Got me a new fishin pal....

[Mr. Sandman]

She arrives in a week or so...was gonna name her "Habs" if could secure some "Elites" but that looks iffy...So "Sandy" will be learning the ropes this summer....
The kids are pumped!

[Karl F]

Great Pal you got there

Enjoy her ( I know you will)

[missing link]

cute doggy

[Goose]

Nice....Like the name too

[nor-easter]

Congratulations on your new addition.

Be careful she doesn't try to retrieve plugs for you.

We have a Golden Boy who is approaching 15 too fast.

They are full of Love!

[Saltheart]

Great dog! Good Luck with her.

[B-assman]

Congratulations!! Goldens are great dogs. Ours (his name was Gansett - he passed away 3 mos ago) was the most gentle mellow dog you could imagine - He let my two young daughters climb all over him, pull his tail, sleep on top of him, etc and never seemed to mind. He guarded their bedroom doors each night and was always protective of our whole family. Enjoy her - she'll be a great addition to the family!

[Raven]

that a retriever "must" retrieve or they go insane literally so make sure she has a job.... and heres the best retrieving trick i know (for puppies)....you take a tennis ball , ok and make two small slits in it (on opposite sides)
with a razor knife ...now .. thread a length of soft rope thru it with a good size knot at the end so you have a tennis ball on a rope.
next: you fill it with doggy beef jerky so it is most desirable.
feed the pup a little piece of doggy beef jerky then let her smell the tennis ball until she wants it and throw it after a minute or two of the "betcha cant get it game"....after she gets the ball....reel her in gently and reward her with a piece of jerky for the retrieve with lots of patting and say "WHAT" a good dog.
and begin again. Soon you'll have her fetching without pulling the rope.
NOW......you can hold the ball in your hand and get the dog to make "EYE CONTACT " and once that's established you can teach a dog anything.

[Raven]

its never to early...i had one leash trained at 10 weeks old and after that i needed no leash. ...................
this is what you do: you take a ten foot rope and have it coiled
in your right hand always keeping the dog on the left at all times her shoulder to your leg in tight and close. you walk down the side walk or trail and everytime the dog sniffs the ground or decides to take her eyes off of you to investigate a different direction you drop the slack from your right hand and do a quick right turn ... without looking back and march in a straight line.
the dog will (yes it sounds mean) suddenly get yanked back to the direction your walking and strive to catch up. Its best to be silent so she looks only for visual clues. Eventually and it wont take long...the dog figures out ...gee everytime i take my eyes off that S>O>B he turns and i get YANKED. Soon she won't dare take her eyes off you (again "EYE CONTACT") and will stay
at your side without thinking to wander or drag you.
Also remember that if your walking on a sidewalk and about to CROSS a street always stop before doing so and have the dog sit.
look both ways.....then proceed when there's NO Traffic!

[Karl F]

pretty good tips Raven.. I use the rope trick to teah the puppy it's name... let it wander out on the rope call the name once.... twice, reel it in, treat, let it wander out again---->repeat, don't take long at all... retrievers and tennis balls like most of us and nice looking plugs, we salivate, drool, wag our tails and act foolish just looking at 'em but you are right, they have to do it... (meybe we do to?)

Here's my gal pal Bailey in her favorite non tennis ball activity...
watchin my every move, laying in the sand.

[Raven]

Karl ....Bailey Should have her own TV show.

[Karl F]

Bailey's a "keepah".......
but----> I'm lookin' forward to hearing more and seeing more pics of Mr. Sandmans, "Sandy" !

[Fisherwoman]

Good for you Mr. Sandman, what a cutie. Labs and retreivers are the best. My family has had Chocolate and Yellow labs for as long as I can remember. Best dogs in the world. Good luck with the little bugger!!!

[nor-easter]

Bassman, Sebastian, our 15 year old came to us from Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue in Hudson, MA.
We know that you will always have a place in your heart for Gansett but please consider adoption of a YGRR dog.
We have two memorial photos on the refrigerator alongside a photo of Sebastian. All from YGRR and all came to us as Senior Goldens (over 7 years old), all trained and looking for Love.

When we lost "Butch" we waited almost four years and kick ourselves now for having missed those four years without a dog.

Anyone wanting a Golden, I would highly recommend YGRR in Hudson for adoption.