Richard Crowe's Blog (249)

We will test Holly's Cool Coat today

Holly doesn't do well in the heat so we got her a cool coat:

http://www.shop.com/Cool_Vest-88371539-109255158-p+.xhtml?sourceid=298

It's a fairly hot October day and we are having a family outing in a park where the projected temperature will be 77 degrees. We are bringing Holly's cool coat to see how well it does in moderately warm temperatures. We still don't plan to have her out in really hot temperatures.

I placed a photo of Holly in her coat on my… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 17, 2009 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Holly went to the beauty parlor today...

Holly's groomer called to say that she had a cancellation which opened a spot for Holly today. After her trip to the beauty parlor, we took her to the Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch in Valley Center, CA to shoot some pictures which I posted tonight.

Added by Richard Crowe on October 15, 2009 at 10:10pm — 4 Comments

Holly's Trip To Canterbury Gardens

We took Holly for some photos to Canterbury Gardens which is a lovely holiday oriented store in Escondido, CA. I contacted the manager the previous day to get permission and he asked me to come right after the store opened but, before there were a lot of customers. As usual, Holly was her cooperative self but, she must have been stressed out a bit because she had her tongue out the entire time. Oh well, all dogs have tongues and sometimes they stick out.

Unfortunately, we forgot the… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 15, 2009 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment

Holly's second Night At Therapy Dog Bootcamp

Tonight we concentrated on the "Leave It!" command. We started off with easy stuff and progressed to the point where if the instructor would offer a treat and we would give the command, "Leave it!" the dog would turn away from the treat. Holly did very well at that.

The command is designed for rest homes or skilled nursing facilities where there might be a pill on the floor for the dog to grab.

We ended the night with the dogs walking through a "mine field" with treats all… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 13, 2009 at 10:06pm — 2 Comments

Holly's Evolution As A Watch Dog, continued...

Holly is now a bit over 21 months old and weighs about 60-pounds which, although not on the big side for a Doodle, is still a pretty big dog. We had tree trimmers on our property today and last Saturday, thinning the deadwood out of our oak trees and spraying and fertilizing the trees.

Holly was absolutely fierce looking barking at the trimmers through the sliding glass door. However when I brought her out and introduced her to the trimmers; she calmed down and accepted that they… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 12, 2009 at 10:48am — 1 Comment

Holly was spooked yesterday...

I was walking Holly in the business section of downtown Escondido yesterday because it is a great place for her to meet people and to get used to traffic noises and other distractions. Suddenly she panicked. There were three of those aluminum colored helium balloons (the type sold by florists and other vendors for birthdays and other occasions) tied to a post and blowing in the wind.

She was terribly afraid of them. I walked a bit down the street to get away from the balloons and… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 8, 2009 at 8:00am — 7 Comments

Holly's first night at Therapy Dog Bootcamp

Last night Holly completed her first session at her Therapy Dog indoctrination class and she did very well. This was marvelous socialization for Holly. There were ten dogs with their owners and three instructors. Usually, the class has five instructors so there is a one instructor to two dog ratio but, two of the usual instructors were at a conference out of town. The dogs ranged in size from a miniature doxie up to a goldendoodle twice Holly's size. Big Boomer was 112 pounds while Holly is… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on October 7, 2009 at 7:54am — 1 Comment

Change of Plans for Sweetie

The man who was going to adopt Sweetie changed his mind for some unknown reason. However, Judy and I have decided to make our home a forever home for Sweetie. We love her and she is happy with us; we do not ever want her abandoned again! Both her puppies are gone to their new homes and Sweetie is staying with us.

Added by Richard Crowe on October 4, 2009 at 7:33pm — 6 Comments

Sweetie and her puppies

Sweetie's little girl went to her new loving home today and her boy's new parents are driving down from Central California to pick him up this weekend.

We almost kept Sweetie since she is such a nice dog and has had such a traumatic life. However she is going to a new home with a man who recently lost his wife to cancer and then lost his beloved Maltese two months later. He needs to love Sweetie and Sweetie needs his love. We know that she will be happy being the center of someone's… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on September 30, 2009 at 10:00am — 3 Comments

Therapy Dog Boot Camp

Holly is going to start a six week Therapy Dog Prep School on October Sixth. She has graduated from basic puppy obedience when she was seven months old and from a three week resident course (which she completed in two weeks) in July of this year when she was twenty months old. The resident course was designed to make Holly more comfortable around children and reduce or eliminate her fear of large dogs. It worked very well in both cases.

