told.

Mogley G. Retriever

Introducing Gracie, our visiting foster.

Introducing Gracie, our newest foster lady.  We have already sent over a write up on her for the adoption site.  She has been with our cousins for a week, and she has proven herself to be a real lady.    When she first arrived here last night, she was a little uncertain about the wild pack of goldens that she was going to spend the next week with.   This morning she is finding her place in the pack.   Below, Gracie and Nala are becoming friends, they both like to relax and let the world go away. 

With some prompting from our cousins and an interview with Gracie, we sent over her write up for the adoption web site.   Gracie says that she will take any home just as long as it has a very high hand to dog ratio.   She likes attention and she is very good at giving petting therapy.  If you need to relax and just enjoy some Golden love, she is the dog for the job.  Below is our write up on her:

Wine, Scotch and Golden Retrievers! The question was "Name three things that get better with age"? Gracie is proof that Goldens don't get older, they just get better. She is a very quiet lady, with the manners of a queen. She is a wonderful companion. No bad habits, no chewing on shoes, no barking at neighbors, no chasing cats. She is cat friendly. Tell Gracie to "Go Potty, Gracie" and she runs to the nearest grass. She uses the dog door when she needs to. She likes tennis balls. She is slightly overweight, but that is easy to correct with a leash and walking shoes or just a some regular ball tossing. She is very affectionate. If you don't like petting a golden head when it lays on your lap, if you don't like to scratch a golden tummy, then she is not for you. If you are looking for a loving lady with great manners and a very calm disposition, Gracie will make you a wonderful companion. Gracies family went from a home to an apartment, she was not mistreated, she was not homeless on the street. She was surrendered very reluctantly because she was very loved and well cared for. Give Gracie a second chance at a happy home, she knows how to be your best friend.

Below, Gracie and I get our photo taken together.

Mogley G. Retriever

Dead Toys!

As you can see, Bella killed my new Blue Huron.  She is taking a nap after demolishing my new toy.   She had already demolished her new toy, a squirrel.   She said that it was the only way to save them.    She has been watching too much TV news from Washington DC.  

Late tonight, Friday, we will be invaded by our cousins and Gracie.    That's right folks, the "A" team of demolition will be arriving to spend a week with us.   Molly, Piper and Emma along with Gracie will be staying with us for a week.     Bella said that she just as well rip the toys up because they would not survive the first ten minutes of the invaders.     She made so much sense that I found one toy that still had some stuffing left in it, and I tore it out also.     Because by this time tomorrow we will have no toys left alive.  

We do have fun when they are here.   There is always at least one dog that is ready to go play.  If we wear out, then someone else takes over.   Piper and Molly can wear us all out, then they wear out each other.  

We also have some work to do.   We have to take good photos of Gracie so she can go up on the web site.  It will take some time, but we have to get acquainted with her and do a nice write up so that she can find her new home.    Since she does not like crowds and wild playing, we wonder how she is going to fit in.   She will probably follow Emma off into a quiet corner and hide from the madness.

Nala is doing better each day.   She is back to the energy level she had before she was treated for HeartWorm.  She does not hide when the going gets wild, she holds her own in the house, making everyone walk around her.   She is second in command, behind Bella.  She does not outrank me, but I do defer to her as she is senior and she gets our respect.  Stay tuned, we should have photos of our newest 11 year old foster lady, Gracie, by Sunday.

Mogley G. Retriever

Adopt a dog to go green!

Above, I am ready to do my part in cleaning up the earth.  

Our family is not one of the new "green" families.  In fact, with the paw challenged one's (PCO) history of oil and gas exploration, gold mining and other such activities, they think that trees grow on trees.   Silly people!  The PCO even thinks that gas comes out of the ground.    He should know better, he sleeps with up to 8 golden retrievers some nights, with the window closed yet. 

Bella, Nala and I are helping them turn green.   Recently the trash company started picking up two different trash cans.   One can is brown, for the trashy trash.   One can is green for items that can be recycled.    We were having trouble getting the PCO convinced that most plastic items should go into the green can to be recycled.   Immediately there was trouble with the concept.   For one thing, the green can did not have a good lid and it was pretty low.  When they would throw a TV dinner plate into the green can, Bella and I would take it out and clean it.   After all, they were supposed to recycle "clean" plastic.   We just took it upon ourselves to clean it before it was recycled.     We had long used this concept with empty ice cream containers, they always gave them to us to clean, we just had to extend the concept to all ex-food containers.  

