TAIL WAGGING & TAILGAITING!!!

I'm one of Mason's biggest fans!!!

Y'all might remember back when I dog sat Mason Bailes. In case you're wondering, yes, as in Pennington & Bailes, those boys making the fantastic game day pants! I can't even begin to describe how fantastic Mason was to dog sit. Ever since he left I've been absolutely salivating like one of Pavlov's Dogs to get a second Golden. Mason is not only a gorgeous Golden Retriever, but he has that golden personality too!

Milly and Mason had a grand time over the long weekend he spent with us. We went on long walks together, and I perfected walking two dogs at once. I simply put one dog on each side of me, and enforced that they stay on their respected side. They were happy to oblige, and Mason, Milly and me (I know it should be I, but the 3 M's sound cute) would go on strolls throughout Arlington that lasted for hours! We'd play fetch in the yard, too! And, the dogs got to enjoy a heavy snowfall where we got about 4" (we called this heavy, until we got slammed with 28 inches...)!!

After our long walks or play time, we'd all come in the house for some grooming and tellie. I'd usually collapse on the sofa, with the two at my feet, but I'll admit, I broke my no dogs on the sofa household rule twice to have Mason and Milly snuggle for TV time with me.

I've dog sat for many, many, many friends - always opening up my home to their canine companions, and usually the dogs are great - but, no dog has ever gotten along with Milly like Mason did. In the past it's not that the other dogs didn't get along with Milly, but more that Milly seemed very indifferent about having them around. With Mason, the two of them would snuggle non-stop, and the few minutes when they weren't balled up together they were chasing after tennis balls with each other. It was as though they'd been best friends their entire lives! After Mason left to go back home, Milly seached the house whimpering for him. She was so lonely without him!

I was so proud when I was pursuing the Pennington & Bailes Facebook page - I'll admit, I'm dying for these two skirts! - and my favorite mascot jumped right off the screen at me! Look how handsome Mason looks here? I think he makes an incredible un-official Mascot. It's nice to know I've got a golden in my room that will work so nicely with the skirts I plan on ordering! Hopefully, I can make the trip down to Florida one of these days to visit with Mason (and the human Bailes, too)! They're just a great family, with a fantastic dog!

I love to go to USC football games, and this skirt would be great for that!
I'm also dying to get the Palmetto skirt, so I can proudly represent my homestate while in DC!!!

Milly even has a Palmetto collar and a Gamecock collar!


Her collars aren't made by P&B, but they would look so cute
on her with me wearing the skirt!

Of course, Pennington and Bailes products are of superb quality, and great for game day. Think about how great you'll look in your tail gaiting attire with your tail wagging pup at your feet!

The Puppy Hunt: Update

I had an amazing conversation tonight with a Golden Retriever breeder that is helping me in my search for a breeder and litter. It was a great opportunity to really think about what exactly I am looking for in a puppy - I decided the biggest things are temperment, structure and movement.

We discussed what bloodlines I like and which ones I like less or dislike. I still have so much to learn, but I've already found there are some bloodlines I'm more attracted to than others. It's fun to look at various dogs from the same kennel and compare them to dogs from another kennel. You'll find you start noticing you like a certain look more than another. There are definitely some that I really prefer over others. One trend I've noticed is I like the lines where the goldens look like they are capable of doing what they were bred to be - hunting dogs. They have solid structure and from that comes good movement, and are not overly showy or flashy.

I have a list of breeders I'll be contacting when I'm snowed in this weekend - the news is predicting at least 2 feet of snow! I'm looking forward to reaching out to breeders and inquiring about litters - it will be neat to know what is out there. I already know about one litter that sounds very promising. The breeding will take place this spring - and the parents are gorgeous.

I'm anticipating it will be 1-2 years until I get a puppy, but it might be less. Most great breeders only breed a few litters a year, sometimes less than that, and you need to get on the waiting list.

My preference of gender is female, but I'd be willing to get a male if it's a great one. I'd much prefer a bitch though.

