It is getting to be a lot like Christmas!!!!

…….. walkin’ in a winter wonderland. There is snow galore throughout the lower mainland, cold winds sometimes blustering into a gale and thoroughly frozen lakes, rivers and ponds are now in place to accommodate the antics of children of all ages and dogs that figure frozen water is at least as much fun as the liquid type!!! The snow hitting the lower mainland crimps everyone and everybody as most of us have all season radials on our cars, not winter tires. So with the desperate and the insane now out there, driving their cars in bumper car fashion, the rest of us attach huge tires to the sides of our cars (LOL) or go into hibernation awaiting the return of the depressing rains in order to re- establish the proper level of safe driving for us all.


We have a new house guest of the four legged variety, a Lhasa Apso named Oakley who has come to us via Alana’s impetuous benevolence, saying she would house and puppy sit for extended family while they are away in Hawaii. All well and good until funerals happen which Alana was involved in planning, friends arrive from all over, it snows a foot and a half and the usual bedlam ensues, making it almost impossible for Alana to get to and fro for her house sitting duties.


Maggie, of course, is delighted with her new toy and can’t begin to understand why Oakley will have no part of her???!!! Every movement that Oakley makes, usually away from Maggie constitutes the game to begin with Maggie bounding (perhaps even bouncing) after, over, around, on top of, from the left, from the right accompanied by yearning vocalizations that clearly are imploring Oakley to join in the chase game. Oakley’s response is to stand his ground and stare fixedly at Maggie while wondering what he has done wrong to deserve this--- first his family disappears, then he’s left for hours on end and a stranger comes and stays with him, then the stranger comes and takes him away from his house, drives through the snow at night and there he is landing at a house he’s never been to with all sorts of people who he has never met but seem to like him and a total wranger of a dog that clearly has no concept of his place in society!!!! This dog’s intrusiveness knows no bounds :) and goes further to full on barking that sends shivers through Oakley!!! And of course there’s the issue of Maggie eating anything in the house that resembles food. So as the bowl of food is placed in front of Oakley, her nibs is coming on like a freight train attempting to aspirate bowl and all on her way to her dish to see what treats have been used to distract her from our visitor!!!

Peace on earth and good will to all; now Maggie show some respect would you???

So this is Christmas!!!

One of Maggie's interesting albeit demanding traits is her vocalizing, "I want out; I want in; You're not paying attention to me; Let's play; I think that's you coming up the driveway but I'll assume you're a stranger and play the guard dog; Something is totally out of order here and needs attention immediately!!!" Now this last item is ongoing and rears itself whenever there is something new in or around the house. You have to appreciate she's now eight months old and has assimilated the day to day routine of this Pace family in good stride. And yet she feels somehow compelled to alert all within a three square block radius the impending doom that is about to befall us!!! This of course can vary as the perceived threat comes in many disguises!!!

This past weekend had such a happening, it being our replacing a washer and dryer after seventeen years of extensive abuse which included baby blankets and soiled clothing on through to muddied running shoes and paint ball smeared camouflage and everything else a family can produce over the years as fads and seasons pass and today's "gotta haves" become charitable "giveaways".

So, with Maggie securely in the backyard and the truck arriving in the front, the migration of old and new commenced!!! Ten minutes later, all was in order and with Sheila and I wishing each other, "Merry Christmas" and still shuddering at the cost, we had our new appliances!!!

Shortly thereafter, her highness uttered her command to return to her domicile and with patio door opened and the affront of paws being wiped and mostly cleaned, she proceeded to check out the remnants of scent that were not of our own making. As she rounded the hall corner to the laundry room, all hell broke loose as the latest attack on the Paces was being dutifully attended by our laughably vicious guard dog!!! Hackles at the ready, agitated movements to and fro, assessing the invaders intent, barking to the peak of her abilities complete with cracking pitch, a tentative lunge or two for good measure (would they chase her or would they stand their ground, protecting their acquired space???), fertive looks at us to see whether we would join the battle or at least defend her should the going get tough and only after repeated "Oh Maggie's" combined with the stillness of the washer and dryer, her nibs declared the house safe once more but was determined to keep a close eye on them should they get out of hand!!!!

Without delay, the washer was put to the test as Maggie's blankets and toys became the test subjects of the "sanitize" cycle and came through "dazzling"!!!!! :)

OOOOOhhhhhhh MAGGIE!!!

Honestly, if for whatever reason Maggie died right now and God forbid that it should happen, I don’t know whether or not we would go out and get another dog for a long long time!!!! And YES, she’s that challenging to care for!!! Rest assured, she is getting better and that’s a really good thing!!!

We’ve taken to hiding food on top of the fridge, at the bottom of the sink and covering it up with other plates and such. The top of the fridge works so far but the bottom of the sink is still in range!!!! :) Have you ever heard of a dog eating banana cake??? Mind you, this is in a pattern that includes dog biscuits, cardboard, plastic bags, the dryer's leftover sock (which we have 217 of them!!!), a freshly uprooted rose bush, multiple discarded, buried, resurrected and slobbered on bones, school books and a book on how to be the pack leader!!!, the latest bills as well as notes to mom from the kids, notes to the kids from mom, Alana's latest appointment schedule and hastily retrieved(there's that word again!) school documents!!!!

