Ramblin Goldens

Hi Judi:

I haven't talked to you for awhile and I wanted to provide an update.

Allie is such a charming little (and getting bigger) puppy. What a wonderful addition to our family, making all of us laugh.  She has doubled in size and will be 3 months old next week. Wow! She is so smart for her age but I think I have lost the memories of 10 years ago when we had Shadow as a puppy.

I have taken more pictures of her than I took of my children. What does that say of me as a parent? I was busier then for sure.  Robin and I failed the "crate lesson" and Allie goes wherever she wants and sleeps in the funniest of places. She loves to be in small tight places, one being between the toilet and tub with her head behind, in the pipes. We think it is the cool of the location and know this won't be a permanent place because she has almost grown out of it in a month.  The one thing that we find so endearing and amusing is her "need" to snuggle, mostly on our laps. It is hard to train her to stay down (not jump up on people or things) but she looks at us at times when we are sitting in our easy chair and beseeches us to hold her. (She thinks she is a lap dog!) We pick her up and she snuggles into our lap and into our hearts. I'm not sure how this will play out as she grows to maturity but we have visualized her legs on both sides of our lap and the weight getting too much to deal with. Time will tell.

She has some silly things that she does that are so funny to watch and I must admit I get caught up in spending time just looking at her antics (good for me that I take/have the time to just "be.") She loves her back yard and sits on the top step surveying her domain. There are two fat cats from the neighborhood that love to come into our yard and sit in wait for the birds to come to the feeder. Allie watches them and in fact is very skittish since they are bigger than she is at the present time and they know it. Every now and then she lets out a puppy bark and the cats look at her like she is from Mars and continue their bird watching vigil.

She has a nickname of "The Gardener" since she is really good at digging and pruning. She was hilarious one morning after she did her puppy laps in the yard, she spied a hanging plant left out from last year. It had long grasses hanging down a couple of feet and Allie had grown so she could leap into the air and grab a mouthful of grass and pull. She literally swung on the mouthful of grass, jumping up after she let go each time and effectively pruned the grasses to about 6 inches from the pot all the way around. When she had the mouthful of grass she would run around the yard, around the shed, under the steps and then flop on the grass and catch her breath and make another pass at the plant till finished. After that kind of exercise she comes in, we leave the door open for her to come in whenever she wants, and she'll sleep soundly for a couple of hours.

Keep well and Happy Spring.

Jill

We go for daily walks (well most days) and she is doing well with the lessons in "heeling" and is getting better at stopping at the corners and sitting. She is having a grand time in her puppy pool in the back yard as well as other wonderful carefree running sprees with puppy laps around the yard, playing with our grandchildren and neighbors, riding in the car and just loving us. She is a consummate "cuddler!" Always lies on our feet when we are eating and loves to be cuddled on the floor (as you suggested.)

AND... she is doing well sleeping through the night. HURRAY!

Thank you so much for "your high values and standards" in the breeding of your puppies. I certainly would recommend you to anyone looking for a companion in their life.

I will keep in touch.  Thanks for the happiness you brought into Robin's and my life with Allie.

Jill Dunn

Well they made it home around 9:00 p.m.   I allowed Brody to stay up to wait.  Charlie immediately felt at home.  The dog is very intelligent.  He has not had one accident in the house.  He was quite thirsty when he arrived, and I gave him some supper.   We went out after that (by the tree - which will be his spot) and he went pee and poop.  I praised him with a liver treat.   He played with Brody for around a half hour.   I put Brody to bed, and Paul and I stayed up with Charlie for around another 1/2 hour. I took him out before bed, then it was crate time.  The crate is right beside my bed.  He cried for about 2 minutes.  I stuck my hand in the crate and he licked it and then fell fast asleep.  I woke him at 1:00 a.m. and took him for a pee which he did immediately.  Back to bed.    I got up again at 3:30 and woke him again for another pee.   He did again, and then back to bed.  He was very good in the morning.  I wake at 5:30 to start chores, he was awake then, but not saying anything.  He was "lounging" on his side, chewing a toy.  Up we got, and outside again.   He had breaky, then Brody, Paul and I headed out to feed the girls, with Charlie in tow.

He was taken aback by the barn and the horses.   I know it was the size of them, and also the girls are quiet rambunctious in the morning as they are anxious to eat.   So I picked Charlie up and we walked around and I showed him everything, and Paul kindly fed for me.  After that, I put him down, and he followed us back to the house.  I reluctantly had to go to work, and they must be all outside right now doing barn stuff cause nobody will answer the phone!!!!  Lucky devils!!

Anyway, I am bringing the digi camera home tonight, and will take some pics and send to you.    He is lovely, and actually smarter than I had anticipated.

Thanks for the wonderful Dog Judi, you have made my family very, very happy. Although he will never "replace Arthur", nor should he, we will love him just as much.  He is now a huge part of our family!!!

Oh yes....   My mom and dad are on their way over to the farm to visit with their new "Granddog"!!

Bye for now!!

Catherine

Hey Judi,

             We just got back from the vet Sooner just had his shots (didn’t even move when the vet gave him his shot!) The vet said he’s in really good condition and is growing very fast; he is now 24.6Lbs 26inces long and 20.5inces high! We have been very, very busy with him he still loves the car rides and the long morning walks to the beach. Yesterday we had some rain and he didn’t want to wait for it to clear up so I put on the rain gear and off we went to the beach. He played out there for about an hour and then it was time to come in. Now of course in good Toronto fashion just as we got to our street the rain stopped and the sun came out but now the mud puddles were in full view of Sooner. Guess what he wanted to do??

              So after a good roll in the mud we made it home.  Me disregarding every thing we have taught him, I picked him up and ran across the house to the bathroom and put him in the tub. I have come to conclude that he loves the bath (water) but not the part when we wash the mud off of him (I think he is still a little ticked at me for that) After that he passed out for 2 hours until Mary came home and went for another trip around the block, no mud this time. So all is well, he has a very calm demeanor to him and seems to be very relaxed around the house. In late response to your prior e-mail you may certainly use our e-mails for your reference page. I would type one up for you but people would need 3 hours to read about all the great things you have done and instilled into our puppy’s life even before we saw him. From over the years I have had dogs, I have come to learn it’s not only what one person puts into training a puppy it’s also how the puppy is received when they are born and the care of a whole family it takes to shape a dogs demeanor right off the bat. And Sooner is definitely a great example of how you and your family have started him down the path to being a great, gentle and caring family addition.

 Again Thank-you for everything Judi

 Brian and Mary