Bauer

Another day, another transport--this one was a formerly stray Golden who was turned in to the local animal shelter. Usually whoever picks up the dog and transports it to the vet gets to give the dog its name. This is actually harder than it sounds--the rescue group tries not to have any dogs with duplicate names, and when you have about 200 dogs a year, you have to go beyond your basics (Bailey, Maggie, Duke, etc.) to find one that hasn't yet been used. I'm terrible at coming up with names, but fortunately my friend Jonathan loves to help. We're big "24" fans, so while watching last night's episode we decided that the lucky boy to break out of the shelter today would be named Bauer.

And would you look at that! He is blond with rugged good looks, just like his namesake! :)

The Transporter

It has been a busy week for me in the Golden Retriever Rescue world, with one trip to the vet with our foster, Bubba (he's fine), and two transports. Transports are usually the first step in the rescue intake process, and involve picking up a dog (usually from a shelter) and taking the dog to one of our vets to get checked up and boarded until a foster home is ready.

So my first transport this week was nothing out of the ordinary. Picked up a sweet golden from a shelter about half an hour away and drove him to the vet's in Fort Worth.

The second transport, which I just finished up with a couple of hours ago, was something new. One of our volunteers was on Craigslist and found an ad for a golden, "free to a good home." Giving a dog away "free to a good home" is usually a great way to make sure that the home the dog goes to is not, in fact, "good." Fortunately, in this case, the woman agreed to sign the dog over to the rescue group. So I volunteered myself and off I went to pick up the dog.

To be perfectly honest, I tend to be judgmental about people who give away their dogs. I know I am something of a crazy dog lady, but we consider our dog part of the family and it's hard to imagine a circumstance in which we would give her up. So, while driving to "free to a good home" lady's house, I was feeling a little hostile towards her. These feelings were compounded by the fact that a) she had had the dog since he was a puppy, b) the dog had lived entirely outside, and c) the dog was not up to date on shots or on any kind of heartworm preventative. My irritation grew when I pulled up to her house a few minutes early and she was already waiting on the curb with the dog, like she just could not wait another minute to get rid of him. Ugh.

So I got out of the car, said hello to the (very dirty) dog, and gave "free to a good home" lady some release forms to fill out. All of a sudden, a little girl, probably around four years old, came running out the front door of the house. She threw her arms around the dog and said, "But I want him to stay!" Wow. What do you say to that? I just stood there, feeling a bit like the mean dog catcher in Annie, about to take a little girl's dog away from her. Fortunately, "free to a good home" lady spoke up and told her daughter that this was the best thing for the dog, and the girl went back inside. The lady didn't really elaborate on WHY this was the best thing for the dog, and I didn't ask. But I did realize that I probably should not be as judgmental as I am. I have absolutely no idea what is going on with their family--maybe there is something crazy going on that would make it impossible to keep the dog. Who knows.

All I know is that I loaded the dog into my car and we got out of there. He has officially spent his last night outside by himself in the dirt. He is no longer wearing the old, ill-fitting chain collar (I threw it away myself). He is at the vet's office now, getting a much overdue checkup, vaccinations, and a heartworm test (I can almost guarantee you it will come up positive--is it okay for me to still be a little judgmental about people who don't give their dogs proper vet care??). And I know for sure that the life he is heading for is much better than the one he had.

Tales from Triage

My family has a semi-regular tradition of having Sunday dinners together at my parents' house. These dinners usually consist of a huge buffet of different types of food that don't in any way go with each other, but are delicious nonetheless. Last night, my dad made Chinese stir-fry with chicken, Todd made beef and chicken fajitas, and Brian and I contributed macaroni and cheese from Oliver's in Mansfield (soooo good!). It was quite the spread, and as usual, my dad and brother did almost all the cooking, we all did lots of eating, and my mom and I did the cleaning.

