A Saturday at Oma's...

This morning we decided to bring Monty and Sam to my Mom's house.  It has been a long hot summer and the boys haven't gone on many adventures!  We wanted to also give Monty a chance to chase the bubbles we got in our Bark Box - our yard is a little bit small for his amazing jumping ability. 

When we got there, we whipped out the bubbles, thinking Monty would go wild with excitement.  At our house he goes crazy when we blow them, but our yard is too small for him to really enjoy himself. 

Hmmm...  Bubbles...  Not right now, Dad.

Monty, however, decided that the shadows on the ground were more interesting than his bubbles.  After one half-hearted jump, he ignored them completely.  

If you noticed in the picture above, we have Monty on a very long leash.  Monty reeeeeeaaaalllly likes the horses, but the horses don't like Monty.  Since I'm not capable of diving in and saving Monty right now, we decided to be safe.  We did bring him around to visit with the horses, but he acted like he didn't even notice them.

Visiting our big mare, Isabel...

Shadows....

...and our stallion, Baron.

Baron was all for a little butt sniffing, but Monty just ignored him.

Monty enjoyed visiting everything at my Mom's place.  There are so many things to smell, not at all like at our house.

Taking a walk with Dad

 We did try to give Monty a ride in Fritzi, my Mom's golf cart.  Monty was fine with it but insisted he operate the peddles...

Which one makes this thing go faster?

And Sam?  Sam was just happy poking around and visiting all the things he remembers as a pup.  He grew up here and remembers what it is like to be a farm dog.

Hurry up, Dad, we've got ponies to feed!

We hope you all have a great weekend!

Young Pup

My Mom (Sam's Grandma) recently found a few pictures of Sam as a young pup... 

Sorry about the glare - the scanner is on the fritz...

I'd forgotten it had taken him forever to get in his full coat!

I really was adorable.  I still am!

I wonder if "Just for Men Hair Dye" comes in Golden Retriever Red?

He's still a young pup to us!

An injury, a Bark Box, and freshly washed stuffies

This past week has been very quiet for us - I've managed to break a few bones in my foot (my horse stepped on me) so any plans I had were scrapped for bed rest.  Our boys have spent much of their time sleeping and waiting for anything to happen....

The highlight of the week has been the arrival of our second Bark Box!  The boys love the arrival of this box, and I think I enjoy opening it as much as they do!

Waiting for the box to be opened....

Our first surprise was a bottle of bubbles!  Monty absolutely loved these - and we will post some pictures of him leaping to catch them soon!

Bubbles!

 Second was a very cleverly packaged steak toy - which Monty claimed as his immediately!

BOL - he tried to lick it thru the package!

A boy and his squeaky steak...

Next out was this Spinz chewy - as with all things edible, Sam claimed this one as his...

Let... go... Mom...

A pack of Yumzies treats....

These are mine too!

 ...and lastly, a roll of poop bags (always appreciated!)....

I think the boys were quite happy with their box!

Poor Monty had a bad moment too this weekend when I decided that it was stuffy washing day.  To him, this is the absolutely worst thing that could happen to him, even though we have always given them all back to him.  Here he is posing happily with his freshly washed stuffies. 

They're back!

 ...but, he made sure I knew I wasn't allowed to touch them anymore...

Bad Mom!

Sssshhhhh....

I hate to wake the little guy - he's been so happy all weekend that I've been home.  I think he has worn himself out...

Zzzzzzzz.....

...but honestly, he really does need a bath! 

A little too far away to do much more than cry...

It amazes me how close we as a blogging community have become, where our love for our pups and kitties (and horses and guinea's and on...) extends beyond our own and reaches out to embrace those that belong to people we have never met.  I'm away from home this week, and have learned that one of our dear friends, K from Romping and Rolling in the Rockies, has crossed the bridge to join so many others.   We've said many prayers for dear K and have sent much love to her family.  Please take a moment to add yours. 

Also, stop a minute to give your furry friends a hug - I'm a long way from home and dearly wishing I could hug mine right now. 

...as KB says, "Seize the day!"

Beautiful K...

Out of Office

Once again I'm traveling for the park service, this time spending time at the parks surrounding Flagstaff, Arizona - Wupatki National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  For this trip, I get to spend time in park housing instead of staying at a hotel so I am getting a chance to enjoy the peace and quiet of Wupatki.  The temperatures are staying in the 85 degree range - a pleasant change from Phoenix's 110 plus!

My walk this morning was quite a bit different!

The view from the park house.

On almost every hill around Wupatki you can see pueblo's and other structures.  Look closely and you can see a wall on the top of this small hill.  It blends in really well.

Click to make bigger!

It was so beautiful this morning!

Of course, walks aren't the same without the boys.  How I wish a couple of fuzzy butts could have joined me this morning!

I hope you all have a great week!  I'll be a little behind on checking blogs, but will try to catch up this weekend!

Happy 4th of July and our thoughts on a RAW diