I never thought I’d see the day
I thought that I had finally moved along
And I had let you go so long ago, so long
This is not, this is not where I belong
So I wait for this shallow itch to pass
And I wait, yeah I wait Hey hey, I’m ok I don’t need this anyway, I’m fine What’s yours and mine Oh oh, I don’t know What I was ever hoping I would find But it’s time for me to leave this all behind
I don’t regret a single thing
I couldn’t say it didn’t feel alright
But I don’t want to stay and I don’t want to fight
All alone, with my foolish appetite
So I wait for this shallow itch to pass
And I wait, yeah I wait Hey hey, I’m ok I don’t need this anyway, I’m fine What’s yours and mine Oh oh, I don’t know What I was ever hoping I would find But it’s time for me to leave this all behind
I don’t have the heart to give away to you again
I don’t have the stomach for it, no one ever wins
We had our fun but I have sung this song to you before
Here’s my last refrain [Chorus x 2]
Ellie is a two-year-old Golden Retriever that had a life-threatening liver deformity. It would have killed her if she didn’t have medical intervention. As Good as Gold was the only golden retriever rescue in the country that offered to help her. As Good as Gold Golden Retriever Rescue of Northern Illinois was the only Golden Rescue in the country that offered to help her.
They are an all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, care and adoption of unwanted, abandoned and abused Golden Retrievers, one of the many fine groups detailed at our foundation site.
I have blogged about Malaysia’s Amber-Mae before but had to put up this latest video as there was 1 part that just made me smile inside. Be sure to watch very carefully as Amber’s mom, Melissa-Jane, gets her to show two opposite emotions: serious and happy (by smiling).
Amber definitely knows what’s coming and loves making Mom happy. She loves the game so much that on her last time to show serious you can see just how hard it is for her not to smile instead. It is just too cute.
Be on the lookout for the hug Chloe trick. That’s a first. I just love this trick. What a nice video. All the dogs in the background are so well behaved as well, just letting Amber do all the work.
I also love the one Golden who seems out of it resting, but is quick enough to snatch one of Amber’s reward treats.
Zeus (our 1 1/2 year old golden retriever) cannot contain his musical abilities! Whenever we sit down to the piano he’s there . . . ‘harmonizing’. He especially likes Tom’s piano playing! If he sees the video camera he stops . . . so this is super-secret spy video by Shane.
Here’s Linda with Golden Retriever Disco, doing a nursing home demonstration. These are much harder than you can imagine. The space that you typically have is very confining so you need to be very creative in what you can safely perform.
Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue is doing some incredible work. Their mission is to find loving, lifetime homes for all Southern California Golden Retrievers in need, regardless of conditions or circumstances. On March 16, 2011, the rescue received eight beautiful angels rescued from Taiwan. Here is that story.
Here are two video clips from a recent training session with Duke and two other dogs. He was very good! We worked on basics as the other two dogs were an added distraction, but he was ultimately very focused. =) Duke is a one year old, Golden Retriever, in training to be a service dog. His training can be followed on Facebook at: facebook.com/dukeintraining .The other two dogs are Puppy (a chihuahua) and Ginger (a poodle mix). Puppy knows a few more behaviors than just sit, including “side” which he happily demonstrated in the video. Ginger is new to training with multiple dogs and was quite good at focusing..
Golden Duke comes from Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs, Inc. (TLCAD), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation established in 1998. It is dedicated to the training of service dogs for those with limited abilities in the county of San Diego.
TLCAD, just one of the hundreds of the fine service dog organizations located worldwide, is included in our foundation’s listing found here.
MAC is a 3 yr old golden retriever who was hit by a truck on Christmas Eve of 2010. He was rushed to an emergency vet who told his owners that he was paralyzed from the waist down and would likely never walk again. He was catheterized and sent home where he was confined to a bed on the floor of his home. His owners then approached a local pool & hot tub company looking for a pre-owned hot tub that might be used for water therapy in the hopes that MAC could regain some use of his back legs again. Upon hearing of his plight, the store owners (who have goldens themselves) crafted a custom therapy pool for MAC free of charge.
We featured Golden Retriever Mully at one of our foundation’s contests over a year ago. She was one of our winners, but sadly has now left her Mom’s side, losing a battle with Myasthenia Gravis. Her life started out RUFF due to a deformed leg/amputation and ended RUFF, but Elizabeth sure hoped she gave her special Golden girl a happy life in-between.
We just love Saturday Night Love’s *ads*. Funny, how they are picking up on the sad state of our food supply. So, before getting the true scoop on nutrition and diet, check out this poignant video on what NOT TO BE SERVING TO OUR DOGS (initially posted in Oct 2009)!
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This is closer to the truth than you can imagine.
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Check out lots of incredible information on diet plans, some from veterinarians (Dr. Gregory Ogilvie and Dr. Demian Dressler) and Cornell University. There are 3 SUPER PDF documents for you to print out, with over 100 pages of material in fact. Just click here.
I home cook an organic diet and have done so for several years now. I add all organic ingredients to an organic pre-mix that is actually used for dogs with cancer. I feel it is a good preventative to use this formula as I really like the amount of antioxidants. I do not sell the food (I do not sell any food at my store) but know the person who developed it, and she does extensive work with veterinarians and dogs with chronic health issues.
The CANINE LIFE PRE-MIX FORMULATION FOR CANCER contains: Organic milled whole brown rice, Organic chick peas, Organic whole oats, calcium, carob, Acadian sea kelp, green tea, turmeric, oregano, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, ginger, and garlic.
Canine Life: Home-Baked & Organic
This is a true home-cooked diet, each recipe making muffins or squares. The baking time is extremely short as there is nothing to rise here, it is merely to cook together so that any bacteria is removed from the raw ingredients. Three cups of this purchased pre-mix (above) is added to the following ingredients that I provide from home: organic broccoli, organic egg with shell, organic red apple, organic blueberries, organic pure cranberry juice, organic safflower oil, organic ground chicken with skin, and organic chicken livers. The ingredients, such as the organic chicken livers, organic red apple and organic broccoli, are pureed or chopped fine via a (Cuisinart) food processor. And, the organic chicken (I use organic thighs) with skin (no bones) is ground up via a meat grinder attachment on my food processor. You can learn about it here at my foundation’s site.
On September 28th, I shared the story of RONAN: Golden puppy bowling cheater. To remind folks, here was the description of the scene in the video (shown again below):
My brother challenged me to teach my 8 month old Golden Retriever puppy, Ronan, to bowl….. now if only I could keep him from cheating! I laugh every time I watch this…. so I had to share.
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Well, Ronan’s mom just wrote to me, with news of her Golden boy’s latest achievement.
In September 2010, I was informed by youtube that you posted a video of my puppy, Ronan, learning to bowl on your website. Wanted to send you another video of my boy that will make you smile. Ronan has been such a blessing in my life, as he was a gift when I had my hip replaced for the 2nd time at age 39. I lost my job due to my health issues and Ronan has been such a light in my day to day life…. that I wanted to share his “grin” with you as I’m reading that you have health struggles too. Hope you get some relief soon. Hugs- Colleen
Naylor just before midnight on New Year’s Eve had returned to her apartment in the 1100 block of FM 518, when a man approached Naylor’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and ordered the woman and her daughters out.
The family got out safely, but Buddy was in the SUV as the carjacker drove away. The dog didn’t have a nametag or a microchip.
Naylor’s vehicle was found burned out New Year’s Day morning in the 11000 block of U.S. Highway 59, Sgt. John Jordan, a League City police spokesman, said.
Authorities couldn’t find Buddy.
Naylor said she didn’t expect anyone to find the puppy alive.
A woman, however, called Naylor on Sunday saying she had found a dog that matched photos of Buddy shown on the news after the carjacking.
The woman had picked up the dog at a McDonald’s restaurant near Little York Road and U.S. Highway 59 in north Houston, where a homeless man had tried to sell Buddy to her Sunday, Jordan said.
Two League City police investigators drove with Naylor on Monday to retrieve the dog.
I’ve often posted about my special Golden puppy raiser pal, Pat Lawson, a Golden lover after my own heart. She has raised over 20 puppies for various service dog organizations. Pat is shown here with her second CCI puppy “Bear” who graduated as a Skilled Companion in August of 2005.
Pat has a mini-grove of organically grown navel oranges that are sweet as sugar. The oranges are growing at the base of the San Tan mountains, in soil that promotes incredible sweetness. In the last 4 years I have bought well over 100 boxes of organic oranges.
Golden Alfie loves them as well, and the fact that they are totally organic, is just the icing on the cake.
I received this glowing letter last year from a fan of Pat’s oranges.
Many thanks for your blog post for Arizona Navel Oranges. I placed holiday orders based on your recommendation and emailed Pat Lawson for additional information. Pat gave me a call back that day and I had a lovely chat with her. Well, I received our packages yesterday, 12/16, and her oranges are the BEST.
I’m just “tickled-orange” to find such a terrific organic product from a small farmer who is also such a lovely woman.
Thanks again,
Lynn Beall
These delicious wonders only began shipping Monday and last only until February … which means you better not delay if you want to experience the joy yourself. Just go to arizonanaveloranges.com and be sure to let Pat know Rochelle sent you. She always loves making new doggie friends.
Here is Golden Tavi, who Pat raised some time ago. He was so used to Pat’s oranges that when he was bought a “store” orange he only took a few bites before leaving it sitting on the ground. Pat says that wherever he ends up, she will have to keep him supplied with his favorite food of all time, San Tan Sweet Oranges.
Check out Tavi below demolishing one of Mom’s oranges.
Dogs don’t judge. They provide unconditional love & support. They think you’re amazing, just the way you are! If you’re being bullied, or not living up to someone else’s expectations, check out this video where you will be immediately accepted and loved for who you are by a young Golden Retriever who has been where you are!
Ricochet gets bullied… she had expectations placed on her & she didn’t live up to them. Disappointment, sadness & frustration resulted. But, it got better, and she wants you to know, you can do it too! Just stay true to yourself & rise above the bullies and expectations because IT GETS BETTER!
It all started in September 2005. This was the day (now) Captain Andrew Schmidt came back from a 5 month tour in Kandahar. It turns out Golden Retriever Gracie had been in an Alexandria, VA shelter for 4 months and was literally days away from being euthanized when the Schmidt family adopted her.
The video got renewed hits after a remembrance collage had been created, which included Gracie’s warm homecoming for her dad. And, the family was invited onto the Today Show.
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Andy did not feel he got to say all he wanted to when he appeared on the Today Show, and has provided many updates to his Youtube site.
UPDATE: (11-13-2009) – This is crazy. I posted this years ago along with three other clips of wife in Haiti for my parents to see (Jen does medical missions in Haiti and runs a clinic in Cap Haitien). They still have like 400 hits a piece. This clip had like 30,000 hits two days ago. I’m not quite sure where this attention is all coming from. [EDIT: It appears to have started at Mentalfloss.com]. Oh, and it was filmed by my wife Jen in our front yard in Springfield, VA.. Gracie is six now. She’s asleep at my feet as I’m typing this.
UPDATE (11-14-2009). O-kaaaaay. This is getting crazy. They ran this on the Today Show today. I’m not a public person … this is getting a little intimidating.
I’m glad that this clip of Gracie has made so many people happy. If it makes you smile, it’s a good thing. But please remember the men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. My buddy Steve Taylor who is in Iraq wrote me to say that it bummed him out, because it reminded him of how much he missed his dog …
FINAL UPDATE (11-15-2009) Again, thanks for everyone’s kind words. Yes, we did a short (2-min) spot in the Today Show this morning. They were nice, but I didn’t get to say what I wanted to say about my friends deployed or the many Guardsmen overseas right now. But it went well (do a Google for Capt. Andrew Schmidt to see it).
