Tag Archives: Golden Retriever

January 9, 2012 · 08:00

Amazing Drawings

I found a talented local artist who did these spectacular drawings of our “kids”.  I just gave her pictures of the dogs and I got these wonderful keepsakes. I know that when they have all gone to puppy heaven, I will have these amazing drawings to ease my heartache.  She is particularly talented at capturing the eyes…they show the heart, soul and personality of our dogs.  People who have seen the drawings and know our dogs comment on how she has managed to convey much more than just an image.  I love them all but I especially love the one of Wally with his big, jowly puddles.  If you would like to commission a drawing of your beloved companion animal, get in touch with me and I will give you her contact info.

I surprised Don and got this extra drawing of Tango in her search vest that he can hang in his office at work.

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November 21, 2011 · 16:43

Final Donation

Wally has made his final blood donation to the Canadian Animal Blood Bank.  He will be 11 years old in a few months so he will no longer qualify as a donor.  I think he is going to miss having all the young Vet Tech students smooching him up and telling him how beautiful he is and all the treats he gets at the end of the procedure.  I wonder how many puppy lives he has saved in his 10 years of donating?

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August 4, 2011 · 14:15

Happy Birthday Ebony

Today is Ebony’s 4th birthday.  She and her partner Sam have formed an amazing working team.  It was wonderful to hear how much she assists him at work and in his day to day life.  It was always so hard to say goodbye to a foster puppy but it was especially hard to say goodbye to Ebony.  We had an incredible bond.  She was so easy to train and she loved to work and please me.

I always worried about my foster puppies’ future.  You hope they are going to be teamed up with someone who will love them and much as you do.  Well I certainly don’t have to worry about Ebony’s life.  She lives in the most beautiful home (my dream home), on a large acreage with a lake to swim in.  She’s got a puppy housemate named Bear that she can play with when she is not working.  Sam and his family obviously love her very much and my heart is at peace when I see them together.

Here’s a picture of my handsome boy Wally (Ebony’s Dad) with Sam and Ebony.  Look at that amazing view in the background.  You will notice that Wally managed to find the one pile of donkey poop on the property.  My boy has never met a pile of poop that he didn’t want to roll in.  Stinky or not,  I still love him.

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May 23, 2011 · 08:12

Big Puppy!!!

We spent another wonderful day at Patty’s acreage with all the dogs. It was great to walk the property without trudging through thigh deep snow…..but…..the damn mosquitos were crazy.  I’ve never seen so many in my life.  We had to bathe our entire bodies in deep woods off to keep from getting eaten alive.  There were so many that you could hear a loud hum.  The City is saying that we are experiencing the worst mosquito infestation ever in recorded history.  The annoying part is that this variety is out in full force during the hottest part of the day. Poor Hope got so many bites on her pretty, black face that she was all swollen and itchy.  She must have an allergy to them.

Even with all the skeeters we had a wonderful time.  Tilly got to meet a horse up close and personal…..I think the horse enjoyed it more than she did.

Wally managed to roll in everything stinky and disgusting that he could find. His beautiful golden coat took on a greenish patina from all the poop he ground into it.  We left the big dogs outside in the dog run so that they could dry off.  Tango managed to squish her fat head through the gate and got herself stuck.  Thank goodness my “mommy” instincts kicked in and I decided that I needed to check on the kids so we were able to free her before any damage was done.   It took two baths to get the green tinge and disgusting smell out of Wally’s coat.

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April 8, 2011 · 09:52

Happy Birthday Wally

I can’t believe my boy is 10 years old today.  Yikes……I just can’t even bare to think of a day that I will come home and not find that beautiful, big golden boy face waiting for me at the door. I keep telling my Vet that the day I have to put Wally down he might as well have a second injection ready to put me out of my misery. I know, for you non-dog lovers, you think I am nuts.  I have such a strong connection to this boy and he brings such joy to my life that the thought of him aging and one day going to puppy heaven is almost unbearable.  Ok…enough sadness, let’s celebrate his wonderful life.

Wally’s favourite treat in the whole world is Tim Bits.  So this morning he got 1/2 a Tim Bit for every year.  You can see the drool pouring out of his big, jowly muzzle and the leftover yogurt on top of his nose (from cleaning out my breakfast bowl).

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February 14, 2011 · 07:00

Happy Valentine’s Day

Last weekend we attended a fund raising event for H.A.R.T. (Humane Animal Rescue Team).  They had a professional photographer that donated her time to take Valentine themed pictures with proceeds going to HART.  I think they turned out pretty good.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your two and four legged loved ones!!

