A Friend is God's Way...

A friend is God's Way of proving He doesn't want us to walk alone.


This past weekend was stressful, to say the least. I wanted to be alone... for the first time since I adopted Jireh, I was so irritable, I even wanted her to stay away from me. But golden retrievers are sensitive and perceptive, so Jireh kept bringing me bones, toys, etc. I closed my eyes and pretended I was sleeping. When she finally gave up, she was beside me with a bear I had put up where she couldn't reach it. It wasn't her toy, but was a keepsake a friend had given me when Seminole passed away. Just as I was about to yell at her, she looked up with her big brown eyes, holding the bear that says, A friend is God's Way of proving He doesn't want us to walk alone. I hugged her as my heart melted, thanking God for Jireh and Addy.

Great Article on Courtroom Therapy Dog

Jireh definitely comforts me when I am experiencing social anxiety. At 10 mths. She has maturing to do, yet she already helps me immensely, like this courtroom therapy dog.

See Article

Touching Video

Scroll to 8:00 ... makes you wanna hug a Golden Retriever.

Fort Desoto Beach

Assistance Dog Training - Bracing

One of the first commands Jireh learned was ‘sit’. She now sits whenever she faces me, which I’ve been rewarding her for such consistent manners and obedience. She is truly a smart dog, and catches on amazingly fast. I still marvel at the fact she is not quite 9 months old.

Since I am training her as an assistance dog to help me with things such as providing a sturdy base if I fall, I need her to stand on command (which she does when I am standing too). So now we are working on getting her to stand when I am sitting on the ground. She is slowly catching on. After this, I have to teach her to keep standing long enough for me to put my hands on her shoulder blades in a way that doesn’t hurt her so she can help me stand. This is called ‘bracing’.

Jireh is a great dog. When she was a little puppy, she truly was a challenge. Thank goodness I had Jennifer and PJ to help me guide her. Since Jireh turned 6 months old, she catches on much quicker. Like walking on leash, I don’t move if she starts pulling me, so she has to sit. This is hard for Jireh as she’s easily distracted by birds. But now, she looks at me when walking and is, for the most part, a joy to walk. I’m hoping she will be ready for the Canine Good Citizen test next month, but we have a lot of work to do.

Jireh Whispers, Speaks, High 5's, Sits, and Hugs

I'm Back!

Hooray - I finally have access to wifi so I can blog again! In the next week, I'll update this blog retrospectively. Jireh is doing GREAT! At 8 months old, she weighs a whopping 59 pounds and is TALL! Her feathers are growing out beautifully, and Addy is her best friend. If she hears Addy meow, she'll come running to rescue her from wherever she is, stopping whatever she is doing. Even when Jireh's friends (fellow Golden Retrievers) come over, Jireh stands in between Addy and the other dog(s). Addy starts each morning by walking under Jireh's chin seeking a wet kiss. Wait until you hear all of Jireh's tricks... wait until you hear about the joys of raising a puppy Golden Retriever and the purrfect cat... Jireh and Addy.
Here are recent photos of Jireh at a pond playdate... needless to say, she had a blast!

 

Jireh Learns "Shake"

Saturday Morning Play Date

Jireh had another play date with her pals, Mia & Jovie. The more she socializes with other dogs, the better her behavior becomes. I can't tell you the value of play dates, especially for first time puppy owners like me. I never would have crated if it wasn't for feedback from others.  Last night, Jireh didn't 'go potty' 30 minutes after dinner, and I had an appointment to attend, so I put Jireh in her crate for 90 minutes while I was out. The entire time, I was both worried and felt cruel about shutting her inside of a cage. When I came home, I let her outside and she immediately 'went potty'.

I learned today the importance of teaching the puppy to control his/her bowel/bladder, which is what Jireh had finally practiced. Dogs don't like messing in their den (aka crate), so they will wait to go potty. The crate needs to be big enough for the dog to stand & turn around, but not so big that they can potty in corner, while sleeping in the other.

Socializing is good, both for the dogs and owners.

Addy Proves She Rules the Household

Jireh, After Asking Her to PLEASE Let Me Write!

10 Minutes Later... All she wants is to please me. Makes me cry for raising my voice at her. She's so sweet. Not her fault I am having a hard time:

Not All Rosy

Jireh peed a lake in the living room yesterday, so I put her in her crate (for the first time) after taking her outside. She cried 20 minutes so I let her have free rein of the house while I shut myself in my bedroom. Due to recent circumstances, there isn't much in the house that she can get into. Basically, I am staying in an old, roomy much needed non-insulated house with no nice furniture. Perfect for puppy's first months.

After Addy and Jireh cried and scratched my bedroom door for 4 hrs, I let them in. Within minutes, Jireh puked on my bed, my hair, then my shoes and blanket all while Addy scratching was my iPad. God bless people with real babies.

