Retriever Rescue

Hello again, Holly has just had a bath !! Do we have the only golden retriever in the world that does not like water ?? or is it just clean water they don't like. She certainly smells a lot sweeter now and the bathroom will clean I hope !!. She still seems to love us though

They only like being wet from the belly upwards. Cobi wallows in mud if she can find a muddy puddle, and if Ginnie starts to roll you can bet, it's a touch of fox behind each ear! Gemma would not swim at any price and yet her daughter Jade would get to water at any cost, the grubby little madam swam across a slurry pool at the age of 12, even though she had been for a long walk and a dip in a clean pool, we were caravanning at the time and it took a whole bottle of shampoo to get her smelling sweeter and reasonably clean, in spite of which we have loved all of them to bits, with their funny little ways.

oh the joys of water! All our Goldies have loved it, that is until we got Willow. She doesn't do, will go in upto her tummy and wet her ankles, but as yet, can't see the point of it. Timber on the other hand, screams like theres no tomorrow anywhere near water. All hills downwards lead to it in his mind. Turn left out of our village and he instinctively knows he's off for a swim, but get the bucket out and that's a whole different ball game! As Linda says, a good roll in something thoroughly smelly is pure joy, but the inevitable journey home means windows down and choking on the pong for us Just one of lifes bonuses in being owned by Goldies.Smelling nice isnt on,but theres always tomorrow to find another patch to roll on! Would we have it any other way? I think not.

P.S.patnpaul. Have a wonderful life with Holly. she deserves it.You will get so much love in return.

Yes, Holly does like water. We took her to the lake and she went straight in to her tummy, then she was in and out for about half an hour, finally getting right in but not swimming. Not sure about the retriever bit though, as she just stood and watched her ball drift slowly out into the lake with not a care. Some folk can be funny about wet dogs coming to say hello to them though !! she was only being friendly. She is now laid out full length smelling all wet and doggy, and snoring for england. More piccy's to follow

love all this chat about wet dogs, Did you know that a wet dog is the friendliest creature on earth. Work that one out.

Anyway so pleased to hear about Holly. Sounds like you are having lots of fun.

Jan.

here are just a few photos of hollys adventure

super photos, What a change in this little girl's life she must think she has gone to heaven.

jan xx

Hi Jan, I don't know about Holly but she has certainly made a difference to our lives. She is involved in everything we do, takes an interest in everyone in the family and has a talent for being just where you want to put your feet !! She is eating now and has lost quite a bit of weight over the last couple of weeks. We still cannot believe it was just two weeks since we met and she has been here 2 weeks tomorrow, she is just the centre of attention and such a part of the family it's hard to believe she has been here such a short time, and settled in so easily. We are still discovering things about her, like if you touch the side of her foot she offers you a paw. She just loves the bustle of our family life which as you can imagine with 4 boys it gets a bit hectic at times, but Holly takes it all in her stride. Nothing bothers her, she is always ready with her amazing tongue (have you ever seen one so long ? wrist to elbow in one go) and always happy to be fussed and glad to see you. Can't understand why we waited so long. Thanks again Jan. xx

Thanks for the great pics of Holly and so nice to hear she has settled in well..

my previous three goldens would only paddle ,Max spends his life either swimming in the canal or covered in mud,cow,fox mess or anything which makes him smell awful,but he is happy which to me is all that matters.so our house has a new smell 'eau de cow muck'

My Paddy is a mud magnet if we go for a walk and let them off for a run we look to see if there is anything unsuitable around, no we cant see anything...wrong Paddy has found it....Lucy has now found that mud jumping is fun, but what can you do, they are having fun,as long as they realise a wash off after is part of the deal we do ok..

Hello again, just to let you all know Holly has been with us now for 6 weeks and we are getting to know each other quite well. She is the biggest cuddle monster imaginable and has lost a lot of weight. Holly is on 4 walks each day and is always willing for more. A range of outdoor toys from balls to frisbies are growing at a rate of knots and all in carefully thought out places for that last minute walk accessory. She found a rugby ball which she proudly carried home (no mean feat) and is absolutely amazing at finding her ball, even in the dark which it now is when we venture out early morning. We are still finding out about her and the things she knows, and although we are working on her training !!!, she knows far more than she let's on, some days she uses it and some days she doesn't !! She loves to play hide and seek, and when she thinks we have been sat long enough, she brings toys for us to play with, for a big dog she is very agile and we are thinking of maybe taking her to agility training. She has a dislike of anything aerosol and will quickly leave the room when any appear. Following on from her early adventures in the lake she now goes for anything with water, especially large muddy puddles !!

Its great to hear Holly is doing so well and is so settled in such a short time.

Sounds like she has found a lovely family.

Lovely to hear her story...

Susan

Wonderful to hear all the updates.

jan

Just to keep you all up to date with Holly's adventures, she has enjoyed the cold weather and loves the frost, she runs through the long grass and fearn to get covered in it. We took her back to the lake last week and she was straight into the water and actually swam this time, we now think she had not been in the water before and as her confidence grew she went further and further out until her feet left the floor and started swimming (there was not many dogs in the water, it was about 2 degree's that day !!!). She is so loving and well behaved she is a real pleasure to know. I am hoping to take her to the coast soon as she will love the sea and we are already planning where we can take her with the caravan so she can enjoy the open countryside, the lakes are definately on the list. We will update the pics tomorrow so you can see how thin and fit she is now.