The Life of Riley

Riley and The Bird Lady

2012-01-31T20:55:00.000+13:00

I've made a new friend - The Bird Lady. Isn't she wonderful!

My Monday morning (a public holiday here in Auckland, New Zealand) started with Enzo and I being chauffeured to the Auckland Botanic Gardens to see the "Sculpture in the Gardens" exhibition.

For those of you who can't visit the gardens before the exhibition finishes you are welcome to join me on my walk.

Here I am, already to go, in one of mum's favourite areas which is where there are lots of smelly herbs (or "erbs" as Americans say!).

The sculpture trail consists of 21 artworks along a 2km path. Each sculpture had a sign with number, the artist, name of the work, materials used and price and mum has included some of the information under the photos for you so you know what you are looking at. You can click on my photos to make them bigger if you want to see more detail.

1. Jim Wheeler OBJECT OF DEVOTION

Bronze

2. Richard Wedekind BARISTA ALCHEMY

Painted steel, stainless steel

3. Elementals group GARDEN ELEMENTALS

Metal, wood ceramic and resin on stainless steel poles

The people weren't part of the sculpture - there were people and dogs everywhere! Here are a couple of the GARDEN ELEMENTALS close up.

Then we found this carving...

4. Tui Hobson BIRD STRATEGY

Macrocarpa

Mum always thinks that it is better if there is a Golden Retriever in the photo to give you an idea of scale...

At the native plants area of the park we found these floating in the pond ...

5. Bev Goodwin EXOTIC BLOOMS

Mixed cable ties, leis, acrylic, mosaic tiles, hub caps, wire netting

I'm not sure how native plastic is to New Zealand, but they were very bright and cheerful amongst the other plants.

Around the corner (still amongst our native plants) was this...

Permanent Sculpture Collection

Colleen Ryan Priest CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF LOOSING YOU (2009)

Then an old boat. We weren't sure if this is it meant to be art or if it is just an old boat.

Anyway mum was so busy wrestling with holding dog leashes and a camera so she missed taking photos of five of the sculptures (including one she really wanted to show you by Lucy Bucknell called Big Man), but here is the next sculpture.

8. John Oxborough DOUBLE STRETCH

Premium steel, Oamaru Stone

Then we walked through the rose garden...

Permanent Sculpture Collection

Samantha Lissette ROSE CATHEDRAL (2008)

Over one of the bridges...

and in the lakes were these...

10. Todd Douglas STILL:LIFE

Raku clay, porcelain

Now as a dog I don't know much about art so this next piece really confused me as all it seemed to be was plants with a plaque inside. I really didn't understand it, but the sign said it was for sale for NZ$6,000 which seemed a lot of paper money to me.

11. Bronwynne Cornish BIVY

Kanuka, glass , ceramic

The 21 works range in price from NZ$900 (for an individual piece in a group works) to NZ$75,000 (which is approx. US$730 to US$60,500).

By the way you will be pleased to know that during our entire walk neither of us two dogs lifted our legs on any of the art!

This next sculpture consisted of flexible fabric covered shapes that formed seats when you sat on them...

12. Lgop co-op PROJECT ZELTSITZ IN GONDWANA

Steel, aluminium, stretch fabric and signage

Dad and Enzo checking it out...

There were lots of pretty flowers at the Auckland Botanic Garden (it is mid-summer here in New Zealand).

What do you think of this one? It sort of looked like it was falling apart to me.

14. John Edgar CORE

Basalt (Auckland), sandstone (India)

Time for another photo by the gateway.I am on the left and Ezno is on the right.

15. Chris Moore GATEWAY

Forged steel, bronze

Next something to challenge my Golden Retriever mind. You see Jeff Thomson, the artist of the next work, is famous for his corrugated iron (a common roofing material here in NZ) sculptures. Over the years he has made many interesting animals out of old corrugated iron - in fact he was one of the first to do this in Australasia, but here he has started moulding concrete into corrugated iron forms and references this to gorse (a horrible prickly weed bush with yellow flowers that covers land) and is hated by farmers), but to me here is all this other stuff now covering the land.

16. Jeff Thomson WHEN GORSE CEASES FLOWERING

Concrete, corrugated iron

Moving on...

18. Llew Summers BIRD WATCHER

Bronze

And then some more birds. These ones moved around in the wind like weather vanes.

19. Bing Dawe WATCHING OUT FOR ST FRANCIS

Sheet aluminium, steel pipe, carved and painted wood

At last I saw her. There she was on a park bench waiting just for me to go up to her and sit beside her. She was so lovely. Look at how she is made - all that detail, and the lovely patina she has from being touched by human hands and from the weather turning her a lovely shade of rust.

20. Jamie Pickernell THE BIRD LADY

Mild steel, galvanised and powder coated steel, totara

I wanted to take her home so that she could be in our garden. I would have invited all my friends to meet her and spent my time outside watching her and checking that she was OK, but mum said that The Bird Lady was one of two sculptures that had been bought by the Friends of the Garden (at the Botanic Gardens) to become part of their permanent collection which means that even though the exhibition is ending soon, we can go back and visit my Bird Lady anytime we want to.

Our walk continued to the final sculpture which (back where I started amongst the herbs).

21. Christine Hellyar KAVA KAWAKAWA FOUNTAIN

Cast bronze, water

So that was our stroll around the art in the park. All that was left was for Enzo and I to have our silly "who has the biggest tongue" competition which he always wins (as I think his head is still trying to grow enough to catch up with the size of his tongue) before we had a cool drink of water and a car ride home.

(Riley)

( Enzo)

If you would like to know more about any of these artworks visit this link for information about the artists, their statement about their work, photos and audio.

I'd love to know which sculpture you or your human likes best so please leave a comment so I know what your favourite one is and why you like it.

Woofs,

Riley

A sea of Golden Retrievers

2012-01-22T14:15:00.002+13:00

I'm so glad that the grey clouds and rain didn't stop mum from driving me to Chruchill Reserve (a beach on the North Shore of Auckland where dogs are allowed off-leash all year 24 hours a day) this morning to catch up with my friends from the Golden Retriever Club.

No words this time - just lots of photos so that you can see how much fun we all had.

Woofs,

Riley

PS Enzo stayed home as he has stitches after being neutered last week. He's doing fine, hasn't had to wear the cone of shame and didn't have to have a cold bath like I did when I got home today!

My summer holiday

2011-12-30T16:19:00.001+13:00

The week before Christmas Enzo, my two humans and I went to the beach to escape the madness of Auckland. They have found taking a holiday before Christmas is wonderful as the beach is empty (as most New Zealanders take their summer holiday from Christmas Day for two to three weeks). This beach, which is 70 minutes north of where I live, is one of my favourite places. I have stayed there ever since I was a puppy.

Dogs are allowed off leash on the beach before 9am and after 7pm, but on the first day young Enzo proved how fast he can actually run when he chased a seagull. He runs faster than both of my humans, and while he is running he also forgets his name so for his beach time he wore a gentle leader and very long leash.

I come back when called (even if I see something interesting like people or other dogs or birds or a smelly fish that has washed up on the beach) so I get to be off leash.

Being leashed didn't worry Enzo and he took to the water just like a young retriever should...

though at times I worried he was out of his depth!

Don't you just love my deserted beach - 3km of sand. The photo below is looking north

and this photo is looking to the south.

Every so often I would meet another dog and get to run and play.

Back at the bach, which is the Kiwi term for the old 1970's basic holiday house I stay at (though if you lived in the South Island of New Zealand you would call it a "crib"), I had five star accommodation on my very own couch on the front deck. My mum has a retriever coloured anti-fur showing cover especially for me (she always says my furs show on her black clothes). It blends well with my colouring. This is where I had my R and R. This couch is my special place (and a treat for me as I am not allowed on the furniture at home). I was so relaxed that they found me snoring several times.

However the young one decided he wanted my very comfy spot. I was not happy!

Enzo (with the black collar - mine is blue) found it very comfy.

But eventually I got my couch back,

and returned to his "kennel" which mum had set up to protect him from our hot summer sun. She went quite mad working out the best breeze, putting tarpaulins and shade cloth over old chairs and even putting in a dual temperature ding thermometer inside his kennel so she could check he wasn't getting too hot while he slept. Plus mum had lots of water bowls on the deck for us to drink from.

