Road Trip!

Hi Everyone!  River Here!  Sorry it has been awhile since we posted.  We got to go on the longest car ride ever and didn't come back for a whole month! 

Here is a picture of us on our road trip.  Dad rented a Toyota minivan and as far as we are concerned, it is the ONLY way to go when you have us two dogs plus all our dog food, dog water, dog dishes, dog snacks, dog leashes, dog tie-outs, dog beds, dog toys, and, well, you get the idea.  Plus Tundra came with us and she had her own crate for the trip and room for all HER stuff!  And we still had plenty of space!
  
Dad stowed the third-row seats and took the second-row seats out and left those at home. Then they put us in harnesses and attached our leashes to heavy-duty carabiners hooked to the anchors in the car.  It worked out GREAT because we didn't mind this at all and we could move around and lay down, and even though the picture looks like a pile of dogs and leashes, we never got tangled up.  Mommy liked it too because we could not escape when they opened the car door.

It worked so well that after we got back, Daddy went out and bought a van JUST FOR US!

One super-fun thing about Florida is that we get to go to the dog park every single day!  We saw funny dogs there, like this one.  I'm not sure but I think all the other dogs felt sorry for her!  I mean, really, who does this? How embarrassing! 

The only thing Jasper likes to do at the dog park is chase his red Kong disk, but this time there was a Dalmatian and a Portugese water dog who tried to STEAL his disk every single day! Once they got it, Jasper just walked around looking sad. Here is the Portugese water dog waiting to steal Jasper's toy:

 While we were out at the dog park, Tundra kept an eye on things at the house.  Here she is, keeping the geckos away.

Once we got home from the dog park I was ready for a nap!  Boy do I miss my big chair at home, this one was kind of tight but I made it work:

What a fun trip! But it is fun to be home too.  Look! We STILL have snow to play in! 

Don 't forget to check out other Goldens who are looking for a family to go on trips with at G.R.I.N.    www.grinrescue.org

Hi Everyone!  River Here!  Every time Aunt Cam calls the house she asks about us, and when she comes over first we bark and then Jasper jumps on her because he jumps on everyone and then Cam yells at him but then she gives us lots of belly rubbin'.   Then she ALWAYS asks someone to take a picture of all of us and finally Mommy did.  So, here is a photo of us trying to get Aunt Cam to play with us some more!   Aunt Cam always has to look for Tundra the cat, too, but Tunny usually hides or she is sleeping.  Today Cam found her sleeping!  We love Aunt Cammie!

Mr. January

HI Everyone!

Jasper here with some exciting news.   I, Jasper Yoder Jester Miller, made the GRIN Calendar!  Yup, you can now add "Mr. January" to my title!

The funniest part is how shocked River was when he saw the calendar for the first time today!  Mr. Handsome (River) himself made it in the calendar, too, though...a little photo on the September page.  I'm in that one, too!  Can you believe it?  I can't believe it!  One day I am just another cute, slightly funny-faced little golden mutt and the next day I am Mr. January. You should have seen how excited we were when Mommy opened the package of calendars she ordered.  We both jumped up and down to get a look, just like we knew exactly what they were!  Calendars of us! 

GRIN is Golden Retrievers in Need,  the organization that rescued me and River from who even knows what and placed us in the BEST FOSTER HOME ever in Ohio with Jane and Lennie, who then let Mommy and Daddy take us home to live with them in New York.  The Calendar is one way GRIN raises money to rescue more Goldens. 

Just think, you could start YOUR 2013 out right by seeing me EVERY DAY all of January, and LOTS  and LOTS of great pictures of other rescued goldens the whole rest of the year, just by ordering a calendar!

http://www.grinrescue.org/about-grin/general-info/60-newsflash-temporary-cat/499-grin-calendar.html


Here is a preview.  If you want me to autograph your calendar with a nice muddy paw print, just let Mommy know.  My OTHER good news is that my mud puddle is back in action so I am available almost anytime!

Love, Mr. January Jasper

River Here...the grandkids were here and gone and even if they tire me out, I love that they were here for a visit. I hope that they come back soon.  Why?

3. More walks!  Here is a picture of us on a walk. I got a little tired so Roen sat down with me.  Wiley Jane likes to walk Jasper because even though they call him "the crazy one,"  he is a pretty mellow walker.  Me, sometimes my nose takes over, and I have to admit I pull at my leash. 
2. More fetch! Nydus loved throwing the ball but he does not throw it very far, which is PERFECT for me, because I really don't love to run all that far!  
1. More snacks.  I scored a turkey sandwich, about 10 egg yolks, french toast, and lots more that I am NOT telling!  

Jasper's New Hobby!

