Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

Today the dogs got me up extra early (4:30 AM). It was pointless trying to get back to sleep since when one starts stirring, the others follow suit. I got up and we made our way downstairs so Barb could finish out her needed rest. The day was going to be hot and sunny so I fed everyone right away. After an hour for them to digest, off we went to the high school fields once again. This was the first time we had been there before 6 AM. To my surprise and to the dog’s happiness, the industrial sprinklers on the fields of green were going full blast. It didn’t take a moment’s hesitation before everyone with four feet was wet and soggy.

It was at this time that I noticed that Emma’s coat and tail were finally filling back in after the stress of her last winter litter.

If you click on this flashback to the earlier post of Emma, you will see just how thin her tail and coat were a few months back. “The Tale of the Tails”

After the girls seemed to have had their fill of the water park, we made our way to the upper fields for our standard exercise run. By the time we finished there, the sprinklers had shut off. So we headed home for some rest and toweling off.

With all the lawn and pool chores needed to get our yard respectable, I have fallen behind on some of my other hobbies. I have been making wine for about two and a half years now. The whelping box is an ideal place to keep all the supplies together and organized. But at the moment I have nine wines from all over the world ready to bottle, and we hope for Riley to start her mating heat any week now. So I have a backlog of wine making to catch up on. For the first time, today I enlisted my Barbara to help and we were able to get two wines done (sixty bottles).

Of course, I also had the company of Riley and Lucy. Little does Riley know that she will be spending quite a bit of quality time here down the road a few months.

Lucy visited her initial home for the first time since she came upstairs at eight weeks of age. She did quite a bit of sniffing around the box and found one of the puppy toys. She paraded around with it in her mouth for quite a while. I wonder how much of a memory she has of her early days…

Upstairs, when we were doing the shrink wrapping and labels, the girls all settled comfortably to watch from their usual group resting place.

For all those new to our dog family, or awaiting a puppy, one benny is that you get along with your puppy, a bottle of red and a bottle of white to take home and celebrate your new dog. Here are some examples of our dog labels…

Still, seven wines to finish, I may have to start getting up earlier. With three litters planned, once the puppies start arriving there won’t be any more time for wine making for quite a while.

We are planning another medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic for the first week of November. My first mission experience last fall was eye opening and life changing. Click on “Of This and That” to read the post that I wrote after that life event.

For this mission we will be on the coast in a town called Rio San Juan. A surgical team just came back from there, and reported that the tarantulas are texas sixed, along with the mosquitoes and sea crabs. Our mash unit looks to be composed of seven OB/GYN’s, eight surgeons, two podiatry residents, one medical student, assorted nurses with varying expertise, and several non medical helpers. I am very happy to report that my son Brian, will be joining us from NYC, as a helper, as well as his good friend Hilarie who is a medical student. My nephew Mike, who wants to be a physician assistant is also coming along as a helper.

A few nights ago, Tracy, one of our local pharmaceutical reps and veteran nurse, came by the house. With her came Dr. Hal, an OB/GYN from the Seattle area who is visiting family on the East Coast. Tracy and Hal will both be coming as part of the team. I wanted to show them the photo album from the last mission so they would have a better idea of what they are in for physically and medically.

Of course our dogs gave them a golden welcome. Riley still thinks she is a puppy and likes to cuddle on people’s laps. Lucy our pup made Hal feel very welcome as well. Both Tracy and Hal are Corgi owners, and as dog people they felt right at home with our canine family. We usually don’t allow our animals to behave quite so unladylike unless dog lovers come over.

I think they went home feeling excited about the upcoming trip, as well as warm and fuzzy from all the attention they received from our goldens.

My cousin Ron and his Barbara are very good at showing their (our) goldens out in the wilder environments of Connecticut. Here they are at Mohawk Ski Resort in Cornwall, CT. You can really see the difference in our breeding results over the years with Sandy one of our early litters, and Maggie from our last.

It is hard to believe that almost fifty years ago now, Ron and I used to share a tent together at a Boy Scout Camp that our grandfather was in charge of. Located in Hebron, CT, the area has long been developed into a suburb. Still those boyhood memories of good times when we were eight to ten years old are firmly fixed in my mind. If only our “pepere” had had a golden retriever for us to share our adventures with. That would have been really something. Right Ron?

This breed thrives on the outdoors and physical activity. The more varied and wild, the better the dogs like it. From swamp to stream, to your living room, they are very adaptable. They can find adventure anywhere.