Her adornment of mud is now a daily occurrence, it’s just a question of how quickly and how much!!! You know I have to draw a comparison to the women in our house getting themselves ready for work, hair, makeup and all. :) We’ve reinstalled our birdfeeders and that’s giving her a backyard TV to watch as a variety of species come and go. The window now has an assortment of nose marks on it as proof of interest; could someone serve food as this kaleidoscope of colors and feathers unfurls???


Now the birdfeeders are another thing all together. Where was Maggie when the plans were drawn up to attach a five foot pole to the back fence on which to hang the feeders??? And why was Maggie not advised that this was going to happen yesterday afternoon AND NOT ONE BUT TWO FEEDERS, can you imagine??? So now it’s evening, actually night and with breezes blowing and the exposure of the kitchen light reflecting off the feeders, Maggie came unglued at the sight!!! Long, loud and insistent barking ensued as her teenage voice, cracking in pitch, hackles at full attention, from stem to stern gave out to those lonely feeders now vacated at day’s end. Yes folks, we went to bed last night secure in the fact that our Maggie had saved us yet again from the dark unknown!!! She was admittedly wound up by the frightening sight of all this and I’m sure she tossed and turned throughout the night as this event entered the recesses of her mind where emblazoned on her instinctive core, passed down from generation to generation under the heading of “Protect the Masters at All Costs”....one less to do!!!!!!!


Now, how do we train a retriever to not chase birds???????

Let's muddle in that puddle!!!!

Our lovable, mischievous still gangly Maggie who’s favorite pastime outside the house is to find any and all the mud that exudes some mysterious scent, dig feverishly into said mud, snout and all and proudly barks for her subjects to open the patio door allowing her entrance to an otherwise clean house. With mud covered legs, at least to the half way mark and a clay/ mud covered muzzle, we defer to the side entrance where the icy running hose is set to eliminate most of the aforementioned activities. Her highness has other plans as that water is not to her liking.

She immediately bolts back to the play area as calls of “COME” are summarily ignored and the game of “Catch me if you can!!!” commences. Great exercise follows as Maggie charges around the yard refusing to yield to the frigid shower awaiting her. After a good five minutes of “I’m faster than you are”, she finally settles and says, “Okay, you can have me now!!!” With firm hand on the collar, the punishment begins as paws are rinsed clean and snout rubbed for mud removal completes the task!!! Into the laundry room and into her crate to dry off in a controlled state where industrious licking is attended to, insuring every tiny morsel of earth has been removed. The preening complete, sleep overtakes her and our vixen vacates returning our darling, totally loveable Maggie!!!!! :) :) :)

There's kookiness in that freight train!!!

Like any lovable being on this planet, Maggie has her share of weird little antics that cause us to double take at what we aren't quite sure she has just done! Playtime, which is whenever she decides, comes in a variety of forms but almost always involves not one but two objects planted firmly in her mouth. It never makes any sense what those two are and invariably they are completely different, as in a squeaky toy and a ball, a ball and a blanket that seldom rests in the same place twice in any given week, a blanket and a freshly folded piece of clean laundry, more often than naught, someone's underwear!!!

The idea of the game is to fight like crazy with her over one of the pieces she has a hold of and throw it along the hallway; simply waiting for her to drop one item has little play value and is usually met with a disdainful look implying, "Are we playing or aren't we?" So the battle continues with renewed zeal and as the ball is launched down the hallway, the blanket has to be gripped tightly as she prances (yes, we have a dog that prances! Perhaps we should saddle her!!!) after said ball!

Now have I mentioned her energy level as this pastime unfolds? Whether it's the retriever in her or simply that she's a dog, the chase is on, the focus is pinpoint, the likelihood of the toy's escape, nil and NOTHING will stand in her way!!! (Editorial note..... throwing squeaky toys and balls makes some sense but throwing blankets somehow lacks impact and I will profess that it makes no sense to me!!!) So you have to know, with everything that's within her she wants that object back in her mouth. Her intensity has its weaknesses as she's facing me one moment and with the ball rolling past her in the next heartbeat, her attempt at keeping an eye on the trajectory can have her smacking her head against the near wall, followed by an instantaneous adjustment to carry on prancing after the fleeing felon!!! It would make for good video coverage and needless to say a cringing audience as she wallops herself and carries on as if to say, "I'm alright, what are you laughing at???"

Puppy School

This is a place to socialize your dog, learn what you can to improve on your skills as a master, teach your puppy the accepted ways of healing, staying and so on.

Now Maggie was rather accepting of the idea that this place had a whole pack of animals and their masters which by the way is not a word in her vocabulary, she being the queen of all she surveys!!!!

Surely these fellow four legged friends were here for her amusement but why was Alana pulling on her collar and using a commanding tone repeatedly with her? Being new to the surroundings, Maggie decided to go with the flow and assess things as they unfolded. This of course was totally acceptable to Alana who proudly went through the paces as the teacher instructed. Now being a puppy and all, Maggie allowed distraction to take over which automatically calls for increased energy to flow through her as her desires to sniff out the young studly puppy in front of her not to mention the antics of the less behaved, masters and dogs alike were of huge interest to her!!! After all, she had been good for a decent length of time so the reward was to "have at" her newly found friends!!!

Alana's gentle tugs along with her firm yet calm assertive commands gave way to a full on one arm workout as the leash's tensile strength was put to the test!!! Maggie's determination matched the opposing force and desires of Alana to the point where the teacher paused and noted the fact that Maggie was somewhat high spirited. This developed into her later commenting that Maggie was manic to which Alana agreed through gritted teeth and a now overworked bicep!!!