The Therapy Dog Prep School is designed to… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on September 21, 2009 at 1:00pm — 3 Comments

Dirty Doodle Feet

Holly has big paws and we don't like them clipped closely like a poodle. She loves to run in the morning at the back of our property where she gets her feet all muddy. We noticed while we were dog-sitting our daughter's Labrador that the Lab's feet never got as dirty as Holly's even when they were running in the same area.

We have solved the muddy feet problem by using an old recycled tupperware pitcher filled with water and a drop or two of dog shampoo. It's a quick dip in the… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on September 7, 2009 at 12:14pm — 12 Comments

Are there any rescus Doodles available in Northern California?

Edie, the West Coast Coordinator for the American Maltese Asociation Rescue. has indicated to Judy, my wife, that she is interested in learning about the avilability of a rescue Doodle in Northern California. We have been sending her pictures of our Goldendoodle, Holly. interacting with Sweetie's puppies. Sweetie is the Rescue Maltese we have been fostering for the American Maltese Rescue. Edie is very impressed with Holly's personality and the way she gets along with the four Maltese, plus two… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on September 3, 2009 at 8:52am — 4 Comments

Is it September allready???

I have been amiss in not tagging Holly's photos for possible calendar selection. However, I tagged several this morning with the tags: Holly, calendar. I hope that I am not too late.

Added by Richard Crowe on September 1, 2009 at 7:18am — 2 Comments

Holly went to bootcamp

Holly has been afraid of large dogs all her life. In fact, most larger dogs actually terrified her although she loved small dogs. She has also been somewhat reserved with children since we have no children living with or near us. We bit the bullet and sent Holly to a three week resident training program which guaranteed that she would lose her fear of large dogs and also become acclimated to children. The other benefits of the program were that she would come home versed in all the other… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on August 7, 2009 at 8:50am — 4 Comments

We lost an old friend and gained a new friend today...

We had to euthanize Holly's best friend and our darling cat today. We had him for twelve years and he was wonderful. He came down with mass-cell cancer and his life was no longer happy because his hair was falling out in clumps and he couldn't hold down his food - even a prescription diet.

However we found a new friend, a rescue Maltese, whom we are fostering for the American Maltese Rescue. The poor girl was covered with fleas and ticks and had burrs all over. She was found… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on July 7, 2009 at 8:18pm — 20 Comments

I have had my surgery...

My surgery came through miraculously. It was a lower back lumbar L-4/L-5 fusion with lots of other descriptive words which only my wife, a retired nurse, understands.

My doctor, Choll Kim, MD, who is in charge of the Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Center at Alvarado Hospital did a wonderful job. I had surgery on the afternoon of May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) and I was out of bed walking the next morning and was released from the hospital at 3 PM on May 6th; 24 hours after… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on May 8, 2009 at 7:00am — 10 Comments

I miss walking Holly...

Walking Holly is one of my favorite past-times. I especially love walking where there are people who always admire Holly. She is a people magnet.

Unfortunately, my walking has been halted by a combination of knee and back problems. I had my right knee totally replaced on February 2ND and that surgery was totally successful. I experienced minimal pain and I was able to walk very quickly. However, my back started causing me extreme pain and halted any type of exercise. I will have… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on March 28, 2009 at 11:32am — 5 Comments

Doodles and Cats...

Holly just loves her friend, Felix, who is a twelve year-old tomcat. What is surprising is that Felix reciprocates her feelings. I see lots of pictures of Doodles and their kitty friends. I wonder if Doodles are more prone to good relationships with cats than other breeds of dogs?

Added by Richard Crowe on February 17, 2009 at 10:00pm — 6 Comments

Holly is afraid of my walker...

I just returned from a trip to the hospital where I had a total right knee replacement. I am doing just great, far better than I could have hoped for. However, there is one thing about which I was apprehensive. Holly is a big strong dog and enjoys getting up on the couch and sitting on our laps. She is well trained enough that if I saw her coming, just saying "no" or "off" would prevent this. She is also easily enough trained that I could keep her permanently off the couch. I do not want to… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on February 7, 2009 at 1:30pm — 9 Comments

Holly went swimming today...

We found a great place for Holly to swim in the Carlsbad Lagoon which is along the Pacific Ocean, north of San Diego and south of Oceanside. It is not an official dog beach but, seems very friendly to dogs. There were several Labs and Goldens swimming there and Holly had a ball playing with them and swimming. It is safe since there are no waves nor undercurrents.

It was about 75 degrees along the Coast and it is now (3 PM PST) about 80 degrees inland where we live.

We… Continue

Added by Richard Crowe on February 1, 2009 at 2:57pm — 1 Comment