Dave Chooses A Golden Retriever Puppy Today

Hi Everyone



We lost our beloved Rocky, a Golden Retriever, on December 18, 2007. It's a bad year when you lose your best friend on top of everything else. We wanted to get another Golden; for they are such a gentle, family breed kind of dog. They are sensitive, warm, loving and a dog you're not afraid is going to bite your friends who visit you. Plus, our house feels empty without our friend, Rocky, around.



And, with the passing of my 91 year old mother on February 28, 2008, we were looking forward to choosing Dave's new puppy who would grace out lives as a counter balance to our grieving. It has been a rough several years with my mother's health declining and then to lose Rocky on top of everything else was almost too much. And I find a bittersweetness about all of this now....death and birth...it is all entwined as it always is. My mother, Ruth, has passed on and is free at last and no longer suffering. And, simultaneously, the birth of these little puppies has made her passing more bearable. And my mother loved all animals so I know she's with us in Spirit today when we drove to Kingman, AZ, for Dave to find his next dog friend.



Today, we drove four hours to Kingman, Arizona, to choose from a litter of nine puppies. Renee Morris is the breeder and here's here website: www.web.mac.com/matthewratchford/ftgr



Here is our journey and joy today to find just the 'right' Golden Retriever puppy!:







About half way to Kingman we stopped and ate. Here's a raven sitting on a sign--and you can see the plastic owl on the corner. I think the owners thought the owl--who is a predator toward ravens--would scare it off. What do you think? :-)







When we arrived to the home of Renee and Jim, she led us into the 'baby room' after removing our shoes outside the door and washing our hands in Purell so as not to bring germs into the puppy area. Dave climbed into the large, nice box and there were seven of the nine puppies that he could choose from.







The piles of puppies, who were born February 12, 2008, had just been fed by their mother, Dolly, and so they were in little piles here and there fast asleep. The first one to wake up was the largest one, and Renee called him a 'chunky monkey' because he was one of the biggest of the Golden Retriever puppies.







Here is my favorite--the runt of the litter. Of course! This does tell you something, though. The biggest and fattest puppies are, by nature, more assertive and fight to get in to get mama's milk. The runt isn't able to fight as hard or isn't as assertive by nature and therefore, looses out. I really liked the little puppy--he was so sleepy and sweet.







One of the little puppies yawned and awakened while another of them playfully leaped at him.







It took Dave a long time, but finally, he settled on 'chunky monkey'--the butterscotch fuzzball of a male Golden Retriever puppy. Dave picked up all of them and it was this one--who I have named Cody (this is a tentative name because Dave hasn't come up with one yet but I have, haha)--kept coming back up to him. It was like he was saying 'pick me' :-) And so, Dave did.







And here's Cody at Dave's knee. Isn't it interesting Dave wore his GOLDEN corduroy shirt? I love the synchronicity!







And here Renee is placing a purple piece of yarn as a 'collar' around Cody's neck so when we go back at six weeks (late March) to pick him up, she will know which one to give us :-).







After that, Renee took us down to her dog compound to meet the mom and dad of the puppies. The wind was blowing 30 mph with 45 mph gusts today--wow. Here is Dave with Bear, the father. He's what they call the 'blond' Golden Retrievers--almost a whitish-gold color. Bear had a very broad, wide forehead, short muzzle, large eyes and just jumped all over us. He was so friendly, and he came and greeted Dave with big slurrpy kisses and then came over, like the gentleman he was, and introduced himself.







And here is Dolly, the Mom. She was so sweet--far more grounded and gentle than Bear, who was leaping and jumping around for joy at being out of the kennel. She has a very fine head--longer muzzle--and I hope Cody takes on to her grounded gentleness. We'll see--he's a male dog (and we'll be neutering him at the appropriate time), so they are naturally more robust and playful. I just loved Dolly's serene demeanor.







And here's a nice photo of Dolly up on the fence saying hello to Renee. I think Cody has a wonderful set of parents.







And so we leave you with this 'happy ending' with Dave admiring his new buddy: Cody. I know he can hardly wait to pick him up and bring him home!



In Spirit....Eileen