Der Alte Fritz's Hund - Dave
Frederick had his whippets, and not to be outdone, Der Alte Fritz has his Golden Retreivers. We have two of them: Katie (age 12) and Dave (age 6?), the latter of whom is featured in the picture above. We adopted Dave two years ago from a rescue agency that works specifically with Golden Retrievers. We like Goldens because they are so gentle with children and are loveable and fun to be around. We also thought that old Katie would like to have some company, however, that was not really the case. I think that Katie resents having another dog around the castle.
We thought about giving Dave a new name after we adopted him, but somehow, his name seems to fit him just right. We also call him "Big Guy", The Wooly Mammoth, and Aslan (think about it for a minute). The Prinzessin, Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe has taken to Dave and considers him to be "her dog". The big galoot likes to take a tennis ball or Kong toy and place it under the couch. Then he will see if he can paw it out from under said couch. When he can't, or won't, he wimpers up a storm and Himself is forced to fish the toy or ball from out under the couch. After watching The Big Guy do this several times in a row, I realized that he was teaching ME to play fetch. Hurrumph!
Der Jung Hund (Dave - left) and Der Alte Hund (Katie -right)
We have had Katie since 1996, so she will be 13 this summer. We bought her as a puppy and somehow survived puppyhood and its attendant house breaking, teething, and gnawing of furniture. We have an early 19th century French pine farm table in our kitchen that Katie decided to "antique" or "distress" a little more with some judicious gnawing of the table leg. Katie puts up with Dave, but at times I think that she doesn't like him. She is definitely the smarter of the two.
It is fun watching the sibling rivalry that my dogs have. Katie will steal Dave's dog toys and vice versa, while Dave will take over Katie's dog bed in the laundry room. They are like children at times, but they are fun to have around the house.
We thought about giving Dave a new name after we adopted him, but somehow, his name seems to fit him just right. We also call him "Big Guy", The Wooly Mammoth, and Aslan (think about it for a minute). The Prinzessin, Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe has taken to Dave and considers him to be "her dog". The big galoot likes to take a tennis ball or Kong toy and place it under the couch. Then he will see if he can paw it out from under said couch. When he can't, or won't, he wimpers up a storm and Himself is forced to fish the toy or ball from out under the couch. After watching The Big Guy do this several times in a row, I realized that he was teaching ME to play fetch. Hurrumph!
Der Jung Hund (Dave - left) and Der Alte Hund (Katie -right)
We have had Katie since 1996, so she will be 13 this summer. We bought her as a puppy and somehow survived puppyhood and its attendant house breaking, teething, and gnawing of furniture. We have an early 19th century French pine farm table in our kitchen that Katie decided to "antique" or "distress" a little more with some judicious gnawing of the table leg. Katie puts up with Dave, but at times I think that she doesn't like him. She is definitely the smarter of the two.
It is fun watching the sibling rivalry that my dogs have. Katie will steal Dave's dog toys and vice versa, while Dave will take over Katie's dog bed in the laundry room. They are like children at times, but they are fun to have around the house.
Nice dogs! It's funny how animals can teach us things, isn't it! lol
ReplyDeleteNo whippets?
ReplyDeletePets can be wonderful companions. We use to have Springer Spaniels; but now we have British Shorthair cats.
ReplyDeleteI could (like most pet owners) tell you scores of stories similar to the ones you've related.
-- Jeff
Small world, the dentist who lives across the street from me has a golden named Katie. What inspired the name?
ReplyDeleteWe just kind of liked Katie and we thought that we might not be able to have children, so we got the dog instead. Two years later, our daughter Lelia came along and we were sort of wishing that we had saved the name Katie for our daughter. Dog names should be no longer than 2 sylabols, from what I understand, so that they can recognize their name.
ReplyDeleteWonderful dogs!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Isn't it amazing how our pets worm their way into our hearts? Our dog, Ragnar the Mighty Destroyer Of Socks And Pretty Much Anything Else He Can Get A Hold Of; Rags for short, is 100% Mutt, but he's got street smarts. I'll never forget the time he snuck a candycane from our youngest son's pocket just as slick as the Artful Dodger.
ReplyDeleteMartin
P.S. I've written up a Situation Brief for the "Affair Of The Runaway Duchess" on my blog. If you get a chance, look it over, and see if it will do for the Convention.
Nice dogs! :-) (I'm not sure our 4 cats would be quite so keen, though... ;-))
ReplyDeleteBy the way, DAF, did you spot my reply to your Old Dessauer post some while ago? I found a decent quality version of the Rochling print of the Old Dessauer at Kesselsdorf online which you might like: http://jukebox.bis.uni-oldenburg.de/retrodig/0163/0163025.jpg
David
http://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/
We were thinking about getting our first born (Tucker, the shepherd husky mutt) a companion, but decided at fifteen she deserves to rule the dog bed without having to put up with a young whippersnapper. When the time does come to get another dog though, I think we will get two so that they can entertain each other and not rely so much on us. It wasn't that big an issue when we first got Tucker, but now that we have two kiddos, one of whom will shortly be entering the dreaded teen years, I think any dogs will have to come with their own companions. The school secretary raises Golden's as seeing eye dogs, and I must admit that I've become quite fond of the breed, though my children are still twisting my arm for a chihuahua. Not going to happen!
ReplyDeleteGoldens are very calm and friendly and eager to please dogs. They won't annoy you in the manner that smaller lap dogs will with their constant energetic frenzy and loud yipping and yapping. Although Pugs seem like nice small dogs. There are Golden Retreiver rescue agencies in many states. We adopted Dave (the younger) through one of these agencies, while Katie was with us from puppyhood. Puppies are fun and cute, but it takes about 18 months for them to "grow up" and behave. By adopting a dog, you give a grateful hound a new chance on life and you don't have to live through the puppy stage.
ReplyDeleteYou started this, so I couldn't resist putting up some puppy pix as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miniatureminions.blogspot.com/
Hope you enjoy getting to meet the family.
David
A Beautiful and Noble pair they are...My wife and I have a pug...and its sweet but as you say,... REALLY crazy!
ReplyDelete--Dave
DAF,
ReplyDeleteHave you given any more thought to the Flight of the Duchess scenario discussed on the EvE site? I look forward to playing at the SYW convention and would offer to help in any way possible. I will be putting up pics of the Black Scorpion Governors daughter pics soon on my blog and would volunteer her as a duchess stand in or could purchass a suitable character. My email is jeffreycavender at g mail dot com if you need anything. Look forward to hearing about the scenario.