Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

My family and neighborhood friends were well acquainted with our Abby. She was our first breeding female and a special friend to me. Because her three litters were our initial efforts at breeding, we had adventure after adventure that Barb and I still laugh about even now. When taking rides anywhere, she always pulled rank and rode shotgun in the front seat, never allowing any other dog to sit next to me. When we lost her to cancer, I felt I wanted to mark her passing by doing something special. The creation of this web site has allowed me to do just that.

Here are some of my favorite photos showing her calm nature and strong maternal instincts. She was also never too far away from a tennis ball and could play catch and fetch until she wore you out.

Celeste and Dana Rockel (my website gods) and I have put something together to add to Abby’s tribute.

Called Abby’s message, I hope to convey the essence of what loving and sharing your life with a golden retriever or any dog for that matter can mean.

When we travel to Vermont another of her pups rides shotgun with me now, while other of her pups climb the same hills and roads we once traveled. It is not quite the same as having her by my side but her spirit lives on in them and in me. Click this link to see: Abby’s Message

Barb went to the vets yesterday for Emma’s ultrasound. Unfortunately there are no pictures because I am home on bedrest after my recent medical adventure. The good news is that they saw at least six pups. We will take an Xray when her due date nears to be sure about the numbers.

Berna, Mulder’s owner, just sent me the formal photo of them winning the Eastern Regionals this fall. He is one handsome dog. Emma is feeling well but sleeping more. The pups are due the week after Christmas.

Quite a lot has happened to me since the last post on Thanksgiving…

I went to the Springfield dog show on the holiday weekend hoping to see some of the up and coming champion looks and colors among the Goldens. Got my times wrong and missed them all. Enjoyed walking around though for a few hours, and seeing the thousands of dogs among hundreds of breeds, all being fussed over with owners and handlers nervously pinning their hopes on the judging in the rings. I naively thought I could post some photos, but proper etiquette makes you refrain from making flashes that could startle a dog or owner. So I furtively took two from a distance. If you haven’t been to a dog show it is quite the event to watch the animals and people.

With our ultrasound in the office showing Emma definitely carrying some pups, I set to work to convert our puppy center back to it’s original purpose. About a year ago I got bit by the home wine making bug, and started brewing grapes for fun and for advertising for our dog business. As usual with me things got a little out of hand. The whelping box made a great place to store all the tools of the trade. And my small wine hobby has blossomed into now 23 kinds of wine made from grape juice all over the world.

The whelping box is not pretty, but makes a safe place for the pups to begin their new life.

Over the weekend, I received my pictures in the mail from the Dominican Republic mission. The images brought back raw emotions tinged with regrets and what ifs. The 31 member surgical team started the week confident in our skills and abilities. We started by doing two emergency cesareans with healthy babies the result in moms who had little prenatal care and were very ill. The photos we took of the first baby and her mom was like any other delivery outcome here in the states. On rounds that afternoon and evening everything seemed fine…

The shock and dismay when we arrived the next morning to find the mother had died overnight was just indescribable. If there was ever one commandment in this unpredictable business of obstetrics, you just don’t lose moms, ever. It took several days for the medical group to come to terms with the loss of someone so young and facing the start of a beautiful life with her baby, to be gone without the benefit of any intervention or aid. This is probably the only picture that baby boy will have of his mother, and we have no way of getting it to him. Now the photos seem to mock the pride we felt in coming from America where we have the best of everything. Little did we know but soon learned, without continued postop care, lab work, and medications, life is precarious. A stroke or embolism claimed her life without warning.

Finally, I just returned home from St. Francis Hospital from my own medical emergency. A stubborn bronchitis caught on the Dominican trip has made my life miserable. It all took a turn for the worse yesterday in the delivery room when I suddenly developed severe vertigo and fell and hit my head. Without warning I was the center of a medical emergency and thought I was having a stroke or seizure. Now here just 36 hours later, I sit at my home computer. With a million dollar workup behind me of CAT scans, MRI’s, Ultrasound, EEG, EKG, and numerous lab tests, I am feeling better on a battery of medication. And thankful that unlike in the Dominican when you come upon a door marked Lab, or XRay or OR, you open it and find incredibly trained and gifted people using amazing technology. In the Dominican, like in most third world countries, there is no magic behind the door, just empty space and empty tables. I remain most thankful and humbled.

Barb and I receive many photos and emails from friends and family on all kinds of animal life. Two of my recent favorites are below.

I tried to teach Solo our youngest golden to be more handy around the kitchen. She refused to wear the apron and the closest pose I could get was when she spied the cat’s food dish on our kitchen island. I then tried to send her outside to fetch a pumkin for baking a pie. She started out ok until she found out that the pumpkin stalk was tasty.

Every morning since “the breeding”, I ask Emma the same question. Any puppies inside? She thumps her tail twice and gives me the same answer…why are you worrying about tomorrow when there are so many adventures to be had today!

I leave on Saturday for a medical mission outside the country. This will be the last post until I return. Have a nice day.

Mike.

One disadvantage of having all your dogs sleeping in your bedroom is that you are at the mercy of whoever feels the most energetic and wants to start their day early. The good news is that for us early bird risers, sometimes you find an absolutely amazing New England morning that leaves you breathless. If I am not working, the dogs coax me outside at first light.

Today was one of those golden mornings. Stunning colors on a blue sky background with a cold bright light accenting everything. Chilly crisp air without any frost.The girls had a ball, as usual.

Someone recently asked how we keep our dogs so lean. Several of our neighbors run their dogs a good number of miles per day, but they still seem to put on a few pounds over the years without being overfed. After some thought, the answer is here in these photos. My knees have long stopped allowing me to “run” with them in hand. And if you have a pack, they encourage each other so they are always racing here and there.

For every mile that I walk/run with them, they probably do two, and at a fast pace. The route we have taken for the last fifteen years involves covering all the fields at the high school here in Farmington at least several times. Being early morning, you rarely encounter anyone else and the school kids are all inside.

Since they have all walked together from being pups, they don’t stray and they listen pretty well. (excepting of course our recent encounter with a large raccoon on the soccer field. We all survived including the raccoon, although I suffered cuts and bruises on my hands. Lesson learned is not to run them without full gloves on, fingerless ones don’t protect you well enough. And thank god the raccoon wasn’t rabid, just out for a walk like us apparently.)

For all of you interested in our Emma’s saga, here is the latest update. She has had three progresterone levels over the last five days, and is now close to ovulation. I am leaving tonight at 3 AM for the trip to the Cape to pick up Mulder, the champion stud. I have to have him at the Veterinary hospital in Suffield CT. by 10 AM Friday.

Both Emma and Mulder will stay there overnight and then we will bring Mulder back to Berna Welch on the Cape on Saturday. Then we keep our fingers crossed, and dream golden thoughts hoping for puppies just after Christmas.

Mike