So our Sunday dinner was routine, but the dinner table conversation was anything but. Todd is currently finishing up the EMT portion of training for the Dallas Fire Academy and yesterday he worked his first shift in triage of a local hospital. He told us about all the stuff he saw yesterday, including a patient moaning in agony over a pulled muscle, a patient laughing off a stab wound to the chest, a couple of psychiatric cases, and a few diseases of the, um, sexually transmitted variety. I think I would have probably made it about half an hour in that hospital before needing medical attention myself, but Todd actually really enjoyed it. It's so strange to think of your little brother being exposed to all that crazy stuff--but he has always been the one who is calm and collected during any kind of medical emergency, so I know that he will be a great EMT/Paramedic and I'm proud of him already.

And speaking of crazy things for your little brother to be exposed to...today he's working the 3 to 11 shift in Labor & Delivery! I can't wait to hear how that goes...

Accepted :)

We had a great weekend! On Friday--the 13th!--I found out I was accepted to Dental Hygiene school. This news led to happy hour with friends, which led to dinner, which led to additional drinks, which led to a late night for us.

Saturday morning we had to drag ourselves out of bed because I had volunteered us to work at the rescue group's booth at the Fort Worth Home and Garden Show. We also volunteered Mr. Bear, my parents' Golden (and the first dog we ever fostered!), to work the booth with us. Mr. Bear is a gentle giant and one of those dogs that even those who don't consider themselves "dog people" fall in love with. So we strapped the donation vest onto him and he worked the room like a rock star, collecting money that will go to the rescue group's veterinary expenses.

Have you ever seen so many dollar bills stuffed into a small piece of fabric?
Wait, some of you probably shouldn't answer that. You know who you are.

After the Home & Garden Show, we headed home and rallied in time to go to the Dallas Stars game with Tommy and Jennifer. Tommy got us great seats and we had an awesome time watching the Stars win in overtime.

Brian, a Southerner, doesn't actually appreciate hockey enough to watch the games on TV but likes to go watch in person. I, on the other hand, have parents from Canada and Buffalo, so hockey was always on at my house. My dad actually played goalie throughout high school and college and lost his four front teeth in 1962 when goalies weren't required to wear masks (or, as he puts it, "When men were men!").

Anyways, after the game we met up with Daylon for a drink before calling it a night and heading home. Sunday we had lunch with Brian's family and got to hang out for a bit with our niece, Piper, who is almost 15 months old, so cute, and into EVERYTHING! And for those of you who thought there wouldn't be any cute baby pictures on my blog, behold!

It's an old picture, but I like it because it also includes
our nephew Laird in the background.

Lots of people think Piper looks like her Uncle Brian, and she definitely has his eyes! She is a pretty, happy girl and it was great to get to see her on Sunday.

Earlier today I picked up Bubba from the vet's office, so we have begun his period of rest and relaxation--so far, so good! Hope everyone has a great week.

Heart(Worm) Attack

Often, the foster dogs that we take in have not been taken care of properly. (I must be feeling nice today, because that's putting it mildly. One of our fosters was found with a fish hook attached to him. But I digress.) It's very common that the dogs test positive for heartworms--this unfortunately is the case with our current foster, Bubba. Before we started fostering, I gave Bailey her heartworm prevention every month and never gave much thought to what heartworms actually are and what they can do to a dog (or cat). Basically, as the name suggests, they are worms that live in the dog's heart...when a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito, the mosquito deposits larvae that migrate to the heart and can grow to be several inches long (nasty!). They are dangerous because they can eventually obstruct blood vessels between the dog's heart and lungs.

The treatment for heartworms sounds pretty crazy--the dog is injected with a compound that contains arsenic! The arsenic kills the worms, but then the real fun begins...the dog has to be kept quiet for about six weeks. This is because any kind of exercise can cause the worms to dislodge too quickly and cause a pulmonary thrombosis. So for about six weeks, there can be no running, playing, walks, games of fetch...basically no fun! As you can guess, keeping a young, otherwise healthy dog quiet for this long is quite a challenge.

So I dropped little Bubba off at the vet's office this morning to get his injections. I hated leaving him there...we have had him for two weeks now, and I think he was just beginning to feel secure with us and in his new surroundings. But I know he is in great hands, and I will pick him up on Monday when we'll begin our quiet time. Here's hoping Bubba does great this weekend and we have an uneventful six weeks of rest!

Lazy Sunday

It's a tough life.

Actually, our entire weekend was pretty uneventful (in a good way). Friday we went out for Mexican food and margaritas with Tommy, then on Saturday we decided to have date night. Brian and I had not been out for a nice meal by ourselves in what felt like forever, so we headed to Truluck's in Southlake. We love it there--the food is always great and the service is really good, too. I recommend the Macaroni and Cheese with Crab and the Carrot Cake!

Sunday we had our first pool day of the season--and I have my first sunburn of the season to show for it! Bailey and her current foster brother, Bubba, decided to invite my parents' two Goldens over to swim. The water was only 63 degrees, but a water temperature that you and I would consider freaking freezing is not enough to keep a Golden out of the pool! So I threw tennis ball after tennis ball, and a good time was had by all.

I even somehow managed to get a pre-pool picture of all four of them sitting still!

It's a lineup--don't they ALL kinda look guilty?

Bear, Jasmine, Bailey & Bubba

We ended the day with our Truluck's leftovers, the Harry Potter movie marathon on ABC Family, and two very sleepy dogs...all in all, a pretty good way to wrap up the weekend!

First Came Bailey

As I said in my first post, a proper introduction is in order for the dog who is responsible for our love of Goldens: our Bailey, aka "The Bay," "Bay Girl," "Miss Bay," "Punkin' Dog," "Biggie," and many more nicknames she has earned over the years.

I will try to keep it brief: Bailey is funny, bratty, pretty, a huge pig, sweet (when she chooses to be), lazy, extremely vocal, and, most importantly, the best company in the world. She loves a good car ride (especially to the bank or the cleaners, where she always gets treats). She loves to swim and go for walks, and her favorite place is the lake, where she assumes the role of first mate on the boat.

When we first decided to become a Golden Retriever foster home, we weren't sure how Bailey would react...she is used to getting lots of attention, whenever she wants it! I am proud to say that she has given her many foster brothers a warm welcome (for the most part, anyways). She shows them the ropes, like where to go potty (in the backyard, NOT on the the living room rug), and she shares her toys and treats. But if I'm being totally honest, she never seems to miss her foster brothers when they're gone. I think she's always relieved to be the only dog again...if only until the next foster comes along...

An Introduction

In the past year or so, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon among my friends who have had babies: they have all started blogs! I was beginning to think that nurses in the hospitals were sending new moms home with their discharge papers, an immunization schedule, and blogger instructions. I was discussing this with my friend Kim (The Dillon Family), and she told me I should start a blog of my own. I reminded her that I don't yet have what seems to be the necessary pre-req (a baby!), but she said I could blog anyways...thanks, Kim! :)

So, here we go! You might ask, "Why the title 'Love is Golden?'" You might also ask, "What are you going to blog about? You don't have kids!" Although I can't really fathom this blog being interesting enough for anyone who doesn't know me to read, here's a little bit about me that will help answer both of those questions...

My name is Marcy, I'm 28 years old and have been married for over five years to my best friend in the world, Brian.We are are pretty low-key couple--we like hanging out with our friends, spending time together, and traveling when we can. As you have likely already guessed, we don't have any human babies of our own yet...but we do have an 80-pound, four-legged, extremely hairy baby. Our Golden Retriever, Bailey, is almost six years old and the love of our lives. I think she'll need a separate post for a proper introduction, but in the meantime, here is our girl:

This is one of the pictures we used for our Christmas card last year. Isn't she a good sport?

Anyways, our love for Bailey, and for Goldens in general, led us to a great group that rescues and re-homes stray and abandoned Golden Retrievers in the North Texas area. We've volunteered for the group for a few years now, and in December 2007, we took it to a new level when we became a foster home for Goldens who are waiting to be adopted into their "forever" homes. I think the concept of a foster home deserves its own post also, so for now, here's a brief rundown of the process: Basically, we take in these dogs and treat them like our own until the right family comes along to adopt them. It's fun, rewarding, and at times can be extremely challenging!

So I think that's what a lot of this blog will end up being about...just life in general, and the adventures we have with the many Goldens who come into our lives.

Thanks for reading!