Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

Hello again! After a short timeout to recharge our batteries from Emma’s last litter, Barb and I were hit this past week with a bout of the flu. So we haven’t been up to a lot of photo taking or blog writing. Plus we are new puppy owners ourselves (Lucy: formerly Miss Pink), so that has added an extra dimension of work onto the usual chores.

However, we were able to get everyone out today for some exercise. My least favorite sub- season is this mudtime here in New England. The dirt and wet hair along with all those wet feet make house cleaning a chore that I imagine ranks right up there with mucking out horse stalls. All credit to my Barbara for keeping her sanity during these next few weeks.

We have been getting some great pictures from some of our new owners that we would like to share. No problems reported with any of the puppies in any way and so that leaves us beaming as proud grandparents.

Thanks to all who have been sending us their photos. We wish everyone a quick end to this mud season that is upon us. And what better photo to end today’s blog than this one that sums up the blessings of a puppy’s life.

Thanks for the great photo Ken!

Today was a fun but hectic morning while we spent a few hours at the Suffield Veterinary Hospital. The Southern Berkshire Golden Retriever Club was having their Spring Conformation Testing Clinic. So breeders from all over the northeast brought their dogs, goldens all, for testing their eyes and hearts for any congenital problems.

We brought all five dogs for the ride. Lucy the pup is not used to the car yet, and she howled most of the way in her crate. She got her microchip placed by Dr. Anne Huntington, the vet that was responsible for helping our Emma conceive her. Solo and Riley had their hearts checked by the cardiology vet, Dr. Mark Stamoulis. Then Solo, Riley, and Emma got their eye clearances by the ophthalmology vet, Dr. Charles Stuhr. The eye exam took place in a darkened room so that couldn’t be captured. Here are a few photos of Riley’s heart check.

Everyone passed all their clearances so we all left very happy.

Barb also got to meet several golden breeders who are way more taken with this breed than I am. We were both enthralled if not disbelieving to listen to a couple from Torrington who have eleven goldens of both sexes. All these dogs live in their house. Like the Old Women in the Shoe story, there are many of us who can’t seem to have just one golden.

Today we admired goldens of all colors and sizes, show dogs to hunting and field dogs. All beautiful in their own way. Of course their owners were just as varied in their ages, shapes, and sizes too. A most interesting morning.

Emma, Riley, Solo, and Lucy had a quiet moment in the kitchen after getting home and calming down after being exposed to so many of their own kind in a setting they haven’t seen before.

Next up will be the hip clearances for Riley and Solo. This will be done by a specialist vet in Rhode Island in April for Riley. Solo has to have her two year birthday in June and then she will follow with her hip testing. Riley and Solo will then be cleared for becoming moms later this year.

It has only been a week since our pups have gone, but there is a new routine developing here in dogville that is more comfortable for all since those first few days. The growls and barks over Lucy’s place in the pack have subsided, and along with it our worries over everyone getting along.

Eating is a short affair lasting just one to two minutes. The big dogs inhale theirs, while Lucy is a few moments behind in cleaning her bowl. I suppose this makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. In the wilds you never know if someone bigger or stronger will take your portion. Still it is amazing how fast they inhale everything we put out.

Emma has begun teaching Lucy how to fight in a playful sense. Again from an evolutionary perspective this is a key to the pup’s survival in the wild. While the photos may look frightening, Emma is careful to use her neck more than her teeth, and she puts up with quite a bit of nipping from her daughter in return. Solo is always close by and doesn’t quite know if this is serious play or not. But you can see from the photo of her and Riley watching that the atmosphere is now calm and peaceful.

Lucy at times wants peace and quiet so she naps under the bed in the crate in the family room.

However most of the time she wants to be in the thick of the excitement or at least watching from a comfortable vantage point.

Like the rest of her littermates, she is one cute puppy!