Great, so the dog that belonged to a Principal's family had made a name for herself as the most determined at being disruptive in class!!! Thanks Maggie.....humility comes in many forms!!! Class dismissed!!!

The great escape!!!!...or The Fence...Part 3

Sunday morning, another fall day after heavy rains, the back yard looked as if hurricane Ike had paid a visit!!! We could put up a sign saying "Maggie's yard sale" but we know she'd take great exception to having any of her treasures sold off!!! So instead we get the garbage can out and begin the task of eliminating the past week's household foraging....three single socks, none of them matching, sales receipts whisked from the counter top, amply chewed, now sodden from the rains and night dew, an unclaimed insole from a random shoe, a shoe strap from another of yesterday's shoes, scattered bones repeatedly the item of the day, feverishly worked on, buried, resurrected, diligently brought into the house for our approval, returned to the back yard hoping some night marauder would confiscate them, bits of wood from goodness knows where in all sizes, shapes and degrees of annihilation; the list goes on!!!!!

Back in the kitchen, working on a week's supply of pancake making when it dawns on me that our royal highness is no where to be seen. Hhhmmmm, "Maggie" "Maggie" "MAGGIE!!!".....nothing but silence. The gate to the living room is still in place as is the one for the stairway. Basement...no, garage.....no, front yard....no, back yard ......no???? Repeated calling in the back yard, a look over the fence into our neighbor's yard (reference The Fence parts one and two!!!) and still no Maggie??? Then from the Dixons' side of the fence, I hear the jangle of her dog tags. The kids are dispatched to return her to our yard and survey where she escaped from. Brendan returns to say he can't find any place where the escape happened. Finishing pancake making, I venture out to check the fence and come up empty.

Meanwhile, Maggie's happy to be back in familiar surroundings, lavishing all the attention, smiling at the fuss being shown her, indicating we've missed wiping one of her paws and now is in full play mode which brings a collective sigh from all of us!!!

Still perplexed at her latest undertaking in life, I go out and check the gate on one side of the house and the under construction partition of the fence on the other side of the house and find all is secure. It dawns on me then that our mischievous one has taken her departure once more!!! Looking more closely at the fence on the Dixons' side, I'm left wondering if at the back where all the blackberry vines are, has she somehow ferreted through to make her escape??? Pruning shears and a machete in hand, I attack the bramble with great passion (reminiscent of the prince in Sleeping Beauty readying himself to take on Malificent and save his princess!!!) ( okay, now that is funny!!!!) and sure enough as the vines are whacked and hacked away, there lying exposed is a hole in the fence large enough to accomodate the latest getaway!!!

Hammer, nails, multiple boards and a rather large chunk of concrete from the construction part of the fence has the yard secure once more!!! Her nibs having been recaptured and closed in until all was complete, came bounding out, immediately surveyed the newest addition to the fence, employed her nose to sniff out any possibility of a weakness in the now wall that met her and moved on to play at other things!!!

I have total assurance as surely as the blackberry vines will overtake that portion of our yard again, Maggie will find yet another means to challenge her nemesis.....the fence!!! :)

As the months slip by.....

Time flies when you have a puppy!!!!! :)



Whisked away from her family at such a young age, leaving her mother, brothers and sisters in the country and moving on to a suburban family who were at the onset of loving her to pieces, laughing at her endlessly as her antics gushed from her fountain of youth!!!!!

Well there was no toilet paper so I have to use something handy!!!! Would you help me shred this? I find it’s so practical that way!!!!

Oh there's entirely too much water here that completely reminds me of bath time!!!!
If only they'd forget the part about me being a retriever!!! How can I get out of this one???

You know, I'm getting too big to carry around but it still feels really good to be to be cuddled!!! Why does she keep on calling me a sausage; what I'd like is to have a bunch of them to munch on as we speak!!! Hmmm, what's that over on that counter, a little to the left please!!! Stop smiling at that silver box and open the fridge!!! Oh that smells good.......

So this is what it means to be a teenager???!!!! They get me up too early in the morning, I get larger portions, get to stay up later, get to lay down whenever I want and I can reach up onto the counter whenever they're not looking!!! The sandwich was good, the cooked chicken was great and oh that steak that I took was amazing, totally!!! They sure get righteous about me taking that stuff!!! I've got to learn how to eat faster!!! What'll they do when they learn I've been drinking their wine!!!!

This is the life!!! My masters have their favorite spot and so do I but they sure get riled when they find me here. This thing about time out isn't all that bad but I just had that spot nicely warmed up and it's so soft!!! The part I don't get is what's all the fuss about obedience school??? They keep mentioning it to me when I jump on all the people who come over to play with me and when I play bite them, I hear it over and over. It usually follows all the "NO's" and "DOWNS", so I sit down and then they say'Good Girl" and everything seems fine but someone always mentions this school thing again!!! I hope there's lots of food there. That reminds me, I'm hungry!!! :)

Oh those humble
beginnings.....taken from her home , mother and siblings in the country, settling into a new home where a bounty of love was awaiting her along with the frantic calling of "NO !!!, OFF!!!, DOWN!!! STOP IT!!! GGOOOODDDD GGGIIIRRRLLLL!!!!







At the shoreline; there sure is a lot of water here, none of it is in a bowl!!! This looks too much like a big bath, I mean a really big bath!!! Do they expect me to go in there??? Why does the water keep coming after me??? I'm still unsure of all this!!!