While we are going green, we also reminded them to stop using the garbage disposal.   It takes elecricity, it puts pollution down the drain and into the waste treatment plants where it takes extra work and power, and its wastes water.    Use the Golden Disposal Service instead.    

Finally we have reached a truce.   Instead of just throwing dirty containers into the recycle can, they give them to us first.   We lick them clean, then they can put them in the green can and all is good.   We have had a treat and the world is cleaner because of it.   Plus we don't waste soap and water in cleaning up the recyclables. 

Which leads us to the main theme.    Want to go green?   Adopt a dog.   That way you can clean up your recyclables without wasting soap and water. 

No, no!  No need to thank us, helping the earth stay green is reward enough.   Well that and a few more dogs adopted into homes and out of kennels.   Maybe we can start a new slogan:   Adopt a dog and save the earth!

Mogley G. Retriever

Nala's progress

Nala enjoys her days in the sun.  She still spends most of the day sleeping.   She sleeps so well that people come in the front door, step over her and sometimes she does not know we have company.    Since she does not hear anything, we have to wake her up by touching her, then she jumps.    Mostly we just check to make sure she is breathing well and then we leave her to rest.  

She is doing much better than she was doing.   This evening she even trotted in from the back yard instead of tottering in.   She stands pretty firmly, not swaying too much.  She still does not get up and down well, but when she is up, she is moving much better.    Her appetite has returned, she is eating very well now.   She still gets spoiled, she gets canned dog food mixed in with her dry bites.   She even gets a little grease on her food to make it more interesting. 

Bella and I were given new toys today.   Our cousins always tear up all of our toys, so we have some new ones to play with until Friday when they arrive and tear them up again.  I have a Blue Heron.

Bella has a Squirrel, but she won't share.   

  

Spring is coming and life is good.

Mogley G. Retriever

Nala has a visit to the Doctor and A new lady in town

Nala just can't seem to get a break.    Friday when she came home from the vet after her heart worm treatment, she was not feeling very well.   We decided that she was functioning at about 40% of the normal Nala that we know and love.   By Saturday afternoon, she was up to about 60% of normal.   She was walking better, still very unstable, especially on her rear legs.   But her tail was up and she was wagging pretty constantly instead of just from time to time.    Sunday morning we were seeing more of our friend, Nala.   She was even showing some enthusiasm when breakfast came.    Nala is usually a chow hound, and when she does not eat, we all worry.  

Then came Sunday afternoon.   She slept almost all afternoon.   But worse, when dinner time came, she sniffed her plate and wandered off.   She did not want to eat anything.   She would not even take her pills with peanut butter, or with some bread or cake.   She had to be forced to swallow the pills.

Monday morning, she did not want to even go to her breakfast plate, she refused to eat anything.   Her tail was down again, she was walking pretty stiffly.    We loaded her up and off to the vet we went.    We had to leave her there for observation.   Later Monday we went back to pick her up.    She was sure glad to be out of the pen and back with us in the car.   She said that the floors in the pen were pretty hard and her favorite bed was not there.   She was afraid we were going to leave her again.

Back home she has a pill to make her appetite better, another pill for her stiffness in her hips, and a pill to keep infection away.   She is just having a bad reaction to the drugs.   The drugs do not wear off easily when you are 13 years old.   She needs more rest and more food to build herself up before she can recover.    She will get all kind of special food in hopes that between the good food and the appetite stimulant, she will get some nourishment and some strength.    We are all just thankful she is recovering here instead of having to spend another night in the vet office.

Meanwhile our cousins have a new foster.    We have not taken on another foster because we want Nala to get healthy before we bring in someone else.   But our cousins were called to go out of town and pick up a wonderful 11 year old golden lady named Gracie.    Her family was moving out of their home and into an apartment.   At their temporary apartment, they were not allowed to have Gracie in the house, they had to leave her in the garage.  They quickly determined that was no way to treat a 11 year old lady.   The called the rescue and asked to have someone pick her up so she could have a better home, the kind of home she deserved after a long life of faithful service to her family.   We are told that Gracie is not used to a lot of dog friends, she takes a while to get used to new friends.    People are fine, but dogs are not as quickly accepted. 

