Synchronized Sunday

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

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!

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



“The end of the Golden weather”

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