I'm out of here!!!! I've only had one bath, the trauma is still totally ingrained in me and even though my people thought they were doing the right thing, I'm really uneasy with all this water!!! Please don't tell them I'm a retriever, they might actually forget and I won't have to go near this stuff again!!!!!

Vacations and oh, the heat....

Puppies are adaptable, they can take on the world, writing their own script, overcoming all obstacles, charging headlong into the weirdest of situations and excelling at the most unlikely of outcomes!!! So with some family members away on vacation and some still at home, given explicit instructions as to how Maggie was to be treated……exercised, played with, fed and occupied for the week we were away, it should be a breeze for all concerned.

Well, it just so happened that the working members of the family encountered their heaviest week of the season and worked longer than normal hours. The heat hit close to record temperatures and Maggie’s routine suffered as much as she did in the heat. Left to her own devices to manage a now empty house for untold hours, she went on a protest activity roster of sorts and decided the carpet on the stairs needed replacing. Her newly arrived adult teeth worked with great precision as she began the task of removing the carpet closest to her mouth as she lay on the cool tiles of the front foyer. Fortunately, as a puppy, she is readily distracted by the slightest noise, sound and flutter coming from the backyard and chose to leave her as yet unfinished work for loftier pursuits!!!

The heat took its toll on her nonetheless as the 100 degree weather carried on day after day until her protest took on the form of relieving herself wherever she felt the calling and in such a way that easily can be interpreted as her defiance at the lack of attention shown her. Text messages arrived, detailing the “crazy dog” that had replaced our mischievous but wonderful princess of a puppy. The hounds of hell had visited and exchanged our Maggie with an other dimensional entity no one knew how to deal with.

So with great anxiety, we packed up for our four hour trip home wondering all the while how we had created this nightmare and how to offset it should it happen again next year. We arrived home amazed to still see the house standing, no neighbors amassing on the front lawn in protest, no yellow tape stretched across the door, barring entry to the maelstrom within and no one wearing HAZMAT suits to ward off the plague that surely must have encompassed the lower floor of the house!!!

Maggie met us at the door, tail wagging, crying for joy as much as puppies can cry for joy and looking at us as if to say, “Where have you been; I’ve really missed you!!!” We scrutinized the workings of the reshaped carpet, headed to the cupboard for cleaning supplies to further scrub the affected areas of Maggie’s Picasso- esque creations on the dining room carpet and began the task of unloading the car from our vacation. Washer and dryer going, attention given lavishly to Maggie and a change in the weather system approaching, we settled in to the day to day activities leading up to the return to work and as cooler days and some welcomed rain fell, Maggie’s persona resumed its regal position as somewhat spoiled(who am I kidding???) lady of the manor!!! (Point the fan this way, if you please and more ice while you’re at it!!! :)

Didn't I just....... ?????

Maggie has a wonderful alpha personality about her that usually brings a smile to our faces as she brings us her latest vanquished object, be it a small quilted blanket, a discarded shawl from generations past, her most recent bone, amply chewed and dirt covered and all are presented with the urgency and intensity of a young child, deliberate in her movements that end soundly in our laps as these massive paws descend upon us! Her look is one of pride and she clearly wants us to join in the fun and celebrate her emergence of The retriever!!!

Her dominance of our household is without question as her repeated efforts to be queen of the manor is demonstrated over and over again, in a multitude of ways. It doesn’t matter whether we’re grabbing our first cup of coffee or ready to crawl in for the night, Maggie has her own plan as to how the universe should unfold!!!

One of her current assertions is that food in all its descriptions, flavours, scents or odours is worthy of her sampling or more correctly, is hers for the taking!!! Today’s sandwich, freshly made with great care and attention, was summarily whisked away as her jaws met the top of the counter with just the right amount of leverage to secure half the sandwich. Now the interesting thing is, she has the sense that what she’s doing will meet (meat) with considerable outcry from us and as those determined chops of hers land the sandwich (in this case), her legs are already in motion for the door, through the screen, across the patio and onto the back lawn as rather indignant adults attempt to “retrieve” the sandwich as it disappears from sight!!!!!! You know there’ll be more to come………. :)

Hackles anyone???

Our Maggie has turned on her hackles, if that’s what puppies do???!!! She now sees something that she deems as out of place, unidentifiable or just down right wrong and the barking ensues amidst lots of movement forward and backward and sideways (you have to get every angle in order to assess the danger at hand) and now for the determined effort on her part to show she’s in charge and no one will invade her space, the emergence of her hackles!!!! Except she hasn’t told her body what part is supposed to raise and what isn’t so her hackles start at the back of her head and run the entire length of her spine, to the base of her tail. She resembles a teenager with spiked hair, all pointing to the middle or centre line!!! And just so that you know she means business, she lowers her head, growling and barking at that shovel leaning against the fence, defying it to move!!! :) All that accomplished, she bounds into the house to let us know she’s been on the job of defending the Paces’ backyard and all is well and thus far the shovel hasn’t chased her into the house as her furtive, over the shoulder glance will verify!!!!

Hhhhhmmmm.......what's that for?

Her nibs is utilizing her nose as often as possible these days, morning, noon and night. It’s like she has just realized that this is one of her characteristics as a dog/ retriever. The head is pointed upward to field the slightest aroma, inside or outside and that accompanies her latest discovery that the scrap basket in our powder room has ever new and interesting things to pull out, prance through the halls with and chew on with great enthusiasm!!! The empty toilet paper roll makes for an interesting plaything until it lies flat, half chewed and liberally moistened from ample time in Maggie’s mouth. Curiosity about a used Kleenex is met with lying in the front hallway and shredding it, awaiting the next distraction and something more purposeful??? Of course, without a backward glance she’s off to engage in whatever strikes her fancy but there is an expectation from her highness that the mess be cleaned up post haste!!!


