Back in February, I posted about our aquisition of Allie Mae as a companion for JoJo, our aging female Golden.  Then sadly, in May I made the post regarding our losing JoJo.

Allie Mae at four years of age is just emerging from puppyhood and has a lot of energy and playfulness in her.  She visibly wanted and needed a companion who not only would bond with her, but would also run and play.  While Allie Mae is an well trained and disciplined young lady, she does possess a degree of oneriness and quickly earned the nickname – “Pill”

In June, with the help of Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas, we identified a candidate for the job of Allie Mae’s playful/loving companion.

He is a two year old red male named Marty.  The rescue coordinator said he might work out although she had not seen him especially playful with other dogs and wasn’t sure that he would do so.  The coordinator was actually somewhat interested in keeping him herself but allowed us to keep him for a day just to see if he and Allie Mae would get along well together.

It took all of about an hour and they we’re wrestling and playing that they had been Best Friends Forever!  We took several pictures of them playing and sent them to the rescue coordinator.  Her response was:   ” Well, it looks like he has made his decision “.

Marty is still a little un-disciplined and very much a puppy, but he’s eager and learning fast.  We will get him involved in a more structured obedience class very soon and I expect him to do very well.

We thought Allie was a little onery — if we only knew.  We now call Allie Mae “Sugar Pill” and Marty, “Piss & Vinegar Pill”  – He is full of it!

Marty has a classic Golden Retriever shape – big head, broad chest, big paws — a very handsome boy.

In a short time, Marty and Allie Mae have become BFFs and we’re all loving it!

Posted by DRHamp as We Love Dogs at 9:07 AM GMT-0500

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This week we lost our beloved JoJo.  She was an 12 year old Golden Retriever who we acquired from Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas
5 years ago.  In spite of the terrible life she had before coming into the rescue group, she had a wonderful disposition and personality and she always made us smile.   She loved her family and her adopted siblings.

She had a super life with us for 5 years and she showed her appreciation with her un-conditional love and her funny and entertaining ways.

As dog priorities go, I think food is always number 1, and that was the case with JoJo, but ice cubes had to be a close second.  Offered a bowl of dog food and a bowl if ice, I’m not at all sure which she would go for first.

We Loved her a lot and miss her very much.

Posted by DRHamp as We Love Dogs at 7:26 AM GMT-0500

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A few weeks back I made a post on our current family dog situation.  We lost Toby this past June and now that the holidays are behind us and we are somewhat settled, we’ve intensified the search for a companion for JoJo.   We had finally reached the conclusion that we would go back to the local Golden Retriever Rescue organizations locally and see what we could come up with.  Our requirements were fairly broad, but we did have some preferences.  We preferred a female, somewhere between two and five years of age. 

Well, meet Allie Mae, a very pretty and well mannered red Golden Retriever.  Allie will be four years old this month.  She has a beautiful head as you can see in the profile picture below – otherwise, physically, she would definitely not win any breed conformance beauty contests.  She is unusually tall and lanky, with rounded hind quarters much like a German Sheppard.

She is AKC registered and was bred locally.  She was released to the rescue organization  by her owners and apparently had been bounced around to several family members.  She had obviously received good care, just not a lot of love and attention.  The prior owners did invest in some obedience training and she does an excellent job with the basics of sit, down, come, and stay.  She is a dream on leash and Kay is really enjoying walks with her.  With Allie Mae’s tall lanky carriage, Kay is getting a good workout on their walks.

She is extremely mild mannered to the point of being submissive.  Part of that shyness seems to be a result of the new environment as she is gaining in confidence every day.

As with most rescue dogs, Allie Mae brings along some baggage, but surprisingly little.  She has a few apparenty minor health issues (hotspots & infected ears) but I’m confident those will clear up quickly with the treatment she is receiving and ongoing maintenance.

We know little of the details of her prior life, but it appears that while she was physically well taken care of – it appears that she received little love and attention.  She is very anxious to please and takes direction well.  She is very attentive, making good eye contact and learns very quickly.

There is always the question of compatibility with other dogs and in our case with JoJo.  As you can see in the picture at lower left — that’s not an issue.  While JoJo is a little old and frail to be physically playful companion, they are getting along well and I even think JoJo is enjoying the company.

JoJo, at twelve years of age probably won’t be with us a lot longer so we will be keeping our eyes open for Golden # seven and it is possible, if not likely, that we will have three dogs in the house for a period of time

Welcome Allie Mae, an absolute sweetheart.

Posted by DRHamp as We Love Dogs at 11:00 AM GMT-0500

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As many know (for purposes of this blog, all one or two of you who read this) We have had two dogs in the house almost for ever. First there was Homer, Kay’s Basset Hound.

What followed was a series of Golden Retrievers which quickly and early-on became our favorite breed of dog and a near passion. First there was Katy then shortly thereafter came Maggie. They we’re both from local newspaper adds and were (in our eyes and hearts, exceptional dogs.  That’s Maggie & Katy in the picture on the right

When we lost Katy, we brought in our first dog from a local Golden Retriever rescue organization – Molly, a super-sweet eight year old female. (that’s her sitting in the chair in the picture to the left)

Not a great deal of time passed and we lost Maggie to an inoperable brain tumor.

After a period of time getting ourselves past that, we went back to the rescue organization to find a companion for Molly. That turned out to be our first male dog – Toby.    Toby was thought to be about four years old and had been picked up as a stray. He was a very handsome boy, adored people and children, though he pretty much ignored all other dogs. (Toby is the handsome red guy in the center picture and with Molly in the lower left picture)

We lost Molly to kidney failure when she was about ten or eleven and fairly quickly started our rescue search for another Golden. That led us to JoJo (Josephine was her full name), a real sweetheart, and again an older eight year old girl.  (And that’s Toby with JoJo in the lower right picture)

For us, having a “favorite dog” is like having a favorite child – They are all special, unique, and during their lifetimes they each are our favorites. I will have to say though, as much as I’ve loved all of our dogs – Toby was the most special of all for me. We lost him this past June and I miss him and think of him every day. His picture hangs over my desk where I can see him daily.

So, JoJo is the sole dog in this house and she graciously allows us to live here with her. So the search has begun for a companion for JoJo. I really think that she likes if pretty well the way it is – she gets all the pets and all the attention.
This time I think it will be a bit younger dog 2 to 3 years old, likely a rescue Golden again, but we are also interested in Goldendoodles though they seldom show up for adoption and we aren’t quite ready to take on a new-born puppy.

So, that’s where we are – I’ll post an update when it changes.

Posted by DRHamp as We Love Dogs at 11:09 AM GMT-0500

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