Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

It has been an interesting week. With Emma involuntarily sidelined from the care of her pups with her breast abscess, Barb and I have had to put most of the week’s plans on hold and just do puppy care. Due to the excellent veterinary care of Dr. Steve Feldman and his associate Dr. Dolan, Emma is thankfully on the mend. Her abscess is resolving and her energy and spirit have returned. She still doesn’t understand why we won’t let her go down to her pups. She mournfully cries every so often and listens for sounds of her puppies at the basement landing. We thought hard how to help her. My idea of bringing up a pup for her to smell and lick didn’t work. So I gave her a towel that we used to wipe off the pups after their milk bath ( see later in blog). She walks around the house with this, and sleeps with it on the bed or in a crate. She still cries but this makes me at least feel a little better.

It’s hard to know if the pups miss her constant attention of licks and nudges. With their needs satisfied by Barb and myself, they are growing nicely and taking more of an interest in the outside world. Their howls continue at night, but don’t worry to our waiting family clients, this is just pack behavior.

The need of a golden to bond and share your personal space is apparent the way the litter behaves. When they are not eating or drinking, they group together whether in the whelping box or the smaller white transfer box.

It is very amusing to see them crowd together for a nap. One by one they group together until there are 4 or 5 bodies on the ground floor. Then the rest climb aboard with the last few trying to get to the very top of the pile before they run out of energy and just settle where they are.

Barb is an avid Red Sox fan and the pups were introduced to a little commercial brainwashing today. They were let out of the box to romp around the little attached porch area. While I favor NY pinstripes myself, they made themselves right at home on the blue and red blanket.

Of course the puppies are not the only dogs needing their daily dose of attention. The bigger girls know something is different in our household because we are spending an extraordinary amount of time in the basement. They still demand their daily run, and fun activities. The recent sunny weather made for a nice afternoon watching them frolick in the backyard pool.

Recently Berna sent us some photos of Mulder having some water fun with his golden family. Last year he couldn’t swim because of the preparations for the National Show competition. Now that he is the ultimate champion and is retired from the show ring, he can have fun like his siblings. He is the one swimming with the white bumper. Not a bad life he has earned, studding and playing.

It certainly is a “Dog’s Life” for these lucky goldens.

As far as the pups go, with the early cool weather upon us, I doubt they will be able to enjoy the kiddie pool before they leave us at 8 weeks. That doesn’t stop them though from enjoying a little frolick in their milk dishes.

Thank god the pups have the same drip and dry coat their older brethren are blessed with. With a little toweling and a little grooming with a puppy brush, they have that so cute look again..

We are open for visitors again. Please call and schedule with Barbara.

Miss Pink has joined our famly as “Emma’s Miss Lucy of Brickyard”. Having her here has softened the puppy withdrawal that Barb and I and Emma would otherwise be suffering. Our youngest dog, Solo, has never seen a puppy up close before. She was the sole dog from Emma’s last litter. Losing her place as the youngest is sure to take some getting used to on her part. The last photo shows them extending a hesitant greeting to each other.

The last of our puppy children departed today. The whelping box is quiet. If you listen hard enough, you can still imagine the boisterous sounds of the happy litter inside just two days ago. Every story must have an end though, and this book, Emma’s Magical Adventure, has reached its final page. Looking back over the photos from the last eight weeks, it is amazing to me how many different adventures we have had and shared.

Barbara, Emma, and I wish our readers: friends, family, old and new puppy owners, much happiness. Like the traditional Irish blessing that graces many a placque, our golden puppy blessing to you all would go something like this…

May the warm memories of these puppy adventures wrap tightly around your heart and mind. May they shelter you against the frigid chills of life’s difficult moments.

May the love, laughter, and adventures we have shared together, remind us all how the simple lessons are the most important, and that living in the moment is a philosophy that we all would do well to embrace.

Then we might enjoy life as fully as our Goldens do.

But wait… Like the sparks and embers of an autumn bonfire, Emma’s efforts have taken new life to alight and flame into adventures in many new lives. Her birthing efforts now will ripple and grow into individual book sequels that will unfold over the next several years. Here are truly the fruits and blessings of her labors…

Puppy hugs to all.

Today the pups had their field trip to Animal General for Dr. Steve Feldman to weigh in on the health of the litter. Everyone got high marks with no medical issues of any kind. Everyone’s weights were good, and all the boys’ privates were intact. (Undescended testicles are not an ususual finding in golden boys). He told Barb and I we should be proud of how great everyone turned out, and despite the chaos and bad weather, we left beaming. Our son Brian had trooped home from NYC to see the pups before they left. He was very helpful to Barb getting everyone loaded up and to the vet on time. I, as usual couldn’t make it on time, and showed up at the very end of the visit. Everyone got their first set of vaccinations. A stool sample will be done early tomorrow to see if anyone needs any medication before they join their new families.

This is the last night in dogville with everyone together. Three pups leave tomorrow and then the rest over the weekend. I think Emma senses something. She spent last night sniffing her puppies before bedtime, and they returned the affection. Always a bittersweet moment, as we know how much she and us will miss them in the next few days when they are gone.

We had a prison break this morning! Early this AM, I cleaned the box and left them in there without the patio fence attached, because they had pulled up another big chunk of linoleum overnight that needed patching. Barb is off this week from school, so she was trying to sleep late. I got call on my cell from Barb a short time later, annoyed that all the pups had climbed over the doorway and were wandering all over the cellar. No harm done! Just them and me in the doghouse for the rest of the morning!

Only three more days before our puppies leave, and there seems to be an air of anticipation in the whelping box. When working or cleaning in the area now, each puppy tries to get your eye, and pays more and more attention to what you are doing rather than just playing. We hold each one several times a day, and they really enjoy those moments of one on one cuddling. Of course Barb and I are the ones getting the most out of these last moments. We may never see most of our pups again in person, and at best have to be satisfied with a photo. So we are savoring each of these last days. Today’s photos show that watching and waiting attitude that each of the pups has adopted.