Easton=perseverance

When it comes to toys, nothing will dissuade him from his goal. At Jon and Debbie's pool, Tucson, AZ.
I believe that is Mia looking on.

Easton even picks out his own toys

A fun Easton video

Abarkalypse Now

By popular demand. Easton and my brother Chip goofing off last spring. Its all in fun, plus it gives me a chance to exercise my rudimentary video editing skills.

Easton's favorite squeaker ball

I’ve been waiting to catch this part of Easton's playful personality on video for sometime. This weekend he started playing with his squeaker ball right next to my chair. I used my smart phone to capture his "kitty play". Had to hold the phone at an odd angle, so it's a little choppy….sorry. Very lame background noise, so you get music instead!

Osprey up close and personal - Incredible video

And you thought your Grandpa was a skilled fisherman! This guys puts us all to shame. He even shakes water off himself, in flight, like a dog. WOW
 

View full screen on YouTube

Easton demos a doggy treadmill

For those of you not on Facebook, here's Easton At the Phoenix Pet Expo, April 28th, 2012. He was the first dog to demo that day. We walked him in and out of this special treadmill three times, treating him each time. This is his fourth trip in, where the ground began to move under his feet. He was a little startled, but recovered nicely. He looked like a newborn fawn trying to get those long legs to adjust to the moving tread. He never panicked and tried real hard to make it work. Thanks to www.dogpacer.com for being so patient and kind.



Click here to view directly on YouTube

AU Jenga Dog

Amazing - one of KT's Goldens, Sunny, could balance treats on his nose for a minute or two. Sunny and I never ascended to the heights you'll see below. Remember, the dog in this video is not being harmed in any way. I can't believe some of the comments on YouTube about this video. Goldens live to please their peeps and to show-off.....nothing makes them happier.

Git into the spirit

Easton asked me to make sure all his bloggy friends were spooled up for the Hollerdays.

All short hair breeds.....

can learn from this.

Happy Dance dedicated to Jake at Golden Pines

Video credits: Devo dancing, trotting & burping, Cosmo bouncing and Sunny taking it all in.

Jake is an old Golden just rescued by the wonderful people at Golden Pines.

Stop by and paw Jake a woof. He's had a hard life and deserves the best.

We are so happy he can spend the winter of his life at Golden Pines

Life at Golden Pines

Ten Years.......

Cleared for Takeoff

WOW factor off the charts!

Goldens are such show-offs

A Portuguese production - the song is perfect, even though I can't understand the lyrics.

I think I saw this once at Studio 54 in 1986

Yep, this is COOL

Easton swims for his life

It's been over three weeks since Easton injured his right rear leg after being attacked by an off-leash dog. We were hoping that after a few sessions of swim therapy he could grow strong enough to heal, but that is not the case. A trip to the Vet last week brought a preliminary diagnoses of a torn/ruptured ACL. When our Vet first met and examined Easton a month ago, she thought there might be some minor soft tissue damage to his knee even though his range of motion was good and he was not limping. Since the day we got him, he has "drug" his right-rear paw, occasionally scraping the nails on the asphalt when we toddled around the neighborhood. It has become obvious to me that Easton has had a knee condition for some time now. The attack has made it worse, aggravating or even completing the tear of the soft tissue in his knee. We are expecting an opinion from the radiologist today or tomorrow.

Here is video from Easton's last session at Splash Dog Spa (it's really not fancy, just very well thought out). You'll see in the video, at times, Easton seems to swimming harder; because he is! Leigh Anne turns on the jets and Easton swims against a raging current. Let me tell you, it wears his baggy ass out! Plus, he gets a massage every 5 minutes or so. WOW. He just loves it. When I win the Lottery, we'll do it 5 times a week....ha, ha.



On the advice of our Vet, Easton has to go cold turkey!
NO toys
NO fetch
NO rough house - It's like we've done this all our lives. He is gentle, but tough!
NO dog park
NO more swimming for now - If he has surgery, he'll be swimming a lot for therapy.
Short, controlled walks
Less food (no weight gain allowed) - he is not overweight, but no chances taken!
....And, the toughest one - NO stairs (or at least minimum up-and-down). This one is just about killing him, because he needs to follow me EVERYWHERE. Both flights of stairs are blocked, but I let him come up to sleep with us at night.

When I know more about what the course of action is with Big Red, I'll let you all know. He is still a happy-go-lucky boy who doesn't seem to realize he could be seriously injured. I'm trying to teach him how to play laying on his back. He doesn't get it yet, but I see signs he is starting to relax and let it flow.

Patience is a virtue

Goldens are such show-offs (like my friend Khyra always says).

Pet Food Primer Part-2

By popular demand - looking at ingredients of grocery store brands.

The care and feeding of your best friend is a personal decision. It never hurts to be educated on the finer points of what you are really getting when you purchase that attractive bag of food with the slick picture of the cutest dog you've ever seen.

Pet Food Primer Part-1

IMHO this is the finest overview of the options we have when it comes to feeding our dogs. Right up there with the work that Whole Dog Journal does. The presenter has impeccable credentials (she is a Vet) and is well spoken. You could easily watch this video 3 or 4 times.....really! This is Part-1 covering the best types of foods and their ingredients. Part 2 (I will post soon) is the horror story (my words) of supermarket brands. Do you want your dog to "just survive" or "thrive". That really is the question.