Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

Here she is… Our newest female member of our family. Posing for a piece of cheese, and licking her muzzle. More photos to follow this weekend when she officially arrives here in Dogville.
 

 
Thank you to all who sent us such positive messages after getting our first blog email out of the blue in two and a half years. And to think some have already put their name on our list for the next litter. Thank you for such positive thinking.
 
Mike and Barb.

I just returned home this morning after being on call for the weekend, so this week’s puppyville update is delayed a bit. This last week, (week 7), started out with a lot of smiles and puppy hugs. In what has become a tradition of sorts, I bring two puppies from every litter that we have, to my offices, the Delivery and Operating Rooms. The wonder of a puppy is magical. Just look at the open, happy smiles that they generate from people of all ages.

If we could bottle the effect that they have on us, we would no longer need our high blood pressure medications, antidepressants, or anxiety meds.

How neat to be a wizard of the future, and write a wellness prescription for two ounces of puppy essence mixed with the glow of a bride, and a teaspoon of energy of a child. Without a doubt, the only way to start every day..

By the time I got through two of my three offices, Mr. Black and his sister were getting pooped. It was the first real truck ride for both of them outside the quick trip to the vet, so they were a little carsick. When I took them out of the cat carrier in the Delivery Room, I was a little embarrassed that one of them had gotten sick on both of them. So much for that wonderful new puppy smell.. However, Dr. Slater and Dr. Brushwood, came to the rescue, and gave them both baths in the utility sink. Thank you again Lauren and Rebecca!

We were then able to carry on our mission of spreading smiles to all the healers on duty!

By the time I got to Dr. Wolf’s office, the pups had fallen asleep from all the excitement.

So back home we came to rejoin the rest of our golden family.

This week we had more visitors, of course. Some repeat visits from excited clients and now new friends who are less than seven days away from taking home their special dog. And other neighbors and friends that we thought to share our blessings with, who we knew would enjoy the magic that holding a golden puppy brings. Hard to improve with words, these photos capturing that Golden magic at work..

On Friday, Donna, our good friend and breeding partner, came by to do the temperament testing on the puppies. Everyone passed with high marks except for our special boy, Mr. Black, who we now know is deaf for sure. All the puppies were very uniform in their personalities, which meant that all our client choices were approved.

Of course, what would the blog be without a couple of “Rocky” moments. It appears that he will be sharing our home for another month at least, while our son in Italy appears to have found a home for his family and will be moving in in June. Rocky still is “all boy”, and is constantly trying to undermine my efforts to get our flowers planted.

There are at least three huge holes in our backyard, that I just have not had the time to fill in.

And finally, we had a little scare with Mr. Black today. While he seemed to enjoy the company and activity this morning, his behavior was very erratic this afternoon. He would walk in circles just crashing into things, roll over, and then go in another direction. He began drooling a bit for no apparent reason. Barb and I just talked it out about his symptoms, what he wasn’t demonstrating.. fever, diarrhea, and vomiting, and decided not to bring him to the ER. So we put him in the big crate in the family room and kept vigil. He finally fell asleep.

When he awoke an hour later, lo and behold he was back to his “normal” self. Alert, playing with a bone, and he had a healthy appetite for supper. We just think now that he doesn’t have any stamina, and we will have to limit his play time until he gets stronger. He won’t be going anywhere soon, but it is going to be a bit stressful not knowing exactly what his issues are.

But like our special “Abby” taught us many years ago, we will live in the moment and enjoy the best that every day has to offer us all.

It seems very appropriate with it being Thanksgiving week, to look back on our most recent litter and share some of the heartwarming moments that ended our last adventure. At that time Barb was with puppy Rocky at Tufts Vet Hospital, and I was out of state for a long planned neighborhood guy’s weekend away. So our son Brian and a number of our great neighbors stepped in and helped give away the puppies to their new families.

They all did a fantastic job of it, and even managed to capture the happy faces as they took their new family members home.

Barb and I then saw the last few pups leave the following day.

The really neat thing about our last two families was that Lisa and Suzy were college roommates. They have kept close while raising their families, and they each have had two of our dogs now. While Barb and I knew that the house was going to be very quiet when the last two pups left, we had a lot of fun with everyone at the end. Even mother Emma was able to share in some last minute play with her offspring.

We still had those pangs of emptiness, but since we still had Rocky to nurse back to health, it wasn’t as bad as usual..

And finally, I did promise a few folks who came to visit, their moment in the glare of the internet lights, so here is everyone (I think), who came at the end of our last litter days for their puppy hugs and photos.

In closing, Barb and I wish much Thanksgiving happiness to all our readers, friends, and puppy owners. With the number of very happy smiles in this blog alone, you can see why we feel blessed for the opportunity to do what we do for our favorite animals and their owners. Like mission work, you really do gain much in return when giving of your time and energy to others.