All Blog Posts (6,243)

Surprisingly enough, sometimes Milton, especially in the early mornings, does not want to join me on a walk. Yesterday, when he saw his leash, he even hid to avoid it.  That lazy, lazy dog...

Milt…

Happy Belated Fourth of July!  The Fourth was a grand success -- my sister threw a big party resplendent with tasty food, a giant water slide, and fantastic fireworks at the evening's end.

Last year I missed the celebration because I was down in Dallas, but this year I was present in full force with Milton connected to my hip by leash.  He was very well-behaved -- impressive, actually. When he gets wet though, not so much...



In other news,…

Sully (Sullivan) is a handsome seven and a half year old Goldendoodle who was turned over to the San Diego Shelter to be euthanized.

The owners no longer wanted this wonderful dog. The shelter did not have room for any dogs except aggressive dogs who were to be euthanized.  The (adjectives deleted) owners said, "O.K., he's aggressive, kill…

Tomorrow is the big day -- the Fourth of July!  This was my dad's absolute favorite holiday, so this special time of year is filled with a lot of reminiscing.  Today Mom and I begin baking for our celebration -- Mississippi mud cake, blondies, blackberry pie, red velvet cake balls, and flag cupcakes!  It is gonna be good.…

Momma's little trooper visited the vet yesterday for a little poking and prodding.  We had a laundry list of tasks to accomplish -- distemper shot, kennel cough vaccine, yearly heart worm test, and, of course, a brief examination of our goldendoodle's left ear -- another yeast infection -- too much swimming!



Cayuga Veterinary Services, where Milton had a rabies shot the very first summer of his life, is a fantastic office with super friendly and knowledgeable…

My title may be a bit melodramatic and I will leave it to you to decide after you read my blog.  Most weekend mornings, you will find me getting up with the dogs and letting them out to do their business.  As often happens with Type A individuals, I have a hard time delegating responsibility and seem to feel that no one does it better than me. I know that the dogs like to go out the front door first and then explore the backyard next.  They then go back to bed when the exploring is done and…

Lately I seem to be more of a casual observer of life rather than an active participant.  In my opinion, Jeff and I fell into a funk this past year of dining out much too much (Dallas has amazing restaurants!), which is always fun, but we seemed to have lost that crucial piece of trying new things.  Upon arrival to New York for the summer, I thought I would make a much needed change with my normal routine.  The main objective, quite honestly, is to meet up with friends and family to do…

One of our rescues, a terrier, had begun to bite at the air.  We discussed this with our vet who stated that this was a low grade seizure problem and could be a precursor to a more serious seizure disorder...

We have begun a low dose Phenobarbital regimen which has eliminated the behavior totally.  There seem to be no adverse side effects.…

I promised Jeff that I would post a picture every single day this summer, and I already missed yesterday -- Spectacular Saturday (These days of the week labels are beginning to remind me of a pack of little kid's underwear.)!  I do have an excuse though.  I am sick.  Yesterday I came down with some sort of rogenbogen, as my mom would say.  I tried to google this word, but, curiously, nothing turned up!  Regardless, I feel  bad, and I think Jeff will understand.…

One early concern about summering in New York was that my mom does not have a fenced in yard, and I was none too keen on the possibility of our Milton wandering off.  Upon arrival, however, we noticed that when Milton was let outside off leash, he always stuck very close to the house, which I attributed to his loyal goldendoodle attributes and his time spent hunting at the land with Pop.  With the house situated down a long drive from a major road, surrounded by woods on three sides,…

All day yesterday it rained, and rained, and rained some more.  A drizzle in the fall or spring isn't so bad, but when you have a heavy downpour on a warm summer day, it is a, to write like I speak, big bummer.…

There are some moments in life that you wish to share with everyone, this is one of them! This past weekend I had my wedding on Mackinac Island in Michigan. It was an intimate affair with about 40 people, a classical guitarist, and beautiful weather. I have known my husband, Robert, since I was six years old. We have been best friends for most of our lives and all of our family were there watching our love grow. I love this doodle community, and wanted to share with you some photos from our…

After Grand Nan witnessed this blatant act of disrespect on her king-size bed...

Naughty AND wet goldendoodle since he had just taken a dip in the lake!

Well, Milt found his favorite spot in the house which just so happens to not be my Mom's favorite spot for him in her house.

To mimic what my dad always used to say,…

Summer vacationing, especially with a lake and two acres within paws' reach, can be an awful lot of fun, but it does have its drawbacks, namely that it is rather challenging to find "sweet spots" -- those perfect places to nap -- around the house.  Milt has really had some difficulty with this adversity, and after almost two weeks here, I think he is finally beginning to sort it all out.  One sleeping spot was the below:…

Finnegan and I just finished our first school year as a reading team.  It was more rewarding for both of us than I could have imagined, but it wasn’t until the last day that I had one of those ah-ha moments that I wanted to share, especially for anyone thinking of doing therapy work.  

I honestly never pictured Finn as a reading dog. He's done a good job in nursing homes, gently putting his head in one lap after another, and I always thought he’d be wonderful in a children’s…

The ferns at my mom's house are tantalizing to both Milt and me.  Currently at our Dallas home, we are attempting to grow about five ferns (not nearly enough!) as shade plants in our side yard in an effort to soak up some of our mud.  Unfortunately, the ferns are not growing terribly quickly, and I always used our ferns in New York as a model, but I quickly forget that these are at least 40 years of growth planted by my grandmother.  Oh well, I guess time does eventually pass, but with…

As I shared in yesterday's post, my husband, Jeff, and I will be spending this summer apart -- South/North-style.  That being said, I am a little bit nervous that he will miss out on some integral memory-making moments with our big furry goldendoodle.  When I decided to stay in New York for the summer, the topic of Milton was up for discussion.  Me, being rather selfish, declared that Milton was, of course, joining me on summer vacation.  Then I backtracked and thought of my poor dear…

With the outside temperatures rising, it is rare now to find one of the dogs in our bed.  The other night was an exception.  Fudge slept the entire night with us and it reminded me again what I do not miss when she joins us in bed.  Fudge is a cover hog.  Most every night, Fudge waits for Hayley to come home from work and put her up on the bed with me.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Fudge can leap tall buildings, jump into trucks, jump on and off our stone wall with ease, catapult from our…

So I haven't been around posting very much. Living in Canada as I do, I like to spend every minute of good warm weather outside that I can. Winter is always just around the corner here. Max has been making new dog friends all over the place and we often have new and old friends coming over to visit which he always love. Gavin was over to visit us awhile ago, which was fun and a little exciting as Max found a hole in the fence but all turned out well. …