Living the Life of Reilly
(To see the earlier Blogs, Page Down)
The AKC says this about the GR: Friendly, intelligent, devoted. In popularity they rank 3rd out of 195 breeds. They’re outgoing, trustworthy, eager-to-please, and relatively easy to train. Goldens are energetic, and enjoy outdoor play, like to swim, and fetch. They were bred as gun dogs and can retrieve water fowl for hours. They bring puppy-like playfulness into adulthood and have a joyous and playful approach to life. They are sturdy, medium-sized, and have a life expectancy of 10 to 12 years. With beautiful dense, lustrous coats of gold in various shades, they move with a smooth gait, muscular, and athletic with their beautiful feathered tail carried high. AKC judges look for a tail with “merry action.”
The breed was developed by Lord Tweedmouth in Scotland between 1835 -1890. They were the ultimate gentleman’s hunting and retrieving companion. An instant sensation in the U.S.
I’ve heard it said that once you have a golden, you’ll always have a golden. That has surely been the case for us.
We were busy with constant babies (7) and lots of travel. There was no time for committed training of a pet, so wisely, we didn’t do it until Dave and I retired. We lived in the mountains when I became ill with Lyme Disease. When we stayed with friends in Jacksonville, FL, while visiting Mayo Clinic, I enjoyed the company of their golden, Candy. Back home, I mentioned to Dave that I might be changing my mind about having a dog and I wondered if he might change his mind also. He was so surprised. “You want a dog? Really? What kind of dog would you like?” I laughed. “After the last two weeks with Candy, you can’t guess?”
Lily, was our Easter puppy, who’d been born on Valentine’s Day. You can read her story in my book, Just for the Moment, the Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog. This energetic puppy became a therapy dog for me as I recovered over the next five years. A few years later came Jessie, named for Marine Jessica Lynch. They were rescued from certain death on the same day. We actually took Jessie in as a foster, to give her a place to die comfortably. She took on the world and lived to be 16! You can read her amazing story in the book. Lily and Jessie died a few months apart, and we were devastated. I didn’t know if I could do it again. But Dave was already looking. Enter Buddy. The Budman. Budster. RedBud. Different in so many ways from our two blonde females, he was, never-the-less, golden in every respect. He became the most incredible therapy dog. He had us for 7 years and died last summer at age 12. The grief was hard, but this time I knew we would recover and do it all again. And here he is…wily Riley.
He was ours last Tuesday. He met his vet on Wednesday, who gasped, and whooped, “My gosh, he’s gorgeous!” We met his trainer this afternoon, who agrees with me, that sometime in his short life, he’s had training, and possibly beyond basic obedience. The behavior he amazes us with are not innate behaviors, they’re learned. I called on a trainer to help with one thing, inappropriate greeting. He leaps into your arms to say hello if you are walking toward him. When I walk away from him, he leaps onto my back, paws around my neck. A loud angry OFF and he settles off immediately, but this dog is 70 pounds. This is our only issue. Wow. Did we get lucky?
We watch him prancing across the yard tossing a ball in the air and catching it and we know we are in for another joyful phase of living the life of Reilly with our golden retriever, Riley.