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February 11, 2011 · 07:16

He’s still beautiful to me

My poor boy.  The Vet warned me that it could get even worse before it gets better. It is quite common in the summer but he rarely sees it in the winter.  It is often caused by bug bites….especially from spiders.  The dog develops a severe reaction and they get swelling and ugly blister like things that weep and burst.  Wally is on some steroid medication.   I feel so bad for him.  The drugs are supposed to make him drink and urinate more and possibly be more hungry than normal.  I just want to hug him and make it all go away.  He got some Timmy bits to help make him feel better.

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January 28, 2011 · 09:18

Mmmmmm Yogurt

My ‘kids’ know that when I am having yogurt, they always get to lick the empty cup.  They especially like it when a large container is ready for their pre-wash cycle.  They all try to shove their muzzles into the bowl at the same time and they often end up with yogurt face.

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January 24, 2011 · 16:10

Who let the dogs out?

Well we finally had a nice weekend without tons of new snow or freezing temperatures.  We celebrated by meeting out at Patty’s house with all of the dogs (Wally, Tango, Tilly, Hope and Bentley).   The gang went for a walk in the waist deep snow desperately trying to keep to the narrow track for fear of getting stuck in the deep stuff.  At some points the snow was so deep that the dogs looked like they were dog paddling in water to keep from sinking into the snow.  Of course Wally found a pile of horse/cow poop to roll in and all the dogs had their fare share of “meadow muffins” to eat.  The wind was incredible but at least it was a couple of degrees above zero so it wasn’t bad.

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December 24, 2010 · 18:00

T’was the night before Christmas….

..and all through the house not a creature was stirring…not even the dogs.

Wally and Tilly curled up by the fireplace waiting for Santa to arrive

Here’s a cartoon from DrawTheDog.com.  It reminds me of my ‘kids’….they are always shoving their big heads into all parcels and bags to check out what goodies are inside.

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November 11, 2010 · 10:48

My Co-pilots

Ok, I admit it.  I am a sucker for those big, sad, brown eyes.  When I am leaving the house, all Wally has to do is give me the ‘look’ and I have no choice but to invite the dogs to come along.  To be honest, I enjoy their company as much as they like tagging along as my co-pilots.  They take turns sitting in the passenger seat and watching the world go by.  They love drive-thrus and they instinctively know which ones give out dog treats.  When we go to our neighbourhood Tim Hortons, all three squish on to the front seat to wait for their dog cookie or better yet a Tim-bit.

It is funny to watch drivers’ reactions as they casually look around and then discover they are being watched by Tango’s intense stare or they ooh and ahh when they see little Tilly and Wally cuddled up together.   I can’t imagine my life without dogs.



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September 25, 2010 · 11:18

Jowly drooler….yuk!

Yesterday Susan and I piled all 4 dogs into the van and we headed out into the country to go to a pottery show/sale.  It was nice 80 minute drive on a beautiful, sunny fall day.  As much as I love my boy’s big, fat head and muzzle….there is one major drawback.  Those big jowls hold a lot of spit and poor Hope was the victim.  Susan and I were having lunch in the front while Wally and Hope pushed their fat heads between the seat to enjoy the aroma’s.  That’s when it started.  When Wally smells or sees food he immediately starts drooling…..big steams of spit pour from his handsome jowly face.  Unfortunately poor Hope’s head was below the flow.

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September 11, 2010 · 09:19

Puppy sleep over

We have Hope with us for a short visit and sleep over. We just love it when we get the opportunity to spend some time with one of our former foster ‘kids’. Everyone two and four legged enjoys the visit. I was up bright and early his morning and took them all for a walk and then we came back and had breakfast. Sleeping beauty, aka Don, was still sound asleep so we all ran upstairs and jumped on the bed to try and wake him up. As you can tell by the picture Don is a very skilled sleeper. Even with 4 dogs in bed nothing interferes with his beauty rest…..well maybe there is a little hint of a smile on his lips.

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August 14, 2010 · 05:16

Tilly hide and seek

We took our kids and our house guest Hope for a free run.  The grass was so tall that in places all I could see was the tip of Wally’s tail curled up high over his back.  Forget about finding Tilly….it was impossible.  She had a great time running through the grass and chasing after her much bigger buddies.  I captured this cute video of everyone just being a dog and having fun….not to mention running into my camera.  Check out Tilly’s giant ears flapping like wings as she runs.