Actually, we have bedrooms that resemble this scenario, discarded clothing, empty plates and bowls, comforters on the floor and a curious pile of what one could speculate was the clean clothes, washed, dried and neatly folded by two parents now intriguingly camouflaged by the discarded, sweaty and soiled from this week’s events, clothes readying themselves for the next culling into the unused laundry hamper for the weekly migration to the washing machine!!!!! Yes, I fear Maggie is imprinting on our children!

Who's teaching who???

Maggie is getting bigger by the day. I’ll have to get pictures taken and send off to you. There’s not a lot to report on with her other than the website strongly suggested one to two hours a day of exercise daily to keep her fit, occupied, happy and eating everything she smells in a hundred yard radius!!!!! Those huge, doleful eyes have a way of saying,” Please sir, might I have more????” The Brits have an expression about someone talking back to the other party, they call it “giving out” as in, “I talked to her but she kept giving out to me about the roof needing doing…” Well Maggie is great at “giving out” to us over our insistence she be trained, not jump up on everyone she sees, not biting everyone who comes into the house and stop considering everyone of us as litter mates!!!! She gets exasperated and barks, talks, pounces on us AND howls as if to say,” Hey, I live here too and I want to play, so what’s wrong with you??? And don’t give me that “I’m tired and need to sit down, you just got home, I haven’t seen you all day, so let’s get on with it…….the bone, the ball, the old blanket, I’m not bothered, let’s play!!!!” :) I think she’s about to about to get me a whole lot fitter than I am now!!!! And yes, I still have the sneaking suspicion she knows she’s training us!!! :)

Water, water everywhere.....

Oh the uses of water…. That stuff in the bowl goes really well with the food in the next dish and is so good when there has been lots of frantic running in the backyard. The stuff in the toilet is intriguing but Maggie fortunately isn’t quite ready to go for the big gulp!!! Now, the hose is a different matter. Sheila is out, watering the plants including the replaced pots on the patio and this is just wonderful. When the hose is left on the grass with the water running freely, this brings a whole new dimension to the backyard activities!!! The grass in front of the hose is wet, it’s really, really wet, kind of like a puddle and when a paw is placed into that puddle, it’s a great feeling that causes Maggie’s head to turn sideways and is met with a pounce or two for good measure!!! This is a great game!!! And if the paws land just right, landing on the hose, the water changes direction!!! Where do these games come from???

But there is the matter of having a bath. Yes, I know she’s a Golden Retriever and they love water but having a bath is a different matter and after all she is only a child/puppy. Having soap rubbed into her fur even no more tears shampoo was met with an overwhelming woefulness that broke into a moan which needed a wail to accompany it and then the instinctual howl broke out to let all the species on the planet know of the travesty at the Paces where bathing a dog was in fact cruel and unusual punishment!!!!! Alana’s softly spoken assurances of, “I know, I know” fell on deaf ears as the wailing continued. And then it was over, water and suds draining from the evil tub, a big towel to assist in her removal and lots of rubbing to get the bulk of the water off of her. Escape was at hand as she flew down the stairs to the patio door, straining to get away. The door was opened and without looking back she launched herself out across the patio and onto her beloved grass where she rolled and scratched and wriggled and then as if to show Alana and all of us who was in control, she dove under her favorite bush and promptly rubbed all that shampoo smell off of her as she rolled in the earth, nose, face ,ears ,back, front, paws ,legs and tail and then had the audacity to say, “I think I’ll come in now!!!!”

Attention!!!

Puppies have this wonderful habit of exploring things new to them by employing their senses and if that doesn’t categorize what’s in front of them, resorting to barking and even a cat like swipe at the bewildering object can often help to assimilate the discovery. Of course the firmly placed paw is more dog like and less insulting to her highness than being equated to the feline population!

Potted plants on the patio are to be smelled with nose firmly rooting out anything that requires identification. Bending and breaking the stems is merely collateral damage in this quest for knowledge but if one presses further, the rounded pot has the tendency to roll on its side which presents something brand new, is clearly out of the ordinary and its tendency to continue to roll is most perplexing. The ensuing game of life takes on the proportions of barking at an intruder who defiantly won’t cease to move and pay heed to the very determined Maggie!!! Minutes pass and still there is no outcome as the now stationary pot continues to perplex Maggie who has discovered that she has a great bark and when used repeatedly is rather commanding!!! However, no one inside the house is impressed as everyone grabs at familiar toys to distract our newly self appointed guard dog!

There is progress!!!

Coming up to 11 weeks old, twice the size from her arrival on our doorstep and learning new and different things daily. The toys that she shook relentlessly have a squeak when bitten and so what was a single activity now has three aspects to it as she squeaks, shakes and runs throughout the house, delighting in the progress she’s made. The garden has its own allure as some plants can be mashed under her as she launches herself into the foliage, falling onto the verdant pillow while other bushes delight her as she navigates the way under one and through another to a place that’s moments away from where she went in but has found a new pathway that must lead to new adventures as well.

Her now longer size enables her to stretch up to the counter top where many amazing aromas meet her ever twitching nose. The enticement has gained permanence as she now has the realization that people food is wonderfully diverse and so much more enticing than dog biscuits! Her bark and all her puppy noises have us trained as the patio door is opened and closed more often than a subway turnstile as she bores of the constant reminders to “sit” and “down”, deciding rather to inspect what that robin is doing in our yard and wonders if she’s discovered a new friend. The robin dutifully flies to safety, alighting on our fence to watch Maggie and all the while thinking, “Not another puppy to put up with!!!”

Pillows are still fun to pull off of the couch, dish towels are now and forevermore “off limits” as the “No” word and replacing them on the handle of the stove has sunk in, so there has to be a replacement for that activity. In an attempt to discover what else can be fun inside the house, Maggie has now decided the criterion for exploration and discovery is best served by a good bark accompanied by an occasional growl as only puppies can and is now used on inanimate objects like books, the aquarium, the very shadowy image of herself in the glass door leading to the dining room and the toilet, to name a few!!! So far the toilet hasn’t responded that we know of!!!

Another puppy???

Why is there another puppy in the house? And why does he or she appear only in select areas of the house? I’m really cautious as to approaching him, he does seem to be friendly so I wag my tail all the more and so does he! If I lie down and watch him really closely I might figure out what he’s doing here. I did think I’d made a good impression on my family so why have they gone and done this? As I lie here watching him with everything in my being, he’s doing the same thing to me. Quite frankly, I find that rather rude and why isn’t he coming any closer? I’ll bark at him, that will cause a reaction and perhaps I’ll learn more as to why he’s here. Oooooohhh, he’s barking right back at me; now I know I’m not getting anywhere. Okay, I’ll try talking to him and see what happens. He has to know I’m friendly; he can see my tail’s wagging. Okay, I’ll get a little closer and keep using the words I’ve learned from my mother, brothers and sisters. He has to know that I want to be friends but when I leave this spot, he never follows me. What’s really hard to figure out is why I can’t smell him; everything I’ve touched, sniffed, licked and bitten has an aroma, a scent, a smell, so why doesn’t he??? And what’s frustrating me more is all my family is howling (did I just say that?) laughing at me as I try to make contact with him but I do have his name figured out. I’ve learned my name is Maggie and his name has to be Mirror, they keep saying it over and over to him. Now where did he go???

Our little Houdini

Maggie loves being outside and can occupy herself almost endlessly (as if you didn’t know!) for longer and longer periods each day.

Her latest game indoors is to slide on her puppy belly under the couch in the living room when we’re all in there and treat it as her hiding spot. There’s fringe on the couch that lets her be hidden from view. The game begins as she barks at the fringe or perhaps at us to come get her, come find her or she has the sense of she’s now closed in and wants out. The playful barking continues until she figures out that she can just slide out under the fringe with her nose poking out and then her face. By then we’re all laughing at her. Invariably, there’s a ball under there which she gets and rolls it out. Repetition is a part of the game which leaves us laughing all the more and wondering if she knows that she’s entertaining us???!!!! :)

The Fence.....part 2

Our little vixen is growing along with her leaps and bounds and it won’t be long till she is able to pull from the countertops. The fence still intrigues her as in, “Do I go over or under??? The smells outside the yard are by far more appealing than those already explored!!!!!” Her indoor activity is lengthening as she sleeps less and plays more. The one that still gets me is her love of chasing the tennis ball but the bewilderment at the fact that it doesn’t run away after she lets it go!!! The game is quickly rejoined as a touch from a foot sends it on its way. The formation of the go get it and fetch it back hasn’t yet settled in but there is the beginning of it. We’re all working on her being a lot more selective as to what or whom she bites/chews on!!!! Sheila’s line is that she’s experienced at restraining children that are totally out of control at school so Maggie, you don’t have a prayer of beating the school principal !!!!!!!! Each day brings incremental changes in Maggie that are all for the better.

The weekend has brought us new tales/tails of this delightful furball who is impacting on us in ever increasing ways!

As we buy and place new doggie gates to corral this whirlwind of life, she has decided that escape has to be priority one! I think we’ll rename her Jason Bourne as espionage, subterfuge and death defying escapes are clearly in her roster of talents and any prize confiscated from its rightful spot or owner meets with a great chase, lots of tail wagging and zealous shaking of the head in defiance of the pursuers!!!
Maggie's hideaway, our overgrown bush,with all its hidden treasures has been her place of choice since her arrival in our family and often has chosen that spot to express her indifference to any and all callings and pleadings to assure us that she hadn't got out of the yard or hadn't been eaten by a bear. Of course this allows for confusion as to her whereabouts as the pursuers, Greg, Sheila and Alana wait with less and less patience for her at the front of the bush (the hideaway!). The calls as yet unheeded become more frantic and anxiety riddled and still no Maggie.

As all good agents have, Maggie has a back door to her hideout, facilitating her getaway in the event of intruders closing in on her. As the day progressed, she found additional ways to shift the boards of the fence that weren’t reinforced and merrily went on her way to show off her prowess at seeking freedom. She had to show Chris, our neighbor that he wasn’t all that good at fence repair and swiftly exited our yard, scooted through his garden, into his garage, found his garden gloves, selected the tastier of the two and pranced just out of range of first Chris and then Sheila, all the while, with a twinkle in her eye, loving the continuation of the game!!!

The front doorbell rings, interrupting our supposed game and there, in the arms of our neighbour, is our smiling, still wriggling, panting puppy with a hint of a look that suggests, “Got ya!!!”