We have not met Gracie yet, but we will.   Our cousins humans are going to be gone for a week to some terrible place they call Hawaii.   When we asked about going along, they said we would not like it there, there are no squirrels, no snow, no ducks, or anything fun.  So our three cousins, and Gracie, will be arriving here on Friday and they will spend 7 or 8 days with us.   Hopefully, Nala will be feeling better then, but Gracie is a laid back kind of a dog, so we don't expect any excitement with her around.    Having Molly, Piper and Emma is easy, they stay often enough that they know the rules.  Gracie is not a puppy anymore, so we don't expect that she will be any problem.  We look forward to having Gracie visit for a few days, we will introduce her to life in a wild and ferocious pack of Golden Retrievers. 

Mogley G. Retriever

NALA is Home!

Nala is tired after her ordeal.  Tuesday when we went to the vet for shots and our annual check up, we took Nala along.  When the vet told us that Nala was heart worm positive again, and we had to leave her for treatment, we were very upset.  Nala took it all very well, until she went back to the kennel area by herself, then we heard her barking her "I am lost, come get me" bark.   At home when she can't find the rest of her pack she has a special bark to call us.   Because she can't hear and her sight is limited, she has her own way of getting "found" when she feels lonely.    We felt terrible to have to leave her behind, calling us. 

She arrived home around noon, still a little shaky and unsteady on her feet.    The vet tech told us that she had not eaten all of her breakfast.   If Nala did not eat her breakfast, she must have felt bad, she is a real "chow hound".   At home she had a hard time getting settled down on her favorite bed, she just could not find a comfortable way to lie.   She was still feeling pretty bad.  She finally went to sleep and slept soundly most of the afternoon.  By 6:00 when dinner was served, she was showing some energy again.   We think she will need another day or two to recover, and it probably will take a week or two before we see the real Nala.    Below, I am helping Nala relax by setting an example and hoarding her favorite bed. 

Luckily our human is busy procrastinating, it his special gift.   We did get him to take some photos and we will share so you will have something to look at over the week end.    Below you can see Mini cat checking out the front drive while Bella checks out Mini cat. 

While we are sharing photos, we just as well introduce you to some more of our resident zoo.   Below is Mushu, our long fin Koi.   She is spending the winter inside in the 65 gallon tank, soon she will go outside where she will have a warm summer vacation in the pond.   Mushi has several gold fish friends to keep her company till the outdoor pool warms up a little more.    Most of the fish spend the winter in the pond, but this tank full of fish were just recently re-homed and coming from warm water they could not go out just yet.  

Mogley G. Retriever

It is getting very bad around the house.   Nala always barked at 6:00 sharp to wake everyone up.   She is spending the night at the Vet's office, so we slept in this morning.  Apparently the alarm clock was not moved up to daylight savings time.   It's that International Association of Procrastinators (IAP) thing again.   We stumbled across a post-it-note reminder to set the clock forward.   We left it out where he could find it, but it turns out the note is last years reminder, so he says it does not do any good this year.   He says he left himself a note this year and when he finds it, he will change the clocks.  That explains why we were late to so many parties this year. 

They are moving forward rapidly with the organization of the International Association of Procrastinators (IAP).    They are going to schedule their first annual meeting,  they called a hotel and explained that they wanted to reserve a meeting room for their meeting.   They suggested that we send the notices out calling for a 9:00 a.m. meeting, but the hotel will reserve the room for 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. to allow time for the people to arrive.  Luckily it is the same hotel that was going to host last years meeting, so they know about such things.  

Several people thought that an honorary membership certificate was a good idea.   We will ask for some volunteers to work on a committee to design a nice certificate.   We do have an idea for the design for the crest for the organization.  It would probably look a lot like the Honorable and ancient family crest of our dad.    Their ancient family crest is "two gold bricks on a four poster bed, on a field of poison ivy".

Mogley G. Retriever