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July 7, 2010 · 10:53

Wally Honoured


Since Wally was a year old, he has been making regular blood donations to the Canadian Animal Blood Bank at NAIT. The blood is used to provide transfusions for sick and injured dogs across Canada. We were given this certificate of achievement to recognize his 21 previous donations. He has an appointment to give blood this afternoon so that will increase the official total to 22 donations.

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July 1, 2010 · 08:01

My quilting helpers

It doesn’t matter where I go in the house, all the dogs have to come with me. My sewing room floor is covered with dog treats, toys and of course fabric and thread scraps. Every so often someone gets bored and lets me know……”hey Mom…..we need a little attention here”. It was Tilly’s turn today. She kept sitting in front of me with her rib bone in her mouth…..very cute. I happened to have my cell phone with me so I was able to capture this quick video.  If you look on the wall behind Wally, you will see my Bargello quilt starting to take shape.

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June 29, 2010 · 05:38

Puppy play date


On the weekend we brought our ‘kids’ over to Susan’s house and they had a fun play date with Hope.  She was so excited to see them that she was doing laps in the backyard.  For a puppy who had several homes and a bit of a rough start in life…..she is doing so well.  She is quite the flirt and she just loves men.  As soon as Don sat on the swing she was right up there beside him.  Susan says she never jumps up there normally.  Here is a short video of all the ‘kids’ together.

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June 22, 2010 · 05:30

A special day

Today we are celebrating two milestones. Nine years ago today Wally joined our family as our first foster dog. He was only supposed to be with us for a year but we have been blessed with 9 wonderful years and hopefully many, many more to come. He has the most beautiful personality and a gentle spirit.  He has fathered 51 puppies, many of whom have gone on to become guide, assistance, hearing  or autism service dogs.

Over the years he has welcomed 7 long term foster puppies and numerous short term fosters.  They have chewed on him, jumped on him, used him as their play thing and at the end of the day they have crawled on top of him and gone to sleep. For an intact male he is truly amazing. If it were possible to clone him and keep him in our lives forever, I would do it without hesitation.

June 22nd, 2001

And last but not least, little Tilly is 6 months old today.

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June 4, 2010 · 06:32

Training Time

Three friends and I are in Calgary to attended the CAPPDT (Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers) conference. We arrived yesterday at noon, hit a few local quilt stores and then settled into our hotel rooms. I am really looking forward to hearing such experts as Jennifer and Steve White and of course the guru Karen Pryor speak. I have been awake since 5am and now I am waiting for the others to surface so that we can walk the dogs before the first session begins at 9am.

This is the first time Don has been left alone with the 4-legged kids and he knows I am a little worried. He sent me these picture to show me that everything is ok at home.

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May 15, 2010 · 14:04

Hope’s Visit

We’ve had Hope as our houseguest for the last 2 nights. She was one of our foster puppies in 2008-2009 so she is well known to Wally and Tango. She loved playing with little Tilly but she was a little rough……I guess she has never had any experience playing with a small puppy. Everyone survived and a good time was had by all.  Hope was very good a remembering the house rule for only going potty in the restricted zone but she either completely forgot or ignored the rule of no swimming in the pond. Thank goodness we hadn’t moved the fish outside yet.

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May 3, 2010 · 08:28

Fun Weekend


We went for an off-leash run with Susan, David and Hope this past weekend.  There were so many gopher holes in the field it was like walking an obstacle course. I was concerned that one of the dogs would hurt themselves and possibly break a leg while they were running around and playing. Wally, who is not normally a high prey drive dog, was fascinated with some of the holes and began digging in them.  I got a good group picture at the end.  You can see how tired the dogs are with their giant pink tongues hanging out while they were panting profusely.

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May 1, 2010 · 09:00

A dog house morning

I love weekend mornings. I’m always the first 2 legged member of the family to wake up. As soon as I am starting to stir Tango is right there waiting to say good morning. I just need to snap my fingers or whisper ‘OK’ and she is on the bed in a microsecond.  She loves her morning cuddles and she is so anxious to plant a kiss on my face that I often end up with a french kiss.  Wally is more like Don…..not a morning person. It takes him a while to stretch and slowly come to consciousness and then as he approaches the bed you can hear the loud thumping of his tail against the mattress. Wally is a ‘spooner’…..he just loves to mould his body to mine and snuggle in close.  Our little Tilly prefers to get as close to your face as possible.  She will sleep draped across my neck or mouth.