Upon closer inspection of the fence along the patio and where the overgrown evergreen bush hides any and all activity of our four legged friend, there is a gaping hole, persistently chewed away by those developing teeth of Maggie!!! Chris, smiling all the while as he returned Maggie, proceeded to re board the fence to close off any future attempts at escape. Confident that her enclosure was in fact now an enclosure once again, we returned to doing people things like laundry, dishes and returning the house to a respectable level of order. Maggie’s trail tends to want us to buy a shovel instead of a dust pan and a fire hose instead of the usual broom!!!!! :)

Pass the toothpicks!!!

Our Maggie’s fascination with her new found world continues almost unchecked and that’s probably where the problem is!!! This little monkey has decided that all things have to sniffed, licked, chewed, bitten and shaken for good measure. The throw pillows on the couches are prime targets for her; someone must have told her they were throw pillows because she has come to the realization they are great toys on the floor and why ever would we want them to stay on the couch??? E V E R Y T H I N G that can possibly put in her mouth and is within reach (from the four foot stance or the two foot stance!!!)……pants, socks, shoes, shorts, p j ‘s, dress pants, skirts, bare feet…..the toe that’s licked can just as easily be bitten (it might be food!!!).

Peeing on the family room floor can be done in the “tinkle” of an eye and has play value as the ensuing wiping of the floor must be meant for her amusement!!! Kitchen chairs (wooden) and the table are prime biting/teething targets and look at that, they are available even lying down; who would have thought??? The endless chewing has resulted in my getting her an old stick complete with bark to while away the hours; it’s definitely cheaper than replacing all the furniture!!! I broke it into two pieces, gave her half which she feverishly worked on until sleep overtook her. She looked so beautiful in the midst of strewn bark pieces and a thousand bits and pieces of wood remnants that were just waiting to audition for a role in “Toothpicks”, a real life drama brought to you by the Paces, set design by Maggie!!!!

Kids are the same as puppies!!! (Philosophy according to Maggie!!!)

Therefore a high energy child or children are to be met with the equal amount of loving mischief. If the event brings uncertainty, tears and screaming from the affected child, there must be logic to that and Maggie does her best to accommodate the now fleeing child by racing after her to heighten the game. Climbing on furniture enables the child to escape Maggie which she has decided is totally unfair and wants nothing more than to be on the couch as well!!! The child's refusal to get back into the game is a frustration that is soon overcome by the introduction of any toy, fluffy, chewable or squeaky that is presented to her!!!

Maggie has also discovered that pooping on the front lawn is as satisfying as using the backyard.......the shovel if you please!!!!!

What's she learning now???

We managed to sleep in til 6:30 this morning; what a blessing! Our little darling is proving to be smarter daily and is absorbing all her surroundings…..people, places and things! The pictures taken of her were a real challenge as she is in perpetual motion until she sleeps! The one of her by the bush shows you the size of the bush. It has about a 6 inch clearance from the lawn where she stashes anything that strikes her fancy, as Andrew’s shoe will attest to! She had her first vet check up from our vet today and all is good. He recommended that, at 6 months we have her X-rayed to check her hip development and suggested that there be no games of tug of war as she will find it difficult to distinguish the toy from the hand and will readily bite down in order to win the game!

Maggie, our wonderful, cuddly, growing little fur ball………her world is ever expanding, in the most microscopic ways. You and I would look at our backyard, give it a once over and carry on to other things. This little mite inspects every scent, crack, crevice, ball of dirt, blade of grass, flower; nose in the air to catch the wafting scent passing by, around the bushes, under the bushes, onto the lounger on the patio, chewing everything as she goes, alert to every sound her floppy ears can hear; under foot to every family member as the yard calls out for its spring sorting, planting and transplanting.



Each day brings new aspects of the slate being formed and filled as Maggie's life progresses. The up to the minute activities/ discoveries include tea towels, neatly folded over the handle of the stove can easily be whipped away with great delight and a shaking of the head has a wonderful effect as the towel fights back to be free of her needle sharp teeth. The game is added to by Sheila declaring, "No!" and approaching our little vixen to save the towel. A quick scamper into the family room all the while shaking the now losing towel ensues and a firm paw placed onto the now lifeless victim ensures victory!!! The game continues as Sheila dutifully returns the towel to its proper spot on the handle which of course signals Maggie to begin anew!!!!

Fences... part 1

She is hilarious and wonderful and adorable, all rolled into one!!! Smart as a whip as well; a friend of ours came over last night and within 15 to 20 minutes had her sitting for tiny nibbles of cooked hamburger. This morning, you know that time a long time ago, in a mental space far, far away, she figured out how to pull down some chicken wire we had put up to contain her in the back yard. As I’m replacing it and further securing it so she can’t pull it down again, she promptly crawls underneath it and carries on in the front yard! When that hole was closed off, she made for the gate side of the yard and attempted to escape through a small opening in the gate, only to realize she couldn’t navi- gate(play on words!!!) the escape and couldn’t get back, she let go a howl in her young voice that was rather endearing and as I came to the rescue, all I could see of her was her tail and part of her rump!!!!! As frisky as ever she reversed out of the predicament and came bounding back as if to say, “What’s next???”

At this point in the day, my thoughts are on her and getting home to carry on this saga. Lord only knows what’s next!

Our changing day to day!!!