Hi Everyone!  Jasper here!  Can you believe someone came and filled all my mudholes around the yard?  And it has been very dry so I can't even make new ones.  What is a mud-digging dog to do?  Start digging in the pond!
I started doing this a little bit last fall (remember the post about the rock as big as my head?)  but now I am REALLY into it!  I dig them out of the mud one by one at the edge of the pond, then bring them up on the grass and then go back and dig some more.  I bark at the water when I am doing it and It is SO MUCH FUN!  One day Mommy counted 23 rocks!  But then she said something about what words would fly when someone mowed the lawn over all those rocks and she threw them back.  Did you know words can fly?  I didn't either!  This is going to be GREAT summer! 

Road Trip!

Hi-Ho!  River here!  Me and Jasper FINALLY got to go on a road trip!  A real trip, and we stayed in a hotel and drove 2 whole days and ended up in Southwest Florida.  Whew, it's hot there.  Anyways, we want to tell you about our trip!
First Daddy bought a jail-gate so we had to stay in the BACK of the car.  It wasn't so bad.  Even Jasper slept most of the way.  The only thing I didn't like so well were the mountains and the twisty roads.  Everyone was nervous because they said it looked like I was about to lose my lunch, as they say.  But I didn't and after awhile the road got better. 
We got to sleep in a Hotel!  A Residence Inn!  It wasn't really too much fun the first time.  Jasper was pretty stressed out and he decided we should bark whenever we heard any noise at all.  Then about 1:00 am the neighbors decided to have a party in their room and Mommy stayed awake petting Jasper so he would not bark, while me and Daddy slept in the bed. Then me, Jasper, and  Mommy slept in the car most of the next day!
So, we are driving and we stop somewhere south of North Carolina and guess what?  Jasper decided he does NOT LIKE the grass south of North Carolina and he would NOT walk on it.  This lasted a couple of days, even in Florida, until he finally decided he better get used to it because the pavement is awfully hot down there!

There is a dog park in Florida called Canine Cove and we went there every day, sometimes 3 times a day. We are pretty sure we were the only dogs who went there 3 times in one day.    Mommy bought Jasper a new red kong disk so he would play at the dog park.  He did not care a bit about other dogs, but he did like to go say hi to all the people there, then he just chased the disk until his tongue was hanging to the ground.  I liked the dog park, too and I tried to make friends with some dogs, especially a pretty golden girl named Gabby, but she mostly ignored me.  Maybe she thought I was too old for her.  Do I look too old?  Canine Cove was nice but not nearly as much fun as our house.  Here is me, relaxing in the shade at the Canine Cove.   

 

So, the down side of Florida was that there is water all around, even next to the dog park, and NO PLACE TO SWIM!  The upside was that we did not have a fence at our house and you know what that means...lots of WALKS!  And I do like walks. The ride home was about the same except this time we got a 2 bedroom Residence Inn and I got to sleep with Daddy in one room and Mommy and Jasper got the other room!  It was much better than the first one we stayed at.  Dog friendly hotels are hard to find, especially for 2 big dogs like us!   It was a pretty good trip but we are glad to be home!     

Mommy's Event

Hi Everyone! River and Jasper here. Did you hear that Mommy had something everyone keeps calling an event? That sounded like FUN to us but everyone was very serious when they talked about it.

Then she explained she had something VERY rare called a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) so it was a CARDIAC event, not a FUN event. SCADs happen when the layers of one or more artery walls suddenly separate, and blood flows into the space where it tore, and then the torn part blocks blood flow and wham-o! A heart attack! Interestingly, this happens to a lot of people like mommy, mostly women, who are super-healthy and about the last people you think would have a heart attack. The bad thing is no one knows why SCAD happens to certain people!

The good news is she is starting to feel better and we get to help her with rehab!!!!!! It's going to be GREAT and we are going to be the BEST HELPERS EVER. We started out already by going for little hikes in the fields and around the pond. Here are some pictures from rehab today. Jasper on the left and River on the right!

If you have to do rehab, you should DEFINITELY adopt a dog. Or maybe adopting a dog will PREVENT you from having an "event" in the first place, cause you know us dogs DO help you to take walks and play and even relax. And everyone knows how much us goldens love petting and that petting us lowers YOUR blood pressure! A win-win!

Whole New Dogs!

