Sam sure has grown. He will be 6 months old next week. He weighs around 45 lbs. And is learning more and more how to be a good dog every day. He brings a lot of joy and fun to our house. Katy is reinvigorated because of him. They love each other and get along well.

We have a new family member

On December 14th we added a new addition to our family. Meet Samy, he is a yellow Lab that we adopted from the local animal shelter for Sophie. She had been begging for a puppy for several years and things just fell into place for it to happen this year. We were planning on another Golden, but when I saw these three little Lab pups on the animal shelter's web page, well I just had to take one.
Unfortunately, less than a week later he developed Parvo and was very sick little guy for about a week. At one point I was not so sure he would make it. We had him on IV fluids and fed him pedialyte and broth for several days. Then he finally rallied.And is now a completely healthy pup.

He is settled in nicely and he and Katy, our golden, have become a sort of friends. Katy plays with him much of the time, and tolerates him the rest of the time. They will eventually become the best of friends. I hope.

Katy Bug

A few new photos of my Katy.

Life with a Golden Retriever

This is the amount of fur that I just combed off of my dog, Katy. Enough to make another small dog. (and this is just from today) Golden's are well known and praised for their beautiful golden fur. In the sunlight there are hairs that glow like a thread of spun gold, hence the name. It is quite amazingly beautiful and one of the reasons I chose a golden, however, what you may not realize when you get that adorable golden baby, is the sheer amount of the golden stuff that they shed, and/or do not shed, as the case may be. When a golden or any long haired/under coated dog, has more hair than is needed for the climate, and no one is around to comb it for them, they use whatever nature or humans provide to get it off of themselves. Such things might include, but are not limited to, the side of the couch that your quests can see, the tree in the yard,(bark is a fave of dogs), the stairs, and of course your black pants that you just put on to go out. They also use their feet and mouth, so you have bits and tufts of golden, fluffy fur flying and sticking all over your house. And a dog with fur between its toes and teeth. Goldens are THE most beautiful of all dogs, but they can be a tremendous amount of work, in the summer more so. But I for one, would not trade my golden girl, Katy for all the short haired, nearly shedless dogs in the world. Any one want to stuff a pillow?

Need to Get A Way!

I really, really, really need a vacation! Not from work, not from school, but from my life. That is not good is it? LOL I know that things are on the upswing, we've just had so much stress in this house in the last six months, really even longer. I just want to run away for awhile. Not too far or for too long, but I do. Something about the summer too, it makes my usual wanderlust vicious! I have a hard time keeping my ass at home. I have to really work at it. I would just love to get in the car and go. It doesn't even matter where to at this point. I just need a break. Well, for those of you who can get away here are a few tips I found around the web. For yourself and your dog, because I would of course take my Katy.

9 Road Trip Beauty Essentials:
Wet Wipes- oh boy, do kids get grimy! How that happens while they are buckled in on the road is a mystery to me!
Lip Balm- constantly apply to prevent dry lips from heat or air conditioning.

Aromatherapy water- used to spray your face for hydration, indulge your senses for relaxation or alertness (depending on scent of spray). If you use Evian Spray then it also entertains the kids when you unexpectedly spray them!
Drinking Water- hydrate from the inside. Don’t try to skip drinking water to avoid potty breaks. Your skin needs it and stopping is good for your body to stretch and move!
Hand Cream- again with the hydration! to treat them to a cream packed full of vitamins and Your hubby will love it when you offer to massage his free hand while he drives!
Eye Cream- use one with reflective properties so you look alert and fresh even when you are not. You never know who you might meet at some random Dairy Queen in the middle of nowhere!
Hand Sanitizer- gross restrooms…enough said
Mints- keep your breath fresh so you can smooch with your hubby now and then (and cancel out that taco breath from too many drive-thrus)
Reading Material- It’s a long road ahead!

Things You'll Need for the Dog:
Dog food
Water
Dog bed or blanket
Crate
Dog seat belt (car restraint) (I personally, don't lie these, dogs usually don't understand them, if you don't feel comfortable leaving your dog loose in the car with you, then use a crate)
Select toys
Leash
Up-to-date tags Vaccination records Portable food bowls

(oh, this is not Katy)

Animals~All Our Relations

We love our animals. We have three cats and one dog and a rat! David has had Goober since before I met him, in fact when we were only friends, I came to his house and fed Goober while David was on a trip.

Sabrina was a shelter rescue. She was barely six weeks old when we got her, just a month after moving in together.

Cleopatra (Cleo) was another rescue who had bee abandoned at the vet that I worked at because her owner's didn't want to deal with a continuing eye infection. (It was all cleared up by the time we got her at 12 weeks.)

And of course, you all know Katy's story.

We have also fostered a couple of dogs temporarily and raised a raccoon kit until he was old enough to be rehabilitated into the wild. One of the things that we have always enjoyed together was helping animals.

Karni was a pet store purchase when my son wanted a rat.

April is National Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. In light of that, I want to share some tips.

What You Can Do to Help Animals in your community

*Be their voice! Speak for the animals who can't speak for themselves.

*Know who to call to report animal cruelty. Call the humane society to find out in your area.

*Provide as much information as possible when reporting animal cruelty (the type of cruelty you witnessed, who was involved, the date & place of the incident)

*Set a good example for others. If you have pets, be sure to always show them the love and good care that they deserve.

*Talk to your kids about how to treat animals with kindness and respect.

Signs Of Animal Cruelty or Neglect

-Wounds on the body

-Large patches of missing hair

-Extremely thin, starving animals

-Limping

-Someone striking or physically abusing an animal

-Animals repeatedly left alone without food and water

Our Lap Dog

Our fifty pound! lap dog that is. lol Even though she knows she is not allowed on the furniture, Katy found a way to get her entire body on Emily's lap, therefore, she was not on the furniture. LOl what a dog, what a blessing.

Doggie Love

Katy has adjusted well to her new home. Sophie is enjoying bonding with her. This was her first bath at our house. As you can see she was resigned but less than thrilled.













This is a rare moment of watching tv together. They are becoming quite the pair.

Katy Settles In

Katy seems to be settling in to our household just fine. As you can see from her comfort level in the photos. LOL She is a great dog, we are very pleased, she is very gentle and tolerant of Sophie, she picks up on the rules and such very quickly. She seems to have had some training, but we begin formal obedience training tomorrow. Should be interesting. I am looking forward to it. In only the two days we've had her, she is already deferring to me as her alpha. She learned heel, to an extent in one walk around the block. Thankfully, at her age, 1.5 year, she is totally house trained. We have yet to hear her bark, the most we've heard is an excited whine when she sees or hears another dog.

Our Christmas Dog

This is Sophie and I with our Christmas dog, Katy. She was rescued from the side of the interstate a month ago. And we were able to adopt her today! She's a Golden Retriever, with a bit of Chow? thrown in, as you can see by the tongue. :) She's very sweet and very intelligent. She is learning the ropes around the cats tonight. Sophie is beside herself with joy over having "my own dog".

I'm a Dog Person

From the time I was four years old, I have had a dog. That first dog was a white Spitz called Midget. I don't remember him much, but I know my mom told me that he was fiercely protective of me and followed me everywhere. A few years later, I had another small white dog named Baby. A sweet little lady dog, who was once rolled under a car while I was out in the yard playing and got up to run to me in the yard after the car passed, she was unharmed. I can't remember ever being without a dog, or several dogs as a kid. Once my parents rescued a mother Irish Setter and her 7 puppies. Who were a strange mix of Lab and Setter and maybe Hound. We kept two of the puppies, one we called Bear, for the usual reasons, he was chubby, fuzzy and black. And another we called Shorty, the runt, a little hound. These were my companions growing up. Unfortunately, spaying and neutering were not preached as they are now a days, and we had several litters of puppies over the years. Eventually, I was allowed to have a puppy that was "all mine". His name was Prince and he was a beautiful, unusual looking mutt. That's him in the photo in the snow. I am on the right. I was ten years old.

If I remember right, Prince 'ran away' with his mother, Lady. We never did find them. There were many other dogs over the years. Some we kept, some we found homes for. My parents lived at the end of a road, so there were many unwanteds dropped near their home and they took each one in temporarily at least, and gave it a meal.

After I married and left home, I had two different dogs that just didn't work out in our home for various reasons. So we found them other homes. One was a Wolfhound we had called Daisy, and another was a Yellow Lab called Champ. They were great dogs. I wish I had photos of them all.

For several years while having my children, we had only cats. Then the kids began asking for a dog, as all kids eventually do. I had always told them that 'the right puppy' will find us one day. Well, she did. A tiny, scrawny, puppy we named Skipper. We took her in and she turned from something resembling a large hairless rat, to a beautiful Beagle mix. What a great dog! That's Skipper in the photo with me. We then in quick succession, adopted three more dogs that 'found us', having been left by someone who didn't want them anymore.

Dylan, yes he was named for Bob!

Gracie, what a sweetie.

Max, what a great guy!

Then came a foray into little dog land. That was not a successful venture, unfortunately. This little guy, just never cared fro the kids. Even though he came into our home as a six week old, and was never mistreated. Chihuahua's are not, as a rule, kid friendly. Though there are some exceptions. When I divorced this little guy was taken to a new home where he, hopefully got the kid of quiet, king of the house, position that he sought. His name was Rascal and he definitely lived up to it.

After the divorce, I had to leave my dogs with my ex. I had a tiny apartment, and the kids wanted the dogs to stay at their home. So in the end, I lost them all. One by one, something happened to them. They did not get the kind of care they were used to, and all but one of them ran away. The other was killed on the road. I have been mourning them since. I have not had another dog, but for a couple of rescued that we fostered. One was a young Rotti that we found a home for in a matter of days. The other was a lovely little Beagle pup, found in the middle of the road on Valentine's day. Hence her name, Valentine. We fostered her and considered keeping her, until I found out we were going to have a baby, that would be Sophie. And the prospect of training a puppy and having a new baby, was more than I wanted to take on. So we placed her with a nice family in town. And I know that she is happy and healthy and loved to this day.

I went into veterinary work because of my love of dogs. That is where I have found the most satisfying experiences of my life. Caring for the canine species. This is all leading up to, if you haven't guessed by now, to the fact that my daughter is about to be four years old. And has been campaigning for a dog. She is a dog lover like her mother. There is just nothing like a dog. So......her father and I have been considering another dog. We have a huge house and fenced yard, so there is really no reason that we can't have one. Besides the amount of time training and getting to know another family member. I don't have a particular dog in mind, so I got online and found this website, Bestdog, which helps you determine which breed of dog would be best for you depending on several criteria that you input. On every such site that I did this kind of 'quiz' the same dog appeared every time. The Golden Retriever.

Exercise Needs
43
Good with Children
96
Obedience Trainability
70
Watchdog Behavior
58
Aggression
9
Guard Dog Behavior
16
Grooming Needs
33
Size (lbs.)
65
Intelligence
50
Intensity
32
Shedding
84
Sociability
96
Emotional Stability
70

Hmmmm! We shall see......................:)