The deafness from the silence of Rosie’s departure has been engulfed in the freshness of new life. Our waking hours are overflowing with the random spontaneity of a puppy whose slate is totally clean! Her energy knows no bounds for the better part of 30 to 45 minutes and then all is lost as she plummets into the abyss of sleep. Her twitching paws attest to the events just passed as she relives the action of the bouncing ball, her sliding attempt at descending stairs, her consumption of the all outdoors and her hideaway under the evergreen bush at the edge of the patio where all contraband is stored for games as yet unplayed. Her stash includes new toys bought for her, rawhide chews that are still a little overwhelming and the prize, Andrew’s $150. running shoes that have been left in the front hall for the next hurried departure. (I think this is retribution for Sheila’s 3000 unheeded requests to not leave shoes in the front hall!!!!!!!!! :)

Everyone who has seen Maggie just loves her, wants to hold and pet her, declares their interest in having one for themselves, recounts stories of the ones they’ve known within the breed and repeatedly we’ve been told of how loving they are as puppies is how loving they are throughout their lives!!!

We’re delighted with our newest addition to the household and thank Jesus for His leading us to Maggie, leading us out of our sorrow as new life bubbles and bursts in an 8 week old puppy. The freshness of new life touches us all; it draws back the curtains or our hearts and allows love to flow a little easier. Praise be Jesus!!!

The pictures are amassing on the family camera as both the boys deny any responsibility in the loss of the cable (USB?) that enables the downloading of the pictures onto the computer. So today, I’ll take home the camera I use daily here at work, snap a bunch, bring home my cable, down load and send off to you and others in the family!!!!!

Her nibs is fascinating us and challenging us as she hits the ground running, biting, scratching and jumping, at about 4:30 to 5am and assumes that this is an acceptable time for everyone to be up. Sheila mistakenly thought that if she brought her to bed with us that might calm her down for another 30 minutes of snooze time. Instead she figured this was great fun and the comforter was definitely worth biting into as we weren’t responding to her attempts at play!!!! So at almost 5am, we were making coffee, reading the news, answering emails, unloading the dishwasher, starting breakfast, watching the holy terror as she made her escape from the backyard, fixed the fence, lost her, found her, lost her, found her……..now this is fun!!!!! :) And if we weren’t paying enough attention to her, she would bark at us, saying, “Let the games continue!!!!!!!”

By 7am, we’re ready to go back to bed, she’s still wound up and as we’re leaving for work/school, she looks at us as if to say,” Well if you’re leaving, I’m going back to sleep!!!”:)

The Beginnings!!!

Our losing Rosie at the age of 13 reached deeper into our psyches than either Sheila or I would have imagined. Her death on our kitchen floor a week ago sent us into a tailspin emotionally that reached anguish levels for Sheila and had me repeatedly looking for Rosie throughout the house, especially as I came through the front door or as we were finishing a meal and had the last scrap allocated to our ever present friend and companion.

One of the fellows I work with has a yellow lab, two years of age that they wanted to give away to a good family. He refused to take any money for him despite the fact that he is a purebred with papers, tattoos, etc. His only proviso was that he and his wife be able, on occasion to come by and see how he was doing!!!

So our friend Sam brought his dog over yesterday. I'll say right off the bat that I get yellow labs and golden retrievers mixed up……… and did!!!!!!! In walks Parker, all 100 pounds of him at 2 years of age, tongue and tail wagging, happy to be anywhere humans and the prospect of food is/are!!!!! He made himself at home friendly as can be and did I say could smell food a half mile away. With brunch on the go, pancakes made and eggs in the making, coffee brewed and juice poured, Parker thought this was quite alright and settled into doing what he does best, mooching from any and all. He didn't seem to mind there was no place set for him but thought it was a marvelous idea that we were sitting at a table inside and another one out on the patio. His only quandary was where to infiltrate first but quickly figured that if there was noise generated at one table or the other, that's where he would be!!!! One could almost hear him saying, "Would you put some grated cheddar on those eggs for me???!!!!"

Sheila took him for a walk to see how disciplined he was and returned shortly to announce that he had taken her for a romp and was more than ready to go out for another!!!!!! The long and the short of it is, he is definitely too much dog for us and our rather small backyard!!!! I said to Sam that on a scale from 1 to 10, Parker is a 12 but absolutely needs acreage to run on/ in. We would be doing a disservice to him by taking him. We thanked him for his generosity in choosing us for Parker's next home.

So now it's about 3 in the afternoon and Sheila had been ferreting through the want ads for other animals, ones that were in fact, golden retrievers!!!!! There was a family about an hour away, further east of us that had a litter of puppies, golden retrievers, ready to go. So out we go, into the Fraser valley, into farming country to check out these puppies. We were greeted by the mother of the litter and one of her offspring from a litter a year ago. Happy faces and wagging tails received us and after shaking the owner's hand, we were led to a barn with 7 wiggly, squirming, falling all over each other, yapping puppies that were happy to have any attention thrown their way. We asked to see their females so 5 were removed and we were left with 2 choices, a lighter one, almost white in colour and a slightly darker one, light cinnamon, to look at. We both looked at the darker one and said, "She's ours!!!" Pure bred, no papers, vet checked, de wormed and first shots, a vet report to go along with her and $500. paid and we were on our way home with our latest addition!!!! We have named her Maggie much to the disapproval of our sons; they chose more exotic names like Butch, Rizzo, Nala (from Lion King) and other assorted names leaning into the RAP world!!!!