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

The wild bunch is united again.

Above,  Molly is at left, rear, Piper in front, Bella front right, Emma in the rear, and I am on the far right, keeping everyone in line for the photos. 

It is true.   You have probably heard the rumors or maybe you felt the earth shake under your feet.   The gang of five rides runs again.   Warn the neighbors, they had better watch their tails.

For those who may have lost track of us since we have been missing so long from the blog, our cousins packed up and went to Florida.   Last Friday they came back, telling us tails tales about their running in the ocean and playing in the sand.   They will be staying with us, as will their parents, while they look for a new home.   Or they can just wait till their renters move out of their old home.   But it will be fun while it lasts. 

We will be blogging more often, because there is going to be lots of excitement now.   

Mogley G. Retriever

A February Update

We have a huge surprise in store for the cats. The cat to dog ratio is currently 3 to 2. It is about to become 3 to 5, in our favor. Dogs Rule!
We have several things to update you on.    First, the three cats and two dogs are integrated.    The cats leave us along, and we leave them alone.   Sarah was very scared of dogs when she arrived, now she will play with us a little.   Our stray cat, now named Tiger, is running and playing right in front of us, no problems.

But the important news is that our cousins are coming back.    If you will remember, right after Thanksgiving, our cousins, Emma, Molly and Piper moved to Tampa Florida.    Well, their paw challenged ones got a job offer they could not refuse, back in Denver.    So our cousins are coming back, and they are going to stay with us for a while.    You see, they rented the Denver house, and the renters have a few more months to stay in the house.  So they will stay with us for a couple of months.   That will make us a wild pack of 5 golden retrievers again.  

Sarah is going to be very angry.   Bella and I leave her alone.   But when she lived with Emma, Molly and Piper, Molly and Piper pestered her constantly.   She is going to be so upset once they appear on the scene.

Life may be boring now, but shortly it will become very wild and crazy.

Mogley G. Retriever

An update

We have had several e-mails asking us if we got home from our Christmas night flight after pulling the sleigh and delivering all of the presents.   The Reindogs did the delivery trip and all was well on Christmas Eve.   Bella and I both slept for a couple of days.   Santa took a whole week off, then he went back to the toy shop to start getting ready for next year.

Meanwhile, our Paw Challenged One took a full time job.    He was retired but  boredom, a pay check and a friend that was running for re-election made him do it again.  .   He accepted a position as a staff Aide to our friend at the Colorado State Capital.    He thought it was a part time thing, but it turned into a very full time thing in just a few days.  He is currently at the Capital before 8, and seldom leaves before 6.   It is almost an hour commute each way, so he is not at home as much.   Then there are the meetings almost every night in the district.   When he is home, he has duties you know.   Dogs to play with, balls to throw, treats to hand out, heads to pat, tummy's to scratch.  

When it is cold and snowy, instead of walks or runs for us, its tennis balls and the back yard.  Too many tennis balls, and Bella came in with a limp.    The Vet said it was "Tennis Shoulder".   Too many tennis balls.   So now, we only get a little exercise.   But Bella's shoulder is much better.  

Lets see, we had three cats, Murry, Buddy and Mini.   Murry died, soon after Murry passed away, Buddy passed away.  Mini was enjoying being an only cat.   Then when our cousins moved, we took in Sarah so she would not have to endure the trip from Denver to Tampa in the car with three golden retrievers.    Then Sarah got lost.   She could not be found, they searched the pounds, posted lost cat adds, even flyer's in the neighborhood.   Then after 3 weeks of being gone, Sarah suddenly emerged from the basement.   She had been hiding out, eating Mini's food and keeping totally silent.   

But while they were looking for Sarah, they found another stray, now named Tiger.    Tiger had been hit by a car, and was pretty skinned up.   The problem is that in spite of having a chip, and in spite of having a phone number, her owners did not want her back.   Apparently there is a rule that once you rescue a cat, you can't unrescue them.   So once again we are a two golden house and a three cat house.
  