I know this is my fault- they both sensed I was having a bad day, irritable and anxious. When I get like this, I distance myself from them until I calm down. Poor babies want to comfort me, yet when pushed to extremes, I want to be left alone. This only reinforces their acting out and it's an endless cycle.

So the positive point here is I am forced to block out all that upsets & stresses me so I can be the best mom for Addy and Jireh. Hearing Addy purr and seeing Jireh wag her tail are my motivations.

Best Coworkers EVER...

As I catch up on my writing, my loving coworkers are each in their corner, giving me some focus time:

Meeting Mia

Jireh met Mia today at the dog park. Mia is a MAJESTIC Golden Retriever whose coloring is very similar to Jireh’s, so I got a glimpse of how Jireh will look in a few years… I am such a lucky dog! *when I find the cable to my camera, I will post photos.

Mia’s sister didn’t come because Jennifer didn’t want to overwhelm Jireh with 2 bigger golden’s. That was a wise idea as Jireh instantly connected with Mia like no other dog she has met, and I was much less nervous, knowing the gentle temperament of goldens. Jennifer has had four of them so she is a wealth of information, teaching me such valuable lessons, which I never realized there was so much to learn.

The objective of this particular blog is to share information and experiences from raising a cat and puppy golden in hopes it helps others when they adopt. As I mentioned, I had a golden retriever dog as a kid, which is much different than a puppy. The next few entries will be catching up on the weeks since I brought her home on December 5th, 2010. She has grown so much!

But back to today:
I have been against crate training until Jennifer explained the security and comfort dogs feel when they have their own place for retreating. So she brought one over and showed me how to acclimate Jireh to going in the crate for fun times, rest, eating, etc. Within 24 hours, Jireh began napping in her crate – on her own and not once have I shut the crate door! I wish I had crated her from Day 1! She is not as restless and allows me more writing time.

Another area of importance is feeding – I didn’t know the type of food I feed Jireh affects her potty habits… now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. Instead of leaving food out all day, the puppies bowels are better regulated when fed twice per day.

A lot of information in raising a puppy… but the rewards are sooo worth it! Jireh had so much fun playing with Mia, then came home and zonked out for awhile… that in itself made it a great day for all 3 of us, as it gave me time to spend with Addy.

Jireh 1/29/11

Playtime

Jireh has a play date this morning with 2 golden retrievers. I am so excited. My camera is ready!! I've been looking forward to this all week. Jireh goes to dog parks almost daily, and I can never relax enough for her to have fun. (I am sure she senses my apprehension). Like yesterday, some lady brought her 2 year old child INTO THE FENCED AREA. Jireh is as tall as the little girl, so while she was playing, Jireh knocked the girl over, who then started crying. The mom assured me it was okay... UM, NO, IT IS NOT OKAY! Imagine some huge animal jumping and licking you! Poor kid, I'd be crying too.

Then the day before, 2 big dogs 'played' with Jireh a bit too aggressively. I got in there, scooped Jireh up, and we left. They say never get in the middle of dogs 'playing' i.e. fighting... but my maternal instincts kicked in and I went in.

Addy plays with her to a point, then Jireh gets too bouncy and Addy starts hissing. Jireh needs gentle yet active playmates. Hopefully, this morning she will meet some.

I Love My Addy!

Meet Jireh and Addy

Rusty

There once was a golden retriever named, “Rusty”. It was during the mid-1980’s when I was sunning by my parents pool and a snake crawled beside me. Paralyed, I yelled until Rusty appeared at my side, picked up the snake (who repeatedly was biting Rusty’s neck), carried the reptile to the other side of the yard, and killed the snake.

Seminole

That day, Rusty became my hero. Years later, Rusty passed away when I was away at college. Very tragic day. When I moved into my own apartment, I went to the Tallahassee pet store to get my own golden. They didn’t have a golden, but they had a ‘golden’ kitty who was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I brought him home and named him, “Seminole”. Seminole remains the love of my life even though he went to heaven on 6-5-6 (30 minutes before 6-6-6, in fact).

Addy & Zoey

Seminole joined me in September of 1993, and in May of 1994, I adopted her sister, Zoey, who was with me until 6 months ago. Zoey, like Seminole, filled a place in my heart that will never change, will never fade, will never go away. A couple years after Seminole passed, Addy came into our home. *Funny, I think it is mean to leave a pet home alone all day when I flourish in isolation. Addy is awesome, which you will come to know in this blog. Awesome, amazing, adorable, angelic…. that’s my Addy.

Well, as I began to enter a mid-life crisis, I realized I have so many dreams that I’ve always plan to do ‘one day’. Having another golden is at the top of the list. So December 2010, I was given a golden puppy, who is truly a gift. I named her, Jireh, which is from the Bible meaning “the Lord provides”.

Jireh

This is the journey of Addy & Jireh… and how the Lord provides