This past weekend I dog sat a beautiful Golden Retriever named Mason (check out his owner's company: Pennington and Bailes for great game day attire!). Mason was a total doll - sweet, perfectly behaved, adorable, willing to please, and great with Milly. It was a great opportunity to have an un-neautered male in the house to see what it might be like. He was perfect - on walks he did not stop to mark constantly, absolutely no humping, and a perfectly behaved boy in general. He has moved up boys in my eyes, and Milly was quite smitten with him. I did notice he got pee on his chest hair, and I'm not sure if most long haired boys have that problem. I still would prefer a female (Milly strangely gets along better with bitches) for my puppy, but I'm a lot more open to a male after having Mason for the weekend.

Well, I better run! I want to trim Milly's feet before the snow gets here! The news is calling it a "monster winter storm"... so I better prepare!

A Little Update

I apologize for not updating the blog more regularly – I have been extremely busy these last few weeks. I thought I would fill you in with what has been happening in my life lately.

This past weekend (Thursday through Tuesday) I dog sat for my friends Dave and Rachel… they have a lovely chocolate lab mix named Hershey. Hershey is about 10 months old, and while what she is mixed with is unknown, she looks like a miniature Chocolate Lab (think full lab look in Springer Spaniel size). It was a delight having her in the house, but having an active young dog did keep me on my toes most of the long weekend she was with me.

On Friday, I was able to leave work early, and a friend and I took Milly and Hershey on a wonderful hike. If you live in the Washington, DC metro area and have never been to the Potomac Overlook Trail I highly recommend it! It is in the woods and the trail winds back and forth across a creek leading all the way down to the Potomac River. It is not at all a crowded trail, and though there is a sign at the entrance stating dogs must remain on a leash and under control at all times there seems to be an unwritten rule amongst dog owners that well behaved dogs are welcome off leash. In my almost two or three years of enjoying this trail I have seen more dogs off leash than I have on leashes.

Hershey came to my house with a set of instructions, one of which was she absolutely loves water and swimming. At one point on the hike there is a large tidal pool (maybe 20 feet in diameter at its largest spot) and probably 5-6 feet deep at least. Here I let Hershey and Milly off of their leashes, and allowed Hershey to swim for a good 45 minutes. She loved it. Milly also enjoyed the hike, but Milly is not a fan of swimming. Instead, my darling Golden Retriever simply waded in the water up to her belly, and flirted with some environmental scientists who walked by. In case you were wondering, Milly is an excellent flirt, and in this case her flirtations certainly paid off as the researchers stopped and rubbed her belly for quite some time. Milly also was able to enjoy off leash time during the hike, and bounded through the woods shaking her head and wagging her tail. It was wonderful to see her darting around, leaping off of ledges and over logs with a look of total bliss on her face! Though Milly is 9 or 10 years old she was acting like a young puppy, and I do think having Hershey around for the weekend really helped Milly reconnect with her own youthful side.

On another note, you might remember me blogging about having found the right breeder for my next puppy, and my excitement as I anticipated this breeding to take place. Well, that was many months ago, and since then the breeding has occurred (it took), and the puppies were whelped about a week ago – seven healthy pups – 2 males and 5 females. A few weeks before the April breeding took place, I realized I really am not at the place in my life to fly all the way across the country (the breeder is in San Diego) to pick up a puppy, and with this horrible economy I simply did not feel this was the right time to invest in a puppy. I’m not going to lie, asking the breeder to remove my name from the waiting list was devastating, and I shed many tears. I had such high hopes for this litter, and for getting a puppy from it, but I have since realized that there is a puppy out there for me, and when the time is right I will get my next Golden Retriever. It still pains me to see the photos of this litter, and know one of those puppies was supposed to be mine. I have saved up enough money to purchase a puppy on the East Coast, and hopefully one of these days this will happen. Right now, I need to focus on my career, Milly, and possibly moving to a new rental property (with a larger yard!), though.

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