I found his kennel cool too, so sometimes I slept there and Enzo slept beside me! Mum said the kennel was cooler than inside the bach or the deck, and told me that she even thought about crawling in our special area with us for an afternoon siesta while our dad was out fishing, but instead she stretched out on my couch and read a book while we slept here.

The observant amongst you will have noticed that in the couch photo of us both above Enzo looked dry and I looked like a salty dog. It seems that Enzo has a coat that takes three shakes to dry, whereas my fur takes all morning! Dad went on and on about Enzo's amazing fur, but my coat had advantages too as the slow drying of the water kept me cool.

During the week we went for car rides to the shops and out to meals with my humans. Here is one of the places they had lunch.

My humans had an umbrella over their table and we had their table over us.

The service was really good there too, as when the waiter came out with drinks for my mum and dad and also had a bowl of cool water on his tray for us! From the little bits of food my humans snuck under the table I can recommend their food too.

In my last post I mentioned the pohutukawa tree which is also know as the New Zealand Christmas tree as red flowers appear each December.

Here is a neon sign version of the pohutukawa flower that we saw on one of the local shops.

So that was my holiday. I had seven days of swims, daily grooming, long walks, barbeques and car rides to interesting places. Seven long summer days with both my humans and Enzo.

Woofs,
Riley

Seasons Greetings from a salty dog.

2011-12-24T20:39:00.000+13:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who read this. I have just been away for a holiday at the beach with Enzo and my humans. I'm now back in Auckland and wanted to write about my adventures and visit your blogs, but it is Christmas Eve here and my humans have people to see and presents to wrap so things will all have to wait for a few days.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas,

Love and woofs,

Riley

PS The last picture is the pohutukawa (also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree as it is covered in red flowers at Christmas)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T09:19:00.000+13:00

Mum told me about Kate!

2011-11-26T19:00:00.001+13:00

Today is Election Day in New Zealand and on our walk to the polling booth my human mum told about Kate Sheppard (1848 - 1934) and how thankful she is for what she did. In 1893, because of Kate’s actions, New Zealand became the first country in world to let women vote in parliamentary elections.

Of course us dogs don’t get to vote despite politicians holding puppies for the camera in shameless attempts (similar to kissing babies) to get as many votes as they can. Mum pointed out I could have been easily swayed by the golden retriever puppy being held up by a politician earlier this week, so perhaps it is just as well that I can’t vote.

Back to my quick history lesson - while some women in NZ were able to vote in Local Body elections (from 1867) the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, led by Kate wanted women to have the right to vote in Parliamentary elections. After many petitions, on the 8th of September 1893 their campaign was successful and a bill was passed (20-18) allowing women (of all races) to vote!

In other countries women could not vote until:

Australia 1902

UK and Ireland 1918

Germany 1918

United States 1920

South Africa 1930 (White); 1968 (Coloured); 1984 (Indian); 1994 (Black)

Brazil 1931

France 1944

Italy 1946

China 1947

Hong Kong 1949

Monaco 1962

Switzerland 1971

Iraq 1980

Kuwaiat 2005

Even now there are still countries where women don’t get a say in how their country is run as only male votes count. This is Kate on our $10 bank note. The flowers beside her are white camellias, which were given to members of parliament who supported the bill, and these flowers are the symbol of the NZ women’s campaign to vote.

So thank you Kate. My mum voted today and appreciates what you and the suffrage movement did allowing all women in NZ (including her ancestors) to vote in 1893 and every three years since then.

As for me, I’m having a lazy weekend. Dad is back from a week in Australia, so the pack is together again, and for now calm prevails.

(Riley)

(Enzo)

Wishing all my friends a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

Woofs,

Riley

**For anyone who is interested in reading more see
http://www.elections.org.nz/study/education-centre/history/votes-for-women.html and http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/kate-sheppard and for the dates that women were allowed to vote in other countries see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage

Still wordless on a Wednesday - Enzo and Enzo

2011-11-16T15:26:00.000+13:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T22:16:00.000+13:00

My Sunday in New Zealand

2011-10-16T15:15:00.000+13:00

A car ride, water, open spaces and a chance to run free and play with Enzo and my friends - what more could a dog want?

(I'm already in the water whereas Enzo is just drinking it)

(That's me on the right, and the young pup behind.)

(Me second from right, with my friends)

(I'm on the right in the two photos below, with Enzo beside me)

A very enjoyable morning followed by a refreshing (a.k.a.cold and smelly) bath at home.

Tonight "sudden death" as New Zealand play Australia in the Rugby World Cup semi-final game at Eden Park (in my home town of Auckland) to see who will play France next weekend in the final. There will be much nail biting, noise making and jumping up and down tonight and not just by me!

I hope you are all having a fun and memorable Sunday,

Woofs,
Riley

Riley's rugby post

2011-10-09T18:07:00.005+13:00

There is so much rugby at the moment in my country of New Zealand that my human thought I had better say something about it. The 2011 Rugby World Cup started on the 9th of September with twenty teams (Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga, USA and Wales) and only eight teams made it through to the quarter finals, despite some interesting upsets like Australia versus Ireland where Ireland won!

There have been flags everywhere (mum now recognises each flag, especially the Tongan flag as the Tongan supporters really got into the spirit of things).

This is the weekend of the quarter finals - two games (Ireland vs Wales and South Africa vs Australia) being played at the Cake Tin in Wellington, and two games (England vs France and NZ vs Argentina) at Eden Park in Auckland, so yesterday afternoon (before the Ireland - Wales game my humans decided to venture into town to see what "Party Central" was like. "Party Central" is one of the areas around Auckland set up for fans to watch the games. Unfortunately they told me I had to stay at home, but I get to show you the pictures.

First they walked through the Viaduct area which is at the bottom of Auckland's Central Business District.

The bars around the Viaduct had started filing up,

as you will see if you bigify this photo.

Then they got to the ques on Quay Street to get into "Party Central" which is on a wharf behind the red gates. This is an area set up for before and after games for fans to get together. The road in front of the wharf is closed to traffic, and to get in they had to que for ages and then do a U-turn and go back beside the red gates on the left!

On Queen's Wharf there was space to move around, and this giant rugby ball which mum went inside. This inflatable ball has been by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London, Tokyo and Sydney. There are videos projected inside (on the ceiling/walls) showing New Zealand, which mum really enjoyed.

They saw one of the old sheds that was left on Queen's Wharf, called Shed 10. There used to be two of these, and they left one as a bar area. It is set up with lots and lots of screens so people can drink (in a dark area, it only looks light as mum's camera had a flash thing!) and watch the rugby.

Then they checked out "the cloud" which is a long white structure, that replaces one of the original sheds.

New Zealand is known as "The Land of the Long White Cloud" so some designers decided to make this long white thing covered in white film.

It is much brighter inside than the Shed, and there are lots of places to watch the rugby and buy food and drink. These photos were before the Wales vs Ireland game began.

There is also an area inside called "Taste at the Cloud" for people to sample NZ food and wine. Mum liked the look of some of the food, especially the Rural food (see the link above) and wanted to try some and sample a variety of our NZ beverages, but dad prefered to go outside to watch the game and enjoy the RWC brand of beer which starts with an "H", so mum ended up outside drinking the RWC approved brand of wine in plastic cups (instead of a a nice selection of NZ wines poured into glass glasses inside The Cloud).

In the wind and you can see some of the flags...

and beside the wharf the surf life saving guys are on standby for anyone foolish enough to fall over the side!

There is also another huge rugby ball on one of the other Auckland wharfs behind them,

and at the end of Queen's wharf (where a band had been playing before) the start of the Ireland vs Wales game.

It was fun to see this side of the RWC, and Queen's Wharf is open every day while the Rugby World Cup is on until the wee small hours (so all the people who went to the Auckland game have somewhere to return to to party, and anyone not at the games can also enjoy the RWC atmosphere). There are other Fan Zones around Auckland, and also around NZ.