Jasper here! Mommy and Daddy just got back from a trip and they said it was like coming home to Whole New Dogs!
Aunt Susan stayed with us and not only did she give us MAJOR haircuts, she gave us BATHS! Usually when I need to get cleaned off I just jump in the pond, but these were REAL baths with SOAP!
Me and River were so confused we just stood there and let her lather us up and rinse us off. Then WE thought we smelled funny but Aunt Susan was REALLY happy and she kept telling us how pretty we are. Pretty? Well, anyways, you should see how fluffy I am with all the shampooing I got.
Good thing, because with all that fluffy hair you might not be able to tell that I might have gained a few pounds! From what? From eating about 300 treats in the past two weeks! Know why? Aunt Susan taught me to SHAKE, and it took a LOT of treats for me to learn.
No one is sure if I am just a slow learner or smart like a fox...and I'm not telling....all they know is after 6 years of trying to get me to do it, I now hold up a paw when someone tells me to shake. Then River has to come right over and shake too so if you tell me to shake, you better have TWO hands free and plenty of treats nearby. WELCOME HOME!
Thank you Aunt Susan! We love you!

End of an Era

Hi Everybody,
River and Jasper here. We are sorry to say that our brother Moe is gone and now it is just us golden dogs and Tundra the cat around here. Mommy says it is the end of an era - the M's - Mabel, Max, and Moe - were littermates and they were here lots longer than us so they were kind of in charge. Moe was the last one left. He was something like 14 years old and the vet said his heart was just worn out. Up to the end he still went for little walks with us every day plus his walks all around the yard plus he still had a great appetite, so that's not a bad way to go!

Of course, Mommy says part of his good appetite was all that nice soft canned food he was getting. Chicken and sweet potato - Boy did that smell good! Every day after Moe finished eating, we would run out and see if he left any little smear of his food for us. Sometimes he did!

Anyways, Daddy called Moe a big lug, because if you were a person sitting in a chair, Moe would always try to climb up and join you. He loved people, but he even liked chairs when no one was in them. Here is a picture of Moe in a chair. We miss you Moe!

Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone!
River here with Jasper to wish everyone a Happy New Year! The weather has been really warm for this time of year and we didn't get hardly ANY snow until today. Here we are! It doesn't look too bad right here but there is something like 10" of snow in the yard and it is PERFECT for running in and chasing the red Kong disc!

It has been so mild here that mommy went biking New Year's day, and Jasper even went swimming in the pond a couple of days before Christmas! I did not go swimming with him, because a couple of days before THAT the pond had ICE on it and while Jasper doesn't seem to mind the cold, there was NO WAY I was going in. To tell you the truth, I have really been enjoying curling up in my big chair. Some days I spend almost all day there!

We had a really super fun Thanksgiving with the grandkids here to visit. I got lots of extra nibbles off the kid's table, which is fortunately just EXACTLY the height of my chin. Jasper got most of his nibbles by licking the kid's faces, especially Nydus'...whose FACE is exactly the same height as Jasper's and who laughed and laughed when Jasper licked him. The kids took us for walks, too! We miss them lots.

Christmas was fun too! Our dog cousins Trixie and Ripley came over for Christmas dinner, then Trixie came to visit another day and it got pretty exciting when Tundra the cat decided to show Trixie who is the boss. Boy, I wish I had a video of THAT to post for you!

Anyways, if you want to have a REALLY happy new year, you should think about adopting a dog or even a cat from a shelter or rescue. Love, River and Jasper

Jasper's Trophy Rock

Hi Everyone! Jasper here to tell you about my rock! My friends Kazi (a Brittany) and Libby (King Charles Cavalier) came over to play a couple of weeks ago and they don't like to swim too much so we took a little hike first and THEN came back to the pond. I wanted to show Libby and Kazi how much fun digging is so I started digging by the edge of the pond and found the BEST ROCK EVER! When Mommy saw it she said if the rock wasn't still wet she never would have believed I dug it out of the pond, cause it was so big! It's as big as my head! I admit it was a little heavy so I only carried far enough for everyone to see it. Once I get rocks out I really don't care about them anymore but Mommy kept it and weighed it and she says it was 8-1/2 pounds and I am lucky I still have any teeth left at all. Here is my trophy rock! And my favorite red disk! Today I went digging in one of my mudholes for 2 hours! I hope you have fun things to do where you live.

Fall Mud Season!

Hi Everyone! River here! Me and Jasper are both happy! For me, fall allergy season seems to be over. Of course I had to take 3 weeks worth of pills to recover from all my itching and chewing, and my tail still looks pretty funny with a big bare spot then a pouf of hair on the end, but I am definitely feeling better and I don't even have to wear the lampshade! Of course, there goes my excuse for sleeping in bed with Mommy and Daddy but all in all, I am still MUCH happier.
Now Jasper never stopped being happy because that is just how he is. That is why they call him Happy Jaspy! Anyways, HE is happy because it has rained a LOT the last few days and you know what that means...MUD. Mommy and Daddy were working outside and Jasper dug in his 4 or 12 or however many mudholes that he has going, and he barked the WHOLE TIME. Here is his biggest and best mud hole!

River's New Bed

HI EVERYONE!
Jasper here. Guess what River has been doing again? Yup, chewing. This time on his TAIL and the vet is out of town and Mommy and Daddy are making him wear that lampshade again and he does NOT like it, not one bit. Except...he gets to sleep in the BIG bed. I tried to sleep in the big bed once but I was SO EXCITED that I kept kissing everyone and nudging them to play and stuff and all they wanted to do was sleep but who has time for that when you could be playing? So back in the crate I went.
Anyways, River gets to sleep in the big bed with his big old lampshade on and even though Mommy and Daddy say they don't have enough space with River AND the lampshade, they still let him because if he goes in his crate there is definitely not enough room and the lampshade hits the side of the crate in the middle of the night, then I have to BARK at him, then EVERYONE wakes up.
So, guess who thinks he OWNS the big bed? That's right! And he would not let Mommy make the bed without him this morning, so she just had to work around him. Here is River, owning the bed:

New bones!

Happiness IS a brand new chew bone!

Today's Walk!

Hi Everyone! Jasper here! This morning Mommy took me, River, and Moe for a walk and guess what we saw? That's right. A BIG BEAR! How did you guess?
We were just walking down the road and then this giant bear walked out of the woods ahead of us and stopped in the middle of the road. The bear was looking at us, and we were looking at the bear and we did not make a PEEP because we weren't quite sure WHAT do to! But the best part was after we stared at each other for what seemed like forever, I guess Mommy got a little nervous that the bear was not moving, because she jumped up and down and waved her arms (which is not easy when her arms are attached to 3 leashes) and yelled "Run Bear Run!"
Well the bear took one last look at this crazy scene and took off into the woods and then and only then did we back Mommy up and start barking and jumping too. It was very exciting and of course I wanted to play with the bear and River wanted to go chase it but Mommy decided maybe we should just turn around and go back home after that in case there were baby bears around. That was our walk for today!

Bye to Mabel

River here. Sad news to report - our sister Mabel died earlier in July. Mabel is the pretty girl on the left in the photo. She is now with their brother Max, chasing birds all over the place. She and Moe used to howl together every day at the 5:00 pm siren. If you can't tell, this picture was taken at 5:00 pm! Mabel had a good day, and even took a little walk, but we know she was getting weak and she passed in her sleep the next day. Aunt Susan was really really great taking care of her, because Mommy and Daddy were out of town when it happened.
The REALLY sad thing is how much her brother Moe (in the middle) misses her! Me and Jasper spend LOTS of time outside these days keeping Moe company, because if we don't, he barks and barks. Who can blame him? He and Mabel were together for 13 years, and Max was with them most of that time, too. Bye Mabes! Hope you catch some birds!

what River did today

HI Everyone! Jasper here! Taking a break from my mud puddles to show you what River did to himself today. Mommy was HORRIFIED when she saw this and I don't blame her. I might be goofy and have a few annoying habits, but I would NOT chew my own hair off! I have too many FUN things to do!
So, now Riv has the big plastic collar on which I barked at for two hours til I realized it was River inside there. And he is mad at Mommy for making him wear it and putting stuff on his leg. I hope he gets better SOON because right now he won't even chase me or play tug toy or let me jump on him or anything! Get well soon River!

We had to stay inside for THIS????

Hi Everyone! River here!
We missed writing in our blog, but it's just been busy around this place. We had so much rain this spring that Jasper has SEVERAL new mud holes to bark at and dig in. Mommy says she doesn't care, because a few holes in the yard and having to throw sticks in the pond to clean him off is a small price to pay for keeping HIM busy.
So, today, we really really really wanted to go outside and play but Mommy kept us locked in the house! She wasn't trying to be mean but there was a BIG old TURTLE in our yard and then she reminded me about the LAST time I tried to get the turtle out of the yard, how the end of my nose came up missing. Oh yeah, I did forget about that. It is mostly grown back now. So, anyways, here is the turtle. And of course the turtle took her sweet old time getting out of our yard, but finally she was gone and we spent the WHOLE DAY outside!

Grin Dogs!

Hey! River here! Wondering if me and Jasper were ever as little as the 8 puppies that GRIN (Golden Retrievers in Need) Rescue has available for adoption. www.grinrescue.org You can watch the puppies on YouTube by clicking here and scrolling down: http://grinrescue.org/featured-golden-top-menu/824-iris.html


AND if puppies aren't your thing (we hear they are lots of work, not easy like when me and Jasper got adopted! Oh wait, what was that Daddy? We were a full time job?) you can see lots of other Goldens that need homes, too! Like Wilson! We hope Wilson comes to play with us pretty soon! Here's Wilson: