Monday, January 31, 2011
Best Coworkers EVER...
As I catch up on my writing, my loving coworkers are each in their corner, giving me some focus time:
Saturday, January 29, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Meet Jireh and Addy
RustyThere 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.
SeminoleThat 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 & ZoeySeminole 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”.
JirehThis is the journey of Addy & Jireh… and how the Lord provides
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