If I get up for a potty break, by the time I come back Tilly has staked a claim on Don’s neck and the big ‘kids’have taken over my side of the bed.

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April 28, 2010 · 07:07

New puppy toy

I know my ‘kids’ have a ton of toys already but I couldn’t resist buying this one.  It is a giant yellow and green crocodile with 16 squeakers in it.  There is nothing Wally and Tango love more than a stuffed toy with a squeaker….but 16 of them…..now that is a toy! It was a big hit with all 3 dogs.  So far they have only killed one squeaker…..no holes, no missing appendages and it is still fully stuffed.

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April 12, 2010 · 07:02

Perfect puppy weekend

On the weekend we always try to get the dogs out for a few off-leash runs. Tango lives to play with her chucker and Wally and Tilly are just happy to be outside with us. Here are a couple of videos from our weekend. The first one is just video of Tilly and Wally enjoying being at the off-leash park. The second one is Tango playing with her chucker. She is obsessed with it. If you watch her closely you will see that when she is chasing the ball, she makes herself more aerodynamic by flattening her giant ears against the top of her head. As she closes in on the ball they stand up straight almost like air brakes to help her slow down.

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April 10, 2010 · 11:00

A real dog house

I walked into the family room this morning and got a real chuckle…..it is not hard to tell that this is a ‘dog house’.   The carpet was covered with toys, stuffing and of course dogs.


When Tilly wants to cuddle or sleep she seems to prefer Wally but when she is in the mood to play, Tango is definitely her first choice.  Here is a cute video of her doing her best to get Tango to play with her.  When she does succeed at getting herself a playmate…..she is almost overwhelmed by the intensity of the game.

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April 8, 2010 · 06:57

Happy Birthday Wally

My beautiful (inside and out) golden boy is 9 years old today.   I can’t believe it.  He is still so young at heart but the greying muzzle gives away his true age.  This is what he looked like the day he joined our household:

2001 June 22 – 10 weeks and 5 days old

And this is my handsome boy today:

Here’s a slide show of him growing up:

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April 4, 2010 · 05:09

Happy Easter

We hope that the Easter bunny hid some tasty treats for you to fill your basket with!

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March 27, 2010 · 10:29

Puppies have spring fever

Last week was so beautiful with temperatures well above normal…..almost all the snow was gone but that all changed.  Here it is the first official week of spring and the temperature has fallen and we’ve had snow 3 days in a row.  Everyone, two-legged and four-legged, is sick and tired of winter. The dogs have got so much energy but nowhere to burn it.   Wally and Tango were having a good wrestle in the back yard and little Tilly really wanted to join in.  I love watching them interact together but I’m always watching to make sure that she doesn’t get trampled accidentally.

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March 26, 2010 · 15:55

Puppy mosh pit

Generally speaking, most German Shepherds are fiercely loyal and love their family but they often don’t really warm up to strangers.  Tango is quite different.   She is extremely affectionate and just loves all people   When Don takes her out training, we have  to warn the people that are hiding that when she finds them she is going to plant at least one big, wet puppy kiss on their face.    When it comes to other dogs, she is not a real social butterfly.    At the puppy park she is only interested in playing with the chucker and she doesn’t interact much with the other dogs.  Over the years, Tango has welcomed all of our foster puppies.  She is the first to play with them but for some reason she will not allow them to touch her.  If they try and snuggle up with her….she will just get up and walk away.  It doesn’t matter how many times the puppy tries….snuggling is just not permitted.  It can take a month or more before she will start relaxing the rules….that is until now.  It has taken Tilly less than 2 weeks to have a break through.   It was amazing to watch.  That little puppy had a plan and she carried it out to perfection.  Inch by inch she dragged herself closer  and closer to Tango until she reached her goal of snuggling up against her.  It probably took almost 20 minutes to complete….but she was successful.   When Don got up to grab the camera, Tango and Wally were muzzle to muzzle…unfortunately just before he snapped the picture Tango sat upright.

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March 22, 2010 · 14:18

Celebrating 3 months

Today Tilly is 3 months old.  She has really fit well into our ‘Dog House’.  Wally and Tango seem to be accepting her and she is thrilled with them.  Wally will allow her to snuggle with him but he doesn’t play much with her whereas Tango loves to play ‘chase-me’ with her in the backyard but she still has her ‘no touching’ rule.  It usually takes Tango a month or so before she will let a new puppy snuggle up with her.

Yesterday we captured this great video of Wally and Tango holding a tug toy and little Tilly trying to take it away from each of them.   Too cute!!

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