The Paw Challenged One is regretting that he set up as many aquariums in the basement as he did.   He has tank after tank (over 20) of rare, endangered and even some "extinct" fish, extinct in the wild at least.  Several of them are part of a bio-diversity program, they are taking excess rare fish out of the big research insitutions and farming them out to people so that a given gene line is not concentrated in one place where a misteak could cost an entire species.  He set them up before he took a full time job, and now he can't get rid of them in a hurry as they are controlled, he has to report on some of them, even get a permit to take them across state lines.   So that too takes time, there is water to change, tanks to clean, fish to count.  

One of the more interesting ones just arrived are Marmorkrebs (Procambarus fallax f. virginalis).  They are not terribly rare, but very interesting.   All Marmorkrebs are female, they reproduce by cloning.   All the offshpring are exactly alike, right down to the markings.   They are in demand for acientific research in cloning, how did they become self cloning to begin with?   How did nature decide to use cloning as a reproductive method? 

The Paw Challenged One wanted to take in some more fosters, but his working hours have been such that he would not be home to take care of them.   The legislative session is short, so he will be unemployed again in April.    So we may be pretty quiet until then.    We hope to bring another foster in as soon as time allows.  

Mogley G. Retriever

Reindogs, A Christmas Truth!

Our regular readers know that we have been leading the charge to right a longstanding wrong. The true story of Christmas is that Reindogs pull Santa's sleigh, not reindeer. 

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

We put a lot of the blame on the error on National Geographic Magazine. Years ago a photographer was at the North Pole taking photos. All the reindeer were out in front of Santa's house, trying to beg carrots from the visitors. The hard working Reindogs were sound asleep on Santa's hearth, basking in the heat from the fire, resting up for their long night of pulling Santa's sleigh. So photos of reindeer ended up in the national press at Christmas time and the big lie began.

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

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

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

Seriously, do you think that reindeer can fly through the trees and around all the power lines with those big antlers?   They would get tangled up at every turn.   And we all know that dogs can fly, watch the Frisbee throwing competition, or the dock diving contests, the dogs have to keep their jumps under control to keep from giving our secret powers away. 

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

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

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

Dogs can be trained, they obey commands.   Dogs can come, sit, and even go to little Billy's house on Santa's Command.   Try telling your neighborhood Reindeer to "go to little Billy's house", and see what happens.   Nothing!

 How do you think Santa keeps his "Naughty and Nice List" up to date? There are millions of hard working dogs keeping track of the children on their block. All than barking at night is not just noise, it is the Elf Dogs relaying the updates for the Naughty and Nice list back to Santa. When you see children out playing in the park, it is always with their dog, not their reindeer! More proof that reindeer are just a myth.

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

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

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

The Golden Retrievers of the world will be waiting for our apology from the press. We will expect the artists and movie producers to book Golden Retrievers for the publicity shots and movie roles so that at long last Reindogs will get the credit due them. We need you to help us spread the word and reverse this great lie. Help us keep this great dream alive and tell others about the great heritage that has been stolen from us.   Fear not, children, Santa and his team of Reindogs will be there for you on Christmas Eve! 

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

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Mogley and all the Reindogs!

Daisy is visiting for Christmas

Daisy came to stay with us over Christmas.   Daisy is about 8 months, and still a ball of energy.   I may lose weight before she leaves.   She is from Boulder,  so she loves the deep snow and running in the back yard.  As you can see, she is not very civilised, she even attacked me when I was laying down.  

She is learning to mouth wrestle, I give lessons several times a day.

I have been teaching her the finer points of Tug-o-war.   She has stolen my bed, but I guess since it is the Christmas season, I will let her have it.  

Meanwhile, The Paw Challenged One (TPCO), has been out "Being the Santa".   He spent several weeks as the official Santa in Littleton.  Now he is running around the neighborhood having his photo taken with all the good looking young ladies.   We worry about him.

Daisy will be joining us as one of Santa's Reindogs, pulling the sleigh, as we deliver the presents on Christmas Eve.   Tomorrow's post will be detailing our duties as Reindogs.   Remember to leave dog treats under the Christmas tree for Santa's Reindogs.

Mogley G. Retriever