We were contacted by another news outlet, but we declined. We’re 17 minutes into our 15 minutes of fame. We’re private people, and these things can get out of hand. For one, I am a staff officer in the Air Guard (even though I am past enlisted) … there are tens of thousands of combat arms soldiers and Marines on their third+ 12 month deployment down range; I’m only gearing up for my second. I don’t want to be made a symbol for something that I don’t deserve to be. You have to be careful, because you have no control when you go on TV unless you are very, very savvy (I am not). Or you get crazy and end up building a UFO weather balloon in your back yard.
FINAL FINAL UPDATE (11-16-2009) — I forgot to say this earlier, but if you ever want to get a dog, go to the pound. Pound dogs will always appreciate what you did for them. Save a life, adopt a mutt. Mixed breeds rule. Gracie was on doggie death row — she had been there for four months — when we got her. She was days away, and she’s been the best dog and a vital part of our family for the past five years. It’s funny that a little dog that was found abandoned in a pen in West Virginia, completely neglected, could put a smile on so many faces.
FINAL, FINAL, FINAL UPDATE (11-18-2009) I wanted to point out two things that have happened as a result of this. First, Kong Toys, which makes those wonderful little rubber dog toys with the peanut butter, reached out to me so that they could send a basket to Gracie (spoiled). That’s nice, but I give the plug because they asked for my friend Steve’s parent’s contact info so that they could send a ton of stuff to them to help them look after his dog Maxine, since he’s overseas. We had some talks about how we could build a program where when Guardsmen get deployed the company can do something for the pets left behind. Hopefully more to follow that.
Second, I reached out to the Alexandria, VA, animal shelter to let them now that Gracie is one of theirs. They saved her in 2004. They were elated — those people have a tough job, and if it picks up their morale, then great. I also told them that they could use it in any way for marketing or promotion purposes, full rights. Hopefully more to follow on that as well.
Finally, I don’t want to be a jerk on this, but I see that a lot of people are ripping this video and posting it as their own because it’s viral. Then they sell ads on it. Not cool. Linking is fine, but saying that it’s your own is not. You have to fill out a form with Google claiming it as your intellectual property. If you see this somewhere else (usually with a title like “Dog goes crazy”), then I didn’t post it. [Not everyone who has reposted this had had bad intentions, BTW. Some are cool people who wanted to publicize it. But some are thieves. I know, that’s clear as mud].
While many will not understand the language, the meaning is quite clear is this first lesson of positive Golden Retriever puppy obedience training. And, isn’t this little guy adorable?
But, boy are the big boys and girls inside jealous. They see that the new guy on the block is now getting all the prized attention.
Adorable 12-week-old Golden Retriever Maverick is being trained through Hero Dogs, Inc., a fabulous new group from my own state of Maryland that provides service dogs to military veterans or active members of the U.S. armed forces. They train dogs to meet those multiple challenges inherent to mobility, hearing, and/or psychiatric disorders. (Be sure to check them out and the many other service dog groups across the globe.)
