Paws In The Sand

Goldie loved Valentines day! Well I don't know that he knew it was Valentines day but it was exciting nonetheless!  Any holiday celebration usually meant things to be unwrapped- which he loved, extra special food smells-which he adored! and there was always the chance that at least some of it would fall on the floor while cooking or that it would end up in his food bowl - which it did !! :)  Holidays meant treats for Goldie too and his own unwrapping to do. He was usually correct on both counts. It also usually meant more time with us, longer walks and games. Every year that Goldie was with us he brought hubby and I a Valentine day card!. Hubby usually got up first and let Goldie out in the garden and fed him, then brought me up a mug of coffee and Goldie would follow proudly carrying Valentines day cards in his mouth, ever so gently, ever so proudly, head up, tail aloft.  Of course we did not get our cards right away - oh no Goldie needed to do at least tw...

Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas and Happy Holidays from Goldie Paws In The Sand! I hope you have a wonderful time over the holidays. Have fun and party like a Golden does !!  Also a big THANK YOU to everyone who visited Goldies Blog this year. It means a lot to me that you visit and I do appreciate it.  Wishing you a New Year filled with happiness, peace, good health and joy.    I am looking forward to sharing more stories and Golden moments with you next year!    Thank You Golden Retriever Puppy & Kitten Card by LoveandSerenity Create personalized cards online at Zazzle.

As December is here and our thoughts turn to Christmas I am reminded how much Goldie adored this time of year!  We either spent Christmas at home, while he was with us, or if we did go away he came with us,  so to him it simply meant more time with us, lots of walks, lots of food smells and tasty treats. Presents were amazing to him and got so excited and he got more fun filled walks too ! What more could a dog want :) Just look at that face in the first picture ! For us there was a pattern to the Christmas Day mornings we spent at home with Goldie, whether we had visitors or not. We usually cooked the main part of the meal the night before so the smells would waft throughout the house and Goldie would be expectantly looking to see when this food would actually appear!  Anyway he patiently waited then trotted off to bed as normal and woke us up in his usual fashion the next day!  Goldie was fed first then we started on the present opening. This was G...

Missing Goldie a lot today, I don't know why in particular this day....missing him with a smile. Maybe its the Autumn leaves he loved to wade around and jump into, a big goofy look on his face!  Maybe its meeting so many dogs today at the Farmers market.  Maybe its digging in the autumn soil, without my "helper" digger by my side but remembering the echo of that particular form of fun and games! Maybe its the way the sun shines through the yellow and golden leaves right now and recalling how much our Golden boy loved this time of year. Cool enough to be energetic and fun. Warm enough for long walks and then after, cosy evenings by the fire. Maybe its the memory of his soft warm fur and his melting eyes and his huge loving heart. Maybe its the amazing thrill and excitement in his whole body when a lead was produced and the promise of a walk was near, even though we had only been out two hours before! Missing our road trips where we go for a drive just anyw...

Goldie never had to share his home with a cat. So we never had this problem of a cat stealing his bed!  However he was never quite sure about cats really.  He would watch the neighbourhood cats as they sat grooming themselves on our fence or sauntered slowly past the glass patio doors without a care in the world.  The cats would just look down at him in a somewhat superior fashion and he would look at them slightly panting and often drooling! His great banner of a tail slightly waving in an uncertain manner. This could go on for half an hour at a time sometimes.  He would look at me as if to say well what am I supposed to do with that !  He never barked or tried  to chase them.  Of course it may have been different if they had tried to get in his bed!  

Goldie did not like car travel. After we had him for a few days we were alone and I thought it would be a great idea to take him on one for the real countryside walks about a 30 min drive from us. My other dog had always been fine in the car so I really didn't even think Goldie would object.  He was excited to have his lead on and did the little Golden two step as he waited  a seemingly endless time for me to get my coat on, keys etc.... He so loved his walks. Then we were off!  However as I stopped at the car and opened the door, I saw a worried look creep across his previously happy face...."Come on boy" I said cheerfully expecting him to jump in.  No Way!! He dug his heels in like nothing I had seen before. He was Not going in that car! After some perseverance and persuasion on my part I realised that this was not just him being stubborn, but  was a serious issue for him. I abandoned the idea and we went for a nice local walk.  However this issue...

One of the questions we asked when we went to see our Goldie at his previous home was- does he dig. We were not asking to be precious about our garden, but just to know so we could make things safe at the boundaries.  Maybe the breeder misinterpreted this and as we watched Goldie running around exploring the garden she said "No he doesn't Dig". At this her sweet little girl wide eyed said,  "No Mummy you are wrong- look what he did this morning , he dug a BIG hole right There!" pointing to a rather large crater in the flowerbed border!! Of cause it made no difference to us and we always had a laugh over our "non digging dog" ! We watched him dig in the flowerbeds, dig behind the big conifer when it was hot to make himself a nice cool bed. He did well to dig in our rather heavy clay soil, but made short work of it. He "helped" me dig when I was gardening and it was great if I succeed on the odd occasion to encourage him to dig where I ac...

Goldie came to our home at about 3pm one Saturday. We let him roam around the garden and explore the house room by room, then we all went for a walk. He had his dinner then we all settled down. He was nice and sleepy tired. It had been a big day for him and us.  When it came to bedtime, one of the "rules" we had set was no dogs in the bedroom. We knew he was used to sleeping downstairs in the kitchen, so we set up a cosy bed for him there and said calm good nights and went upstairs. All was quiet for a good thirty minutes and we thought he had gone to sleep and were just saying how easy that was when we heard a pitiful cry! We stuck it out for a short time then went down to see him.  He grabbed a toy, greeted us with a big happy face, and wagging tail. We settled him again went back upstairs and within ten minutes it all began again. He didn't bark just a heart rending whine and cry. It was heart breaking and we could not stand it.  After two hours of this -up a...

Our first sight of our gorgeous golden retriever boy was on a Spring day at his breeders home. We rang the doorbell and through the door could see two flashes of gold and waving tails. As the door opened we saw Mum a beautiful serene deep golden girl with a striking banner of a tail. She had that smile many Golden's have and everything about her said love. Close behind her was her son, our Goldie to be. He was a long legged, slightly skinny, happy boy. He had a stick for tail still, yet to grow into his beautiful banner. His ears were considerably darker than his body,  very soft, warm and silky. Large puppy paws were offered in greeting, following his Mums lead. He  had the most beautiful face with dark, kind, gentle eyes.  I was practically in love already! We went inside and he and Mum were fussy, friendly dogs. He was six months old, going to be a pet or perhaps for breeding but he had a missing tooth so could not be bred from. So he was to be reluctantly sold. We...