Yesterday Wales bet Ireland 22-10, and France bet England 19-12, so Wales and France will play a semi-final game in Auckland next weekend.

Tonight South Africa play Australia in Wellington, and NZ play Argentina in Auckland. The winners will play each other in Auckland next weekend, followed by the bronze final and final on the 21st and 23rd of October in Auckland.

Woofs,

Riley (the dog who has never heard so many people talking so much about rugby)

PS This is a photo off the The Cloud's website (see link to Queen's Wharf above) to show you what it is meant to look like at night.

Five

2011-09-24T19:40:00.001+12:00

Today is my birthday. It doesn't seem that long since I was a young pup able to move FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF ~~LIGHT~~ PARKED CARS. Being able to move so fast is now being questioned, but I know I was so fast around and under cars that oil never had time to stick to my fur and mum couldn't catch me on her camera without laughing and blurring the photos.

However, now that I'm five my birthday started differently from last year, when I was four and had the full attention of my humans and packages to shred open. First I found out that dad had disappeared in the middle of the night to drive to a mountain where he can ski. Then mum started howling. She went on and on. It was quite disturbing and all I could do was look at her. She says she was singing a birthday song but I wasn't convinced. Then she told me that because she's had such a crazy week, she hasn't got me any presents yet and she feels really bad about it, but it's OK as I already have too many toys and young Enzo thinks "what is his is his" and "what is mine is his", so I probably wouldn't get to play with any new toys anyway.

Instead she promised me a day of attention with us going out together, a nice massage (you may recall she did a dog massage course), a special pass to allow me to lie on the couch tonight with her to watch sport (I've only been "allowed up" maybe eight times in all my years here - though I do sneak up when my humans are out as I don't think they have noticed the dent in the leather that I make) and best of all she told me she was going to give me some of my favourite foods.

Food glorious food...there is nothing better! I would do absolutely anything for food and my favourites are smoked fish, steak, potato chips (crisps), tasty cheese, egg, mashed potatoes and Cheezels (bright orange "O" shaped corn snacks). I have had some of these already today, and small portions of the rest are going to be in my dinner bowl with my usual ration of kibble tonight. There are many other foods I enjoy including liver, sausages, some vegetables and ice cubes (strange but true - I will spin circles and do tricks for frozen water) but having some special foods today has made me happy.

Now it is almost time to climb up onto "my couch" and see how our NZ rugby team do against the French.

Woofs,

Riley

PS What are your favourite food treats? Is there anything I should request for my next birthday? If I put my order in early, perhaps mum will be more organised.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T21:47:00.000+12:00

The World in Union

2011-09-09T11:35:00.004+12:00

Tonight, at 7.30pm New Zealand time, in my hometown of Auckland, Rugby World Cup 2011 begins. NZ is only a small country of just over 4 million people, but we hope to put on a wonderful World Cup. There will be 48 games of rugby union held around NZ to find the best team.

Is your country competing? Do you recognise all twenty flags below? If you click on this image to make it bigger you will see the Maori name for each country. Maori is one of our three official languages. The other two are English and NZ Sign Language.

If you watch the opening ceremony you will learn about where I live – there will be wakas (Maori canoes), volcanoes, the sea, and some of our history. You will hear our Maori language in greetings (and also at the start of our national anthem) as well as English to welcome all the countries that are competing in and watching this event. Then you will see fireworks over our Waitemata Harbour. Some of the fireworks will even form the shape of our native flowers, like the kowhai (yellow) and pohutukawa (red).

Tonight’s game is NZ versus Tonga. After the national anthem of each country, our team, the All Blacks, will perform a haka (which is a war dance). Tonga also will do their war dance and then the game between Tonga and NZ will begin. Then the competition begins, as all teams try to get to and win the final game which is on the 28th of October.

As well as the opening ceremony and first game at Eden Park tonight, there is a huge party at the Auckland waterfront that starts at 4pm, with 600 Maori arriving in wakas, lots of bars and restaurants, big screens to show the game, live music and something called “The Cloud” (as my country, Aotearoa, is known as the land of the long white cloud).

It is getting very exciting. There are flags on cars and buildings, people are dressed in their team colours and everywhere you go people are talking about rugby. The Tongans have really gotten into the spirit of things starting with a massive welcome to their team at Auckland airport earlier this week. Mum has lost count of how many red and white flags (for Tonga) she has seen on cars and houses! There are also lots of black flags (with a fern) for NZ, our NZ flag (blue with the Union Jack and four red stars) and flags for other countries flying too.

What do you think of me wearing an All Blacks jersey? I'm still waiting for the coach to call me. My humans will be dressed in black tonight too, but have told me that I have to stay at home with Enzo.

Which team are you supporting?

Woofs,
Riley

Spring is here!

2011-09-01T11:00:00.000+12:00

What are the rules?

2011-08-20T12:25:00.005+12:00

Lots and lots of photos of young Enzo (with the black collar) and me (with the denim collar) playing bitey face in our back yard, and then my mum would like your advice.

Now for our questions - Mum has never had two dogs before so she would really like your advice. You see ever since the young pup arrived we have been allowed to play bitey face as mum decided that it was unwise to wait until Enzo was my weight before we were allowed to battle.

For the last six months I’ve been gentle with him, and when we fight there is no raised fur, growls or blood. I’m a Golden Retriever, and although I make some silly faces in the photos I have a soft mouth. In fact we’ve never injured each other, and despite the photos showing the occasional mouthful of fur it is very rare that either of us yelps. If this was a movie it would probably be a silent movie!

But mum said there is something called “pack order” (in our games I always manage to knock the young one over, and so far he’s only done that once to me so at the moment I'm claiming I'm at the top of the pack), but Enzo is almost eight months old and is getting more and more male hormones as he is still a full dog (whereas I was taken to my nice vet just after my first birthday for what I thought would be a fun visit!) so mum wonders if there is anything that she should consider or do differently when we play so that our play remains fun and we stay friends.

At the moment my rules are:

• stand still while the young one runs around and around and around the garden and then around and around me as eventually he gets tired

• never let him bowl me over

• always try to have the upper paw

• show him there are no hard feelings after our fights by being friendly, sleeping together and generally being good together around the house

and Mum has these rules:

• we are not allowed to fight inside the house or in the back of the car

• we have to stop immediately when she says "Enough" until she says it is "OK" for us to play again (or if we are getting too energetic or tired, she gets us to do something else like a few sits or some heal work and then we all go inside)

• we have to wait for at least two hours after eating before playing like this because of some strange fear she has of the word “bloat” while we jump and twist, and

• we only get play fight if she or dad are home. When they are both out, for now, we are in separate areas of the house or garden.

So what do you think about how we play together? Do you get to play bitey face, and do you have any wise words about pack order. How did your humans know it was safe to leave you home alone together? Is there anything else we should know or consider as Enzo gets older and bigger?

Woofs,

Riley

Snow or graupel.

2011-08-16T11:03:00.001+12:00

Yesterday snow landed around parts of Auckland. Why is this news, well it was the first snow since 1939 or 1976 depending on which record you go by.

For Aucklanders having snow fall in our city was huge news, even though much of southern New Zealand and parts of the lower north island are regularly covered with the stuff. The snow didn’t last very long on the ground, and some news reports even claimed we only had graupel amongst a day of rain, hail and cold winds, but NIWA (a weather service) confirmed that it snowed and that Auckland set a new record with its coldest recorded temperature (a maximum temperature of 8.2 degrees C or 32 degrees F) yesterday.

Mum decided to stay inside and not take me for my daily walk (so she and Enzo could stay close to a heater) but she’s promised to dress up in all the clothes she can find and take me out today (even though more snow is forecast down to 100m) so I don’t get cabin fever.

However I did have a good walk in the weekend around the new Wynyard Quarter area of town. This is an industrial area, by the waterfront, that used to be known as "Tank Farm" due to all the big tanks that stored bulk liquids. It opened to the public about a week ago, and there are cafes and restaurants, playgrounds for the children, sculptures, tanks, a viewing thing to climb and a new exhibition centre.

(A photo off the web - I've circled Wynyard Quarter. You can see lots of tanks on the left). Auckland's CBD is behind Wynyard Quater where the tall Sky Tower is. You can click on this photo to biggify it).

