Flowers.

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…

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.

A sad day

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

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