Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

Good morning. I have wanted to add some new content to our web site that is still a surprise in the making. Recently I saw this great photo of a puppy in a flowery background that took my breath away. Of course I couldn’t just copy it with the laws being what they are, so I thought how difficult could it be to make my own. So yesterday, off I went to my favorite nursery with two of the pups in tow. I have a good relationship with the staff at Hinman’s in Canton and so I had lots of helpers. It was however the pups first adventure outside and so they were awestruck in the warmth of the greenhouse with all the new smells and colors. Now I have a better appreciation of how hard those photos with just the right poses and background are to achieve. I found out the shutter speed on my digital camera is way too slow. By the time the shutter snapped, the pups were already two adventures ahead of what I wanted to capture. Here are a few of my worst efforts, and one passable one. There were actually a few photos with no pups in them as they had both moved so fast. I just deleted those right away.

The final photo will be a surprise addition to the website in the future once Celeste and Dana and Karen (my website gods) help me with their considerable expertise.

I recently ordered some cookie cutters off the web in the shape of a golden retriever and a dog bone. I am not much one for baking, but I thought this can’t be too hard. A nice reward for all the visitors this weekend who are scheduled to visit. So after Barb pointed out the location in our kitchen of every utensil and ingredient I would need, I went to work. First I filled the dough in the shapes and put them on the plate. Barb said the cookies would spread with the heat a little, but I thought no problem. This is easy. As you can see from the first photo, my cookies looked like Eddie Murphy in his fat suit character.

So what’s a guy to do. I got out my power tools and cut the fat cookies into their shapes! This seemed to work ok except I only got about a dozen cookie bones and about five pounds of cuttings from the whole dough mix.

Our visitors yesterday seemed to enjoy the “bones”. Unfortunately, at the end of the day we heard a crash in the kitchen while we were entertaining the pups downstairs. Solo had pulled the plate of cookies onto the floor and the big dogs made quick work of the remaining bones. So today our visitors will only have the cuttings to enjoy if Barb will even let me serve them!

So we will add this to our list of misadventures to remember along with the many others already on file. Still after the end of a long day yesterday, when the pups were all settled down for bed, and we were reminiscing about the day’s nice company, it was all good. Even though neither of us got any of our scheduled work accomplished, it didn’t seem to matter. Today another day almost the same is scheduled for more company. Good thing the pups will be here only two more weeks, so we can get back to the rituals in our lives again, … or maybe not.

There are as many sleeping poses as there are pups. Instead of forming a big pile like weeks earlier, the individual pups still like to cuddle but on a smaller scale. Under the railing is a favorite spot as you have already seen. It is a riot to watch them as they occasionally twitch or squeak from some dream in their minds. Their world has just been limited to the box and patio so far so I don’t know how varied their inner thoughts are. When asleep they seem to be immune to the movements of their sibs and even if another pup climbs or drops onto them, they don’t budge.

I had a colleague come visit from the hospital with her husband yesterday. They have been thinking of adding a dog to their family in the future. Despite having had several bad experiences with dogs when she was a child, I think the calm nature of the puppies won her over. She did however have to get through the greetings of the bigger dogs upstairs to get to the puppies. Everyone was well behaved and she left smiling.

A decent snowstorm finally arrived and the big dogs had a great time both during and after the snow fell. Their thick coats protect them against the blowing wind and frosty cold very well. The only issue is the ice balls that build up on their footpads. Quick work with their sharp teeth and we continued on our wintry walk.

Meanwhile back in the warmth of the whelping box, activity continues at a frenetic pace. The pups’ hearing is very good now, and as soon as they here footsteps on the stairs they are all lined up to greet us. They move together as a pack, or maybe a better description would be like youngsters playing their first year of soccer where like lemmings, all follow the leader.

We trimmed the nails of all the pups last night. Let’s see, five claws on each of the front paws, and four claws on each of the back paws, times nine puppies. That’s a lot of nail trimmings! Their eyes are just starting to open a little now, but not enough to see yet.

Sometimes they all try to nurse at once, but yesterday we found them nursing in shifts. Five sleeping and four nursing. Soon after though they were all piled together. Emma doesn’t seem to mind either way.

And every so often a puppy manages to get a little personal cuddle with mom…

NEWS FLASH: Sydney Waller, our mentor, friend, and breeder of goldens for ? almost thirty years now, has generously volunteered to come down from her estate on Naragansett Bay to do the temperment testing at seven weeks of age. Thus no pups will be assigned until after she has done her evaluations. People choosing pups will then have more to go on than just the color of the dog’s coat and collar. I know it’s hard waiting to make your choice, but this is really in everyone’s best interest, including the puppies. That way everyone knows what personality pup they are choosing, and makes unhappy owners and puppies much less likely. We have never had a pup returned (so far), and that is because we are very careful with the matching process.

What an amazing weather weekend we just had. Ridiculously warm but immensely enjoyable none the less.

In our house, every morning about an hour after the big dogs have eaten, they gather together in the kitchen and look at me with anticipation.

They live in the moment, and are waiting to see if I say “walk” or “work”. If the answer is “walk”, the energy in the kitchen goes into warp drive and they can barely contain themselves until I can get them outside. We head for our usual route at the high school fields just after sunup.

Today, instead of plowing through January drifts of snow blown by the steady winds across the playing fields, they managed to find three or four large puddles left by the overnight rains. Never letting a chance to swim go past, they quickly soaked in the mud one after another.

The good news is that if you stay outside long enough, the golden’s thick water repellant coat will dry itself, and the mud and dirt just drop off. Thank god or Barbara wouldn’t let us back in the house most days. So the dogs ran around some more and finished their exercise run content and worn out.

A little towel drying in the garage at home and they are respectably clean again. Emma did great today, though not running as fast as the others, but able to clear her head after the nonstop demands of nursing. I am able to let them run free most mornings, because at this time of day we have the grounds to ourselves. Today, dogs seen: 0, wildlife encountered 0, People seen 1, (jogger).

Still, where is the snow? Goldens are four season dogs, and love the snow almost as much as water.