The trams are back - for the first time in Auckland in over 50 years, and do a circuit round Wynyard Quarter every 15 minutes.

The playground was busy.

Here is the viewing platform that we went up, even though mum didn't like the fact that the steps and floor on the lower two levels were made from expanded metal (which meant she worried our toe nails might get caught) She didn't like looking down, but Enzo and I did really well, navigating past people, and walking from one end of this building to the other.

There was a glass lift at the far end, but we took the stairs. You can see the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the distance.

More tanks...

We walked past lots of people and a few dogs enjoying all the new cafes and bars along the wharf which is still used by boats delivering fish to the fish market (mum forgot to take photos) and we went up the outside of the new exhibition centre,

and got a view of the working boats, Devonport and Rangitoto (the volcano in the middle of our harbour) from the balcony.

The white building behind us is a Hilton Hotel.

and this is the view from the other side of the building towards the Viaduct Harbour area of town. . Can you see the bridge (which opens up to allow boats through)? The Viaduct area also has bars and restaurants and lots of apartments. It was built for when the America's Cup was held here.

We then walked over the bridge, and the last photo is looking back to the Exhibition Centre.

I hope you all had a good weekend, and wherever you are you are warm.

Woofs,

Riley

Water dogs

2011-07-31T18:19:00.001+12:00

Sunday afternoon and a mid-winter trip to the beach with my humans and Enzo. A first for him - he's never been in salt water, whereas I've been a salty dog for a long time.

I try to persuade the young fella that things will be OK - after all he is a Golden Retriever, and we are meant to be water dogs. You'll notice that I've already had one dip into the waves (the smell of the sea air makes me straight to the waves) and also that I get to be off-leash (my humans know I am voice controlled so don't need to be reeled in on a long line anymore, but Enzo is still being trained to come back).

However the wee pup wants to walk along the beach first.

And then he slowly follows me...

until he gets his feet wet. Don't you love the look of disgust on his face?

Another try, and the leap of a golden retriever,

and then this. Although I'm half out of the frame mum wanted to include it anyway as she says that you will notice the look of absolute joy on my face and the look of something else on Enzo's face.

It seems Enzo is more interested in sniffing the sand,

and digging, whereas the water and the big stick I found (in the first photo) are what makes me truly happy.

Eventually he went into the water, but it took him ages. So that was Enzo's first visit to the beach. If you have read any of my earlier posts you will see I love the beach, I love getting wet in rivers and I even love the garden hose.

However, it was a fun afternoon for three of us (and Enzo survived), so my humans are keen to take us both back to the salty water sometime soon to see if I can teach the young pup to swim in time for our New Zealand summer.

Woofs,

Riley

Monsters in the sky!

2011-07-03T10:48:00.002+12:00

Yesterday afternoon I was enjoying a nice mid-winter walk in the park with Enzo and my humans. Enzo and I were busy sniffing the long grass, listening to comments about what nice dogs we are and getting pats from young children when all of a sudden a large floppy thing landed on top of me. It just fell out of the sky and covered me so that mum couldn’t see me. Then I felt the monster’s whisker like things wrapped around my legs.

Unfortunately there are no photos of my courageous encounter with the beast, but mum was amazed that I stood so still when she told me (instead of fighting with it and tearing it to pieces) while she removed the thing. Then the owner came over to apologise (no apologies were necessary) and to take the strange creature away. I noticed that Enzo looked shocked by the whole incident, but as we walked away my tail was wagging, and I was happy as I had shown the young pup how brave an old dog can be! After that I looked up lots and this is what I saw.

(You can click on the photos to make the monsters bigger!)

Woofs,
Riley

PS I have a human attached to the end of my leash - there wasn't enough wind to make her fly!

I'm so relaxed after being massaged.

2011-06-20T11:40:00.002+12:00

On Saturday afternoon mum and I went to a Dog Massage Course. I think mum secretly hoped that the tutor would teach me how to massage her sore back, but instead I was the one receiving the massage. You see my mum realised that I needed some special Riley time after three and a half months of the young pup constantly in my face, jumping on me, stealing toys out of my mouth, eyeing up my food and getting far too much attention from both my humans.

The course was a four hour introduction to the basics of dog massage so that pet owners could learn some simple skills to use at home. Beth (our tutor) originally learnt to massage humans, but she loved dogs so much that two years ago she went to Australia to learn how to do Canine Myofunctional Therapy, and now she has a business massaging both humans and dogs here in Auckland.

Beth demonstrated different techniques with Colson (her own dog – a black lab x) who happily jumped up onto the massage table to be massaged. Then she went around everyone in the class, and checked things were being done right. Of course my happy face was a clue that I liked it. Beth also gave us some individual information about what my mum could do with the sore parts of my back, and she gave me a gentle rub down.

These were some of my class mates.

In between lessons about different techniques, seeing scary pictures of dogs (like the ones below the massage table – do we really look like that with no fur?) and information (like how many muscles I have in my ears!) we had several breaks where I got to play outside with the other dogs and say hello to all the humans.

The afternoon was so peaceful that I even let mum massage my paws and between my toes (normally I have tickly feet and don’t allow my feet to be touched).

The dog on the left was so relaxed that the whole class could hear him snoring as he was being massaged.

The best thing about the afternoon was that my mum also relaxed; she was calmer, wasn’t talking endlessly, or worrying about all the things she had to do next. Instead she was smiling as she rubbed her hands over my fur as she could see that I was happy. When we got home I went straight to my mat for a long nap. I was so relaxed that I didn’t even notice or react to the young one (who had been at home causing chaos with dad) until three hours later when I got up for my evening meal.

In the last couple of days mum has been practicing what she learnt on me, and incorporating little bits into our daily routine. Even my towel rubs (after being out in the winter rain) are different now, as she gently kneads my back through the towel (a bit like kneading bread) which is one of the techniques she learnt. I really like this!

Woofs,
Riley

PS For more information here is an article about the course which was printed in Fetch earlier this year.

My Sunday walk in the park

2011-05-29T21:52:00.001+12:00

Well the young one is now five months old now, so it was time to take him to one of my favourite Auckland parks. The park is called Cornwall Park and is about 15 minutes drive away from where we live, so we also get to enjoy being chauffeured around.

Dogs are are allowed in this park as long as they are on a leash. I think this is because otherwise we would follow our noses and find the source of all those interesting cow pat and sheep deposit smells.

However Enzo and I managed to find enough other things to keep us busy like greeting other dogs and sniffing the smoke from people cooking food on the barbecues in the park, and generally leading our humans where we wanted to go.

Now Enzo is a worry sometimes as he thinks the light just shines only on him, but it was just the way mum took the photo below. However you can see he's finally starting to get Golden Retriever fur on his tail and legs, though he needs lots of practice walking on a leash. This was just a Sunday walk and not the stuff he is learning in obedience classes, so we didn't have to walk at "heal" all the time.

This photo shows the monument at the top of One Tree Hill, and half of the puppy! I tied to tell Enzo about the park, but he had his nose to the ground most of the time.

Below is the view from the top today. If you are interested have a look at one of my old posts Climbing a volcano as I wrote about this park (and the views from the top) last year.

Then it was time for a quick photo opportunity with the autumn colours behind us. Even though it is autumn now here in New Zealand it is still quite warm.

Bookend dogs - are his ears are bigger than mine?

And then he is off again...

I hope you have all had a good weekend.

Woofs,

Riley

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T09:13:00.000+12:00

Synchronized Sunday

2011-04-18T16:43:00.000+12:00

Yesterday afternoon I decided it was finally time to take the young one under my paw and show him how to do things my way.

That's it ... put your right feet forward and keep your left feet back.

Now put your left feet forward and keep your right feet back to match mine.

We practiced walking side by side for a while in our garden, and then we went for our very first car ride together.

I travel in my mobile kennel often as you can tell by all the fur on my travel mat. Up until now Enzo has traveled in this box (on the back seat with someone beside him when he was very young, then in his box in the back of the car). However I always think of the back of the car as my very own area, but on Sunday it was finally time for us to try travelling in the car at the same time to see if we could share the space.