The concept of the Psychiatric Service Dog (PSD) has received an increased emphasis in the media, their status elevated due to the concerns regarding the huge numbers of war veterans suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as Traumatic Brain Injury due to the use of the improvised explosive device (IED). Some estimates show greater than one third of vets returning home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from PTSD, this article on declining morale of US troops in Afghanistan revealing the significant societal impact:
Think tank RAND report in 2008 had revealed 300,000 veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan had been diagnosed with severe depression or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It said more soldiers were going AWOL to find treatment from PTSD. RAND further reveals that rates of PTSD and traumatic brain injury among troops taking part in war on terror have been excessively high, with a third of returning troops reporting psychic problems and 18.5% of all returning service personnel battling either PTSD or depression. Marine suicides doubled between 2006 and 2007; army suicides are at highest rate since records were kept in 1980. There has been 80% increase in desertions since 2003. Over 150 GIs refused service while about 250 war resisters are taking refuge in Canada. 1700 strong GI resistance is gaining momentum. The veterans have signed up for anti-war Oath Keepers (an association of serving military officers, reserves, National Guard, veterans, fire fighters). Longer war drags on more resistance from within ranks. Hundreds of letters have been written to Obama by serving and retired servicemen, urging him to bring back US troops. Long absence from homes is escalating divorce rates. …
Mental state of those on duty on scattered posts is worst since they feel scared. Many suffer from mental disorders. Sleeplessness and bouts of anger are common. Many are found broken down and weeping since the faceless enemy frustrates them. Seeing their comrades blown up shatters them. They feel irritated that in their bid to help the population by giving them humanitarian assistance, they do not cooperate and often lie and tend to protect Taliban. Recent rules of engagement to minimize civilian casualties are seen as fighting with one arm tied behind backs. Most demoralizing thing is that soldiers are not getting killed in combat actions but by roadside bombs on routine journeys. In 2009, most casualties were from IEDs and still are. All combat missions are accepted with a heavy heart. There is no sense of pride or accomplishment in them. None want to die or get crippled. All they desire is complete their tenure and return home safely in one piece.
We recently received a request for help from Cil Henson, President of Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc. Honored with the GRCA National Rescue Committee’s 2009 Starfish Award, Cil takes calls night and day, 7 days a week, as she truly leads by example.
Cil is in desperate need for help in raising funds for a young puppy rescue named Drew. He started a 6-week regimen of therapy and rehabilitation on November 4th, but the rescue only has $200 toward the $1800 cost.
I have a bit of experience with dogs that have special needs, who go on to help others deal with their own challenges. Just check out the story of Therapy Golden Retriever Polar.
Drew is a typically happy puppy who thinks everything in the world is fun and everyone in the world (human and canine) is great! Cats are fun to chase as he scoots around the house, and if he is fitted for a cart soon – as is hoped – look out!
He’s a tough little guy with an amazing amount of spirit, and all of that is in his favor as he copes with his somewhat limited mobility. He sees no reason why he should have to sit still and so he does everything in his power to follow his big foster brothers and sisters around the house and in the backyard. He’s fearless and smart, and willing to explore anywhere and everywhere.
Drew has apparently had a progressing neurological problem since birth or shortly thereafter that reached an acute stage, but he is on medications now that will hopefully stop the infection in its tracks and allow him to live a healthy life. He may need some physical therapy or rehabilitation to see exactly how much of the damage is permanent. He’s not expected to regain full use of his rear legs, but appears to be a great candidate for a cart.
Currently, Drew is staying at the Veterinary Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Clinic with Dr. Robinett every Monday through Friday for the next 4 weeks. It was hard to leave him there when Mondays come, but Cil knows he is in good hands.
Drew has begun chiropractic, electro-acupuncture, laser therapy, and range of motion treatments, and after the initial massage session, fell asleep and slept through most of the rest of the treatments. He is being kept in the reception area behind the desk at the clinic, and has been going home with Dr. Robinett at night.
Here is Cil’s recent November 6th update from Dr. Robinett.
Dr. Robinett is very excited about the progress Drew is making. His stifle joint (on the good leg) has already improved from a 5 degree range of motion to a 30 degree range of motion during the exercises. They are using the underwater treadmill to partially float him when they do the range of motion exercises and are getting great results.
Drew has already started to bond some with Jerri and is following her around, and is now already protective when someone comes into the clinic – he barks to be sure they know someone has come in!
They are all impressed with his spirit and with his willingness to do whatever they ask of him. Dr. Robinett is already feeling pretty optimistic about his outcome on the good leg. The other leg will still be a challenge, but they hope to start seeing at least some results with that leg soon as well.
I’ve often posted about my 
Here is Golden Tavi, who Pat raised some time ago. He was so used to Pat’s oranges that when he was bought a “store” orange he only took a few bites before leaving it sitting on the ground. Pat says that wherever he ends up, she will have to keep him supplied with his favorite food of all time, San Tan Sweet Oranges.
Land of PureGold Foundation 