Good Enzo... sit up straight, put your tongue out.

Now look as cute as you can for anyone behind the car.

It might help if you opened your eyes though!

Mum decided to keep his box in the car so I didn't use him as a cushion, but after a while she realised that we were OK together (as Enzo had climbed out of his box to be closer to me which meant that we shared an even smaller space and the box was empty) so she took the box away and we travelled happily side by side. He didn't even try to climb over the back seats to escape from me.

We went to a few different places, dropped the trailer off (being followed by a trailer didn't seem to bother him), saw some people and then headed to the park for our first walk together. Up until now I've been going for daily walks without him as my walks are on hard ground and I like to walk long distances.

At the park I reminded Enzo to always put his "best foot forward". I was very impressed that he managed to keep his tail to the same side as I held mine the whole time (mum thinks it had something to do with the wind but I know is it because I've taught him so well). His feet are perfect in the photos.

During our walk we saw a chicken and I resisted the temptation to chase it. Chasing chickens is not a good habit for a young pup to learn - trust me on this as I had a foul experience the day before, with small black feathers left all over my dog bed, the neighbours cat nowhere to be seen and mum not sure exactly what to accuse me of.

Anyway I enjoyed my walk in the park with Enzo. It was short, but we spent about twenty minutes walking side by side (not obedience walking at "heal") without getting tangled up or tripping mum, although I do think she needs to sort out the length of my lead better so I can be head of the pack!

Then another car ride, and back home to relax together in our "~~family~~ dog room"

Paws out front and left leg to the left side, right leg tucked under.

So what do you think - am I doing OK training my very own mini-me?

Lots of woofs,

Riley

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T15:57:00.001+12:00

I've been so busy looking after the young one since he arrived here at the end of February, that I haven't had time to post much or even chase my tail, but hopefully I will get my P.A. back to her keyboard soon so I can tell you what Enzo and I have been up to!

Woofs,
Riley

Playing with the big dogs!

2011-03-26T18:22:00.000+13:00

Last Sunday morning my family took me to meet up with some friends for a "dog walk" arranged by my Golden Retriever Club. Needless to say I had lots of fun running, jumping, swimming and getting pats. That is good pats from human hands, which are not to be confused with the cow pats and horse pats which some of the dogs found, sniffed, sampled and even rolled in during our walk!

Here are some of mum's photos - I'm on the left in the first photo...

Me waiting for my humans to catch up!

Now for a quick lesson as many of you have commented on my pale blond colour (or "color" if you are American), but here our breed standard is similar to the British breed Standard so us goldies are often lighter than our American friends.

The British Kennel Club breed standard is:
Colour
Any shade of gold or cream, neither red nor mahogany. A few white hairs on chest only, permissible.

Our NZ Kennel Club breed standard is:
Colour:
Any shade of gold or cream, but neither red nor mahogany. The presence of a few white hairs on chest permissible. White collar, feet, toes or blaze should be penalised. Nose should be black.

Americans tend to prefer their dogs darker so that is what they are more used to seeing. The American Kennel Club standard is:
Color
Rich, lustrous golden of various shades. Feathering may be lighter than rest of coat. With the exception of graying or whitening of face or body due to age, any white marking, other than a few white hairs on the chest, should be penalized according to its extent. Allowable light shadings are not to be confused with white markings. Predominant body color which is either extremely pale or extremely dark is undesirable. Some latitude should be given to the light puppy whose coloring shows promise of deepening with maturity. Any noticeable area of black or other off-color hair is a serious fault.

Here is a picture of me - I am the one on the left.

The darker and lighter dogs in the water with me both meet our standard for colour (both of these dogs have won prizes at breed shows) so while I am pale (especially if you are used to seeing American GR's), I'm not as pale as some of the dogs in New Zealand.

Here are some more photos of the chaos and fun...

Wishing you all a good weekend,

Woofs,

Riley

Wordless Wednesday - 11kg. of bark and fluff versus 33kg. of Riley

2011-03-23T14:45:00.000+13:00

“The end of the Golden weather”

2011-03-17T11:00:00.001+13:00

Summer is almost over in New Zealand, but mid-February I went on holiday. Eight days of morning swims, long walks, barbeques, sun and sand and best of all lots of time relaxing with my two humans. Bliss.

Then I returned to Auckland and a small four legged thing arrived and has taken over the posts on my blog (as well as my house, my toys, my bed and a lot of my human’s attention). It has even made my dad run away to another country to escape it’s barking, although mum tells me he went for work, but I see a pattern… the puppy arrived, barked and dad went away, dad comes back, the puppy barks and dad left the country again. My dad still hasn’t returned.

Anyway it’s time to blog just about me, and tell you about my last holiday.

Mum, dad and I went to Omaha, on the east cost of the North Island of New Zealand. Omaha is about an hour north of where we live. I’ve been going there ever since I was a puppy so I know this beach well. Let me show it to you…

This is looking towards the northern end of the beach (click on the pictures to make them bigger),

and this is looking towards the southern end of the beach.

The building you see is the surf lifesaving club rooms.

The sand spit runs in a North-South direction and is approx. 3km long so the Eastern side of the beach is really good for walks. On the western side of this sand spit is an estuary with a boat ramp, and lots of nice walks along the water side of the golf course. The mid-day sun is to the north (not like you back to front people who have your mid-day sun to the South).

Are you going to follow me for a closer look?

Which way shall I go?

I know - I will go to my favourite bit ... the waves.

The waves are so much fun. I have to jump and swim over the big ones to get my toy.

While I'm out chasing my toy my mum is looking at the ground to see what patterns and shapes she can find.

These shapes are mine!

I get to meet lots of other dogs on the beach.

In summer dogs are allowed on the beach off-leash before 9am and after 7pm.

There is so much open space for me to run and play!

I love it when dad is about to throw my toy into the water!

Sometimes we start our beach walks at the southern end,

and pass this Maori carving guarding the entrance to the beach.

It often seems like we have the beach just to ourselves.

Here is another Maori carving in the sand dunes.

A few shells that smell interesting,

and a bit of driftwood.

Time to go into the water again,

which is always done with such style!!!!

My best polar bear impersonation...

I get to play with some of my new friends...

and then it is just me and my shadow.

Back again. Another morning, another swim

and the chance to watch someone surfing

(although the waves get much bigger than this)

The same beach another morning...

I never get tired of fetching this.

Every morning we walk up and down the beach.

Mum walks straight, and dad and I zig zag into and out of the water.

Here I am at the Northern end.

Behind me is a rock wall (to protect the end of the sandbar)

and behind the rocks is the estuary.

Well I hope you enjoyed my beach tour.

Another time I will tell you about some of the

things we did and the places we went after my

morning swims.

Bye for now,

Riley

Flowers.

2011-03-07T08:46:00.001+13:00

Enzo has discovered my favourite plant – a Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) which is a semi-climbing rambling blue flowered plant that originally comes from South Africa. This plant covers one of our fences and is approx. 2 metres deep. I love it because I can hide inside; chew on the branches, check if any cats have been through and without even knowing it take flowers to mum.

Now Enzo has decided it is his hiding place too, so he races in and out. Of course we both went in to play – which had mum worried, as she didn’t know what we were up to and couldn’t climb under the Plumbago to get Enzo out!

In the last photo you will see what my new brother ended up looking like. He had flowers over his face, on his chest and in his paws. I heard Mum muttering something about there being “flowers for Africa” (where does that saying come from?) before giving us both a good brush and comb.

Sending you woofs,

Riley

Introducing my very own little puppy…

2011-03-04T09:39:00.001+13:00

Enzo

Now you might be able to guess where my family got the idea for his name, but Enzo’s name also contains three of the four letters of their first Golden Retriever’s name, and has "NZ" in the middle – which is where we live, so his name is extra special to them. Of course your first two ideas about where this Italian name comes from are also correct.

He came home last Saturday, and this is the first time I have had to write about him. Enzo is a mini-me, he follows me around, barks lots when he wants to play or go outside, plays with my toys, has very tasty food (I’d forgotten what puppy food tastes like!) and makes us all smile.

If you read my earlier posts ( I'm getting a puppy and Puppy photos ), you will know that I first got to meet Enzo when he was five and a half weeks old! I was allowed to visit the ten puppies (although I had to be on the other side of the fence), and all the other Golden Retrievers that lived there, so when mum and dad came home on the 20th of February smelling again of puppies I knew something was up.

Picking our puppy on the 20th of February.

This is the one!

They told me how hard it was to choose. The process took them so long that the puppies even had a rest while they were deciding. I wish they could have brought all ten puppies home as that would have been so much fun, but after much playing, looking and thinking they picked the one with the black collar that kept following them around and snuggling into mum's lap because they fell in love with the mischievous look on his face, and they said that he reminded them of what I looked like when I was young.

Then last Saturday my humans disappeared for a while and left me home alone. Little did I know that it would be one of the last times I had the whole house and back yard to myself.

Pick up day (8 1/2 weeks old) with his teddy and mum.

The car ride home on mum's lap, while dad drove.

Getting used to our front yard

and to me.

I think we are going to be great friends!

Since Saturday Enzo has and I have had lots of human visitors – young and old, he has been to the vets for his nine week injections and check, and we have taken so much of mum’s time that she has hardly taken any photos, or visit your blogs or do things for herself especially as dad had to go overseas for work.

Anyway it is time for mum and I to play with him. I'll try to get mum to take some more photos for you, and hopefully she will find some "spare time" to visit your blogs and type to my thoughts (as I am unable to type with my big paws) about my little puppy on this blog.

Bye for now,

Woofs,
Riley

Wordless Wednesday - He's home.

2011-03-02T07:58:00.000+13:00

A sad day

2011-02-22T18:55:00.006+13:00

It is now Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - one week since I wrote the post below. The death toll form the Christhchurch eathquake is officailly now 154 with the police saying it is likely to rise to 240. Many people are still missing. Two minutes of silence around New Zealand at 12.51pm today .

There have been more aftershocks. The damage to buildings and the people of Chritchurch is ongoing, massive, unimaginable and I don't have the right words to write here, but this letter published in The New Zealand Herlad (one of our main daily newspapers) says what many New Zealanders are feeling

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/paul-holmes-on-new-zealand/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502869&objectid=10708766

and for daily updates of how things are in Christchurch

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/
http://www.tv3.co.nz/

***************************

I had planned to post about my holiday last week, but it doesn’t seem right to post my own news after the 6.3 earthquake that happened in Christchurch (the biggest city in the South Island of New Zealand - I live in Auckland in the North Island) at 12.51pm today. There is massive devastation and, less than six hours on, 65 people have been confirmed dead with many more trapped or missing. There are also continuing aftershocks.

My thoughts are with the people and animals of Christchurch.

Puppy photos

2011-02-11T23:06:00.007+13:00

If you read my last post you’ll know that very soon I’m getting a puppy! Last Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited by the breeders to go with my humans to meet their ten puppies. The puppies were 5-1/2 weeks old, and my humans got to go inside the fenced area and play with the puppies. I was outside the fence, but that was OK as they followed me around, and I also got to say hello to the four other big Golden Retrievers that were there.

Here are some more photos for you.

Seven of the ten puppies are boys, and we want to get one of the boys. They are 6 1/2 weeks old now, and in a week or so my humans will visit the breeder again to pick our puppy, and bring him home a few days after that. How will they pick? Which will it be? I don’t know, because they all seemed so different in colour and how they acted!

Mum and dad said they like the paler ones (like me!) and as a general rule the colour on the tip of a Golden Retriever puppy’s ear is meant to be a guide to what the coat will look like when that dog is older.

They were all so cute it will be hard to decide on just one, but everyone tells me I’m going to really enjoy having a little brother following me around, chewing on my ears, and playing with my toys. They are already good at the following part!

As for names – there have been all sorts of suggestions. First they tried to find a name that went with my name, but it is hard to think of a name that goes with "Riley". The trouble is that many of the names that my family like are the names of their friend’s children or pets. They both liked the name Bailey, but then mum met three dogs named Bailey in one day! I think they have chosen a name they agree on (and can call without too many other dogs coming in the dog park, or it being the surname of their next door neighbour (with their first dog, new people moved in next door, so mum felt very felt conscious calling her dog or telling him off!).They will see how the name suits our new pup before saying what it is!

Bye for now,
Riley

I'm getting a puppy!

2011-02-09T21:17:00.002+13:00

I have some wonderful news. Last Saturday I was invited to visit these 5-1/2 week old Golden Retriever puppies. That's me behind the fence acting as Pied Piper.

When my family and I decide which one is best for us, then all going well that puppy will come to live with us when it is eight weeks old.

More details soon.

Riley

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-03T08:50:00.000+13:00

Riley and his D.O.

2011-01-20T09:37:00.002+13:00

My mum says that I’ve given my best friends D.O. but I think my little friends are all perfect, and they have never told me that they have a problem with this. In fact I spend a lot of time carrying them around, resting my head on them and taking them outside or to my humans so we can all play together, but she says sometimes coating them with my Doggie Odour and drool gets too much and smells bad.

Now I think D.O. is good (as I know where to “seek” my friends around the house when mum plays a game hiding them for me to find) but this horror story starts when I am not looking.

She rounds up my favourite friends (currently Horsey, Duckie, Quack and Rudolf) plus my chew rope and the rugs I sleep on and tries to drown them all. I hear strange gurgling noises. I can hear them crying out to me, but can’t get inside the big white box to them to show them how to always swim with their head above the water like I do.

After what seems like forever, and lots more strange noises and beeps from the nasty white box, she takes them out and attaches little torture devices to them so they hang on wires.

I am too short to help them, and even if I could get up really high, I haven't yet worked out how to use my paws to gently free them.

Then the fresh air spins my friends round and round, and they get dizzy and I notice that they look pale.

All I can do is wait underneath the wires and speak to them with gentle barks to let them know I am there and this unpleasantness will soon be over.

While I am waiting ramdom thoughts go through my head like:

Should I report my mum to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Stuffies?
What can our neighbours think of her strange behaviour?
And why does she make strange comments about getting all my ducks in a row? Doesn’t she realise that two yellow ducklings hardly makes a row, although sometimes my grey and green ducks are also subjected to this torture and there are four to six ducks hanging there.

Then, after what seems like ages, we are finally together again and I realise that I love my friends even more for the things they endure just to be with me.

Have a great day, and remember to appreciate your friends.
Riley

Wordless Wednesday - Fighting my garden hose

2011-01-12T09:00:00.000+13:00

Happy New Year

2011-01-04T21:53:00.000+13:00

Greetings from New Zealand. Today was a public holiday so I was taken for a late afternoon walk around some of our Auckland bays. Firstly I went for a short car ride (I love going in the car) to Tamaki Drive, and we parked just round from Okahu Bay (near Kelly Tarltons which is an underground aquarium built in the holding tanks of Auckland's first sewage station!).

This is me with Rangitoto Island behind me. Rangitoto is an active volcano, although it hasn't erupted for over six hundred years, so I felt quite safe.

A different view of me, with North Head behind me to the left and Rangitoto island to the right.

My humans decided the first thing to do was walk to the end of Orakei Wharf which you can see in the photo below. I took the high road, also know as the wall beside the footpath. For those who know Auckland, you will now notice Devonport in the background.

The photo below was taken at the end of Orakei wharf. There were lots of people fishing all along the wharf, and I even saw a several fish being caught, but I managed to resist the temptation of eating the smelly bait, knives and fish hooks that were left on the ground in front of me.

Looking the other way, from the end of the wharf, is Auckland's central business district. It looks grey, as there were some clouds in the sky.

Then a long walk back to the road...

and we turned right and continued on to Mission Bay (which is behind me in the photo below). The wharf , where I started my walk, is at the very right of this photo.

Then my humans decided the sun was too hot to keep going to St Helliers, so we returned to Mission Bay for some food (they got some hot chips and let me have some!) and of course I had some of the water that my mum had carried on our walk especially for me.

Both the beach and park were busy with people having picnics and playing games with their family and friends. I got to meet some new dogs, and had strangers pat me.

On the way back we stopped at Mission Bay fountain, which is in the park in front of Mission Bay beach.

Then another enjoyable car ride, and I was home in time for my evening meal, and the chance to snooze in front of the TV with my family.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with the things that you love and enjoy most.

Woofs,
Riley

Hark it's my Christmas bark

2010-12-22T11:34:00.003+13:00

Seasons Greetings to you all. It seems that Christmas is almost here, though if the local shops are to be believed the season began at the start of October - two and a half months ago.

Preparations are underway in my big kennel. My humans have even put a tree inside! This is my first “real” Christmas tree.

Normally we go to the beach the week before Christmas (something about escaping the madness of Auckland), but because of work (a concept that I'm still too young to understand) they couldn’t go this year which meant they decided to get a real tree, as the tree wouldn't wilt with the Auckland heat while they were away - if that makes any sense!

My first pine tree smells really nice. So far I haven’t watered it or tried to eat the decorations, but I am still a bit confused as when I go outside I can water the trees out there, but I’m not meant meant to water this one. Only mum is allowed to fill up the stand with tap water.

Yes it is summer here. The days are hot (today it is 27 degrees C / 80 deg. F) and our "New Zealand Christmas Tree" the pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) is in bloom around the neighbourhood

(this is the one in my front garden)

and also lining the shores of many of our beaches. It flowers every summer and looks festive.

(photo off the web - see

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/pohutukawa-flowers )

'Tis the season of sandy beaches, the smell of suntan lotion and barbeques, swimming, boats across the waves, children playing games on the beach, the sound of cicadas in the trees and lazy days spent doing very little. Many people go camping or to their bach (a bach is the North Island term for a holiday home, traditionally a simple building at the beach but now many are like normal houses. In the South Island of New Zealand a bach is called a crib).

I went to a couple of Christmas parties with special games for dogs like musical mats, relay races, bobbing for toys in a paddling pool, egg and spoon races (we had to run and pull our owners with our leash while they carried a raw egg in a spoon in their other hand), and a game my humans were most proud of me for… a relay race where teams of dogs had to carry a piece of sausage in their mouth, with the team that got the most amount of sausages to the finish line winning. Unlike most of the dogs, I didn’t eat the sausage, so thought it very unfair that mum took out of my mouth at the end of the race, but I did get to eat some pieces of sausage at the barbeque later.

My mum is now up to wrapping presents to put under our tree, talking to me about the people we are going to see soon and also telling me stories about the others (including her grandparents and her last Golden Retriever) that she still loves and misses but who can't be with us - and explaining to me how many of the special little things we do on Christmas Day are part of traditions from her time with them.

Also there is something called an advent calendar hanging on the dinning room wall, and my humans have been eating little chocolates from it every night. I’m counting down my meals (I have far too many "sleeps" to count them) until the big day when I can find out what is inside my Christmas stocking.

Can you guess which stocking is mine?

I've tried to be good this year, so I'm now spending my spare time dreaming of what toys Santa-paws might leave me, the joy of shredding wrapping paper, the spoils of Christmas dinner (like turkey which is another strange tradition in NZ as many people have a roast dinner even though it's normally a really hot day – something to do with their English heritage) and I'm also dreaming of seeing my family and friends who are travelling from around the country to see us.

Thank you for reading my posts during my first year of blogging. I have really appreciated all your comments, and enjoy reading your blogs (even though sometimes mum and I get way behind in visiting you - next year we hope to do better) to learn about my new two and four legged friends.

Wishing you all a safe and Merry Christmas filled with peace, happiness and love,

Riley

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-08T20:54:00.002+13:00

You got me and I got you

2010-11-18T15:01:00.002+13:00

Today is four years to the day since my family got me, so here are four photos to show you how I’ve grown since the 18th of November 2006.

The first photo was taken during my four hour car ride home (when I was eight weeks old). Dad went slightly mad with his power tools cutting air holes out of the side of this temporary box (there was never going to be a lid on it), but I didn’t spend much time in this box as I was happiest sleeping curled up on mum’s lap while dad drove the car.

Here I am in the same box when I was six months old, during my long legged skinny phase. I didn't have my Golden Retriever tail feathers yet.

Then exactly one year from the day that they got me I'm posing for a photo in the same box – much bigger, furrier and four times the weight that I was in my first photo! I was too big to curl up, so had to stand instead.

You can see recent photos of me, in my posts below, showing what I look like now. I don't think I have changed much since November 2007. Can you see any differences?

My family are so happy they got me four years ago. They believe that they got the best puppy in the world, even though we all know that there are lots of you out there that also got the best puppy (or kitten or human) ever on your own Gotcha days.

I'm really happy I got them too.

Woofs,
Riley

My Saturday Summer Springs Stroll

2010-11-13T18:23:00.001+13:00

Western Springs – a spring fed freshwater lake which was the source of Auckland’s first reticulated bulk water supply back in 1877. The water comes up through the volcanic rocks.

I had a 40 minute leisurely walk around Western Springs Park today; stopping frequently to check out the waterfowl. The only thing that prevented me from getting into the lake with the birds was the leash linking me to my human. There were also eels and fish in there. Perhpas next time I'll get to go for a swim with them.

(Mum likes the colours of this New Zealand native bird – the Pukeko)

Wishing you all a good weekend,

Riley

Sunday Funday - mud baths, friends and trick or treat.

2010-10-31T17:23:00.001+13:00

This morning I caught up with a few of my Goldie friends at Waiatarua Reserve. This is an Auckland park of approximately 20 hectares where dogs can run off leash and play in the creeks and ponds apart from one area in the centre which is just for the birds.

My Golden Retriever Club was having a dog walk so we met at the car park.

I got lots of nice pats from this lady in the pink top.

A quick check of who I remember...

and I'm so excited to be there that I'm off the ground literally (I'm the one flying in the centre)

and running circles (in the centre) not knowing which way to go...

What's down there...

whatever my fur-friend is doing it looks fun...

so this is what she was after... I think I'll stand here for a while...

So mum, does my mud bath look suit me?

Then a cool dip in the first pond...

My "alligator look" - I'm the right of this photo below.

A quick drink - mum couldn't believe I'd actually want to drink this stuff!

Two of my friends

Me again standing at the back...

Half way through the walk and I'm happy

Then we were clipped up to our leashes for a while, as the centre of this park is New Zealand's biggest urban wetland (a big stormwater treatment area) where there are all sorts of birds which we are not allowed to retrieve. The path that we follow goes right around this wetland area.

Surely mum could have trusted me with those birds after my last blog post!

Off leash again.

Muddy water and water dogs... that's me on the right

Lots to sniff...

and to run from or to (I'm on the left)

Then the big pond...

Just in case you think we were there alone, our humans followed us round and a couple of black labs even gate-crashed our pond party!

Spring days - the water is warm. What more could I want!

My wet dog look...

and a quick shake dry!

After the walk the humans had a barbecue in the park. Here are some of my friends in the shade, and just in case you think all us Golden Retrievers look alike the blond ones below aren't me! .

Having a barbecue afterwards was a great idea, as my humans got to woof with other humans and while they were standing around I got given bits of sausage to eat and some clean water!

Then a car ride home and it was time for TRICK OR TREAT only I got both.

Dad called me to the back yard and TRICKED me as he had shampoo and the garden hose. He got rid of the lovely pond odours from this morning that I so enjoyed.

However I got TREATED at the same time as mum hand fed me pieces of smoked fish as I was being washed. Smoked fish is one of my favourite treats.

Have a great Sunday, and if you are celebrating Halloween be wary of those tricks!

Woofs,

Riley

Can I still call myself a golden retriever?

2010-10-20T12:29:00.004+13:00

This morning I had an interesting experience that I would like your words of wisdom about. After breakfast I went out my front door, where I noticed our driveway gates were left open after dad had left for work. This isn’t usually a problem for me, as I’ve learnt to stay inside my boundaries. In fact I have three zones – inside the house (a.k.a my kennel), the whole back garden (fenced off from the front garden) and the front garden (also fenced with a gate to the road). I spend my days wandering between the first two at my leisure, and often follow mum or dad out to the front garden when they are out there.

Anyway this morning when mum opened the front door for me, the gate was open and on my driveway I saw one duck and three large ducklings that had wandered in and were quacking in front of me, tormenting me, waddling around and quacking, quacking, quacking…

What was a boy like me to do? I gave chase. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. The ducks went everywhere with lots more quacking and wings flapping (even though the young ones couldn’t fly yet). I then heard the loudest “Riley down” command from my mum that I've ever heard. So loud the next door neighbour rushed out of her house to check if I’d finally cornered my nemesis (her white cat that comes through the fences just to tease me and sleep in my garden).

While I was “down” all I could do was watch the ducks as they waddled past me (less than a metre away) up the drive while mum herded them out and closed the gates. When I was finally allowed to get up and go to the gate the biggest duck turned around and walked back towards me to quack at me from the other side of the gate. I’m sure she laughed at me, but then she walked back to her ducklings.

All that was left for me to do was to sniff where they had been, nose to the ground, going round and round and back and forth for ages, but I think I’ve missed my chance.

You see ever since I have been a puppy I’ve been given duck toys. My breed is breed to retrieve these things, it is in our nature and I figure mum could have helped this morning and shot one for me to make getting my first real duck easier – but she claims she likes ducks and doesn’t own a gun or have a duck licence even though she has a gundog and gave me duck toys. Talk about mixed messsages.

So what do you think - should I have done something different, should I have pretended not to hear her commands, should I have run quicker, crossed the boundary and chased them down the road claiming retrieving was what I’m breed to do (to experience the look on mum’s face when I brought one back), or am I better to lie at mum’s feet while she types this for me and dream of what might have been?

Woofs,

Riley

PS Mum was too busy herding ducks and giving me commands to get her camera, so the duck photos of what they looked like are off the web, but the photos of me with my toy duck were taken this morning.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T21:42:00.000+13:00

Just horsing around on my birthday

2010-09-24T17:43:00.002+12:00

Today I'm four, so I was given my very first horse, some other toys, food treats, lots of pats and attention, strange noises either side of my name from my mum (she claimed she was singing to me), more food, a long walk, a car ride and the company of those who love me most.

I've now made at least one thousand and twenty nine squeaky noises with my horsey. Life is good, and I wish all my friends an equally good weekend.

Woofs,

Riley

My tongue and it's secret!

2010-09-22T10:51:00.002+12:00

I've decided to enter Twinkie's Tongue Contest.for cats and dogs. You can find details at Twinkie Tiny Dog

To enter my mum has been looking through old photos of me for photos showing my tongue so that she could find one photo of me to email to Twinkie. This photo was taken the day they brought me home.

Look how pink it is!

My tongue about a week later.

I soon developed a fascination with the pink thing!

I realised that this puppy had a tongue exactly like mine,

and I found my tongue was useful for cleaning my nose,

and making silly faces at mum when she tried to take my photo.

So what is my secret...

Well before my human mum and dad picked me they had another Golden Retriever (who they got as a rescue dog when he was 2 1/2 years old). He had a big black spot on the end of his tongue that looked like he had chewed on a black pen or washed the black colour off the end of his nose! He was a happy dog, and most of the photos they have of him have his mouth open showing off his spot.

When people met him they often commented on his spot, and once when they were both at work, he got scared by lightening, jumped a high fence and ran away to a house 3km away (which he used to visit by car with them). The people there checked his mouth first to confirm it was him by the spot, instead of identifying him by checking the tags on his collar.

So when my mum and dad first met me (I was breed fifteen years later by the same breeder and share a few distant relations) one of the first things they did was look inside my mouth to see what my tongue was like, but it was all pink with no spots. That was OK, as they love me for who I am and as you can see (by the photo above of him and below of me) we are very different dogs anyway.

However when I was a year old they noticed that I'd finally got my spot! At the very back of my tongue (only visible if I'm panting) is a black spot (not the small bit of dirt also on my tongue also in this photo).

They only occasionally see it, but when they do it makes them smile. So that is the secret of my tongue.

Do any of you have spots? Some people have all sorts of theories about why dogs get spots on their tongues, like we are not pedigrees or we are part Chows but my tongue isn't totally black (like a Chows) and the marks are more like benign freckles, or patches of different coloured pigment which you can also find under the fur of some dogs.

I look forward to seeing your tongue photos in Twinkies contest. Dont' forget to enter.

Bye for now,

Riley

Wordless Wednesday - My tipping point

2010-09-08T20:43:00.000+12:00

Spring, spring, sprung!

2010-09-01T13:06:00.001+12:00

My hibernation is over. It is officially the start of spring in New Zealand, and there are signs of spring everywhere...

There are clear blue skies, and fresh green leaves and flowers on the trees.

Daffodils and other bulbs are blooming around the neighbourhood. Mum has grown her tulips and daffodils in pots this year because she thought if she put the bulbs in the ground I might dig them up and eat them (many bulbs are poisonous).

We walk past more lambs each day.

My human mum likes to stop, watch their little tails wag and see them bounce across the field as they play. These sheep live nearby and I often hear their voices going "baa baa baa" when I'm outside in my garden.

Mum has also been "spring cleaning" and getting rid of clutter. She says that there is lots to do, and it will take a while but she seems happiest when she is crossing things off her very long list. I wonder if she is going to clean out my toy box and wash me too!

It's nice outside. Sometimes spring days are just meant to be spent in the sunshine doing nothing, but for me the best part of spring is these showers (which are also known as my dad playing with the hose).

Yes the dark days are over, spring is here and I've sprung into action again!

Woofs,

Riley

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T09:23:00.001+12:00

It is winter and it is cold, grey and wet outside.

I feel grey too so I'm hibernating for a while.

What does yours say about you?

2010-07-31T15:47:00.003+12:00

I’ve been thinking about something most of my dog friends and also many of my cat friends have. Something we share in common, but which says something about who we are and how our family thinks of us.

What am I woofing about… collars.

You see collars are important. They are functional, but they also say something about us (and not just what is written on our tags). There are thousands of designs but somehow our family picks one and it becomes ours. Our collars become part of who we are, and are sometimes even kept by our family when we cross the Rainbow Bridge.

So today I thought I’d tell you about mine, and then learn about yours.

My current collar goes back to when my human mum first learnt she was actually going to get a puppy. I’m the first puppy she has ever had, so she was really excited, and the preparations for my arrival started many weeks before I arrived at my new home. Toys were sourced, puppy food was purchased, newspaper was stockpiled (put on the floor especially for me to shred!), my first bedroom (a.k.a. the laundry) was prepared with a new soft fleecy blanket (that I still sleep on) and my very first collar was bought.

How did she choose it? Now my dad would probably have just walked into a shop and bought the first puppy size one he saw, but mum puts more thought into things. If you have been following my blog, you will have already seen an example of how she things too much in her June post about the Koru.

As you know there are so many options these days...

Mum likes some colours and not others. For example orange was always going to be out because of her age - it’s a 1970’s thing I’m told, as my mum has memories of her own mother impossing a totally orange bedroom on her.

She also wanted something soft for me to wear, without bells (which I’ve learnt go on cat collars, so us dogs know when the cats are sneaking up on us) and without anything to fancy like jewels or brand names, and she didn’t think a golden retriever would suit one of those studded or spiky leather collars, but she knows there are lots of other dogs and cats out there who like these styles.

There are probably trends and variations of buckles and fabrics that mum was not aware of…

After much looking my mum finally found a collar she thought was really cute - a little blue denim one, and anyone who knows my mum knows that she is the sort of girl who is happiest wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Ever since that collar all my collars have been blue denim – and that suits me as I’m a pretty laid back and casual sort of dog.

My first collar!

I can’t imagine wearing anything else now. I go swiming with it on, I run around parks and wear it at home, and when my collar is dirty it gets thrown in the wash with her jeans, and fades, gets softer and acquires a well worn look.

So that’s I got a denim collar. Now I’d like to learn about your collar, so please leave me a woof or meow to let me know...

What your current collar looks like? (I can't always tell from your blog photos, as some of you have a furry chest like me).

What you think your family meant it to say about you?

Does it suit your personality?

And do your humans keep old collars that aren’t yours in the house (as my mum still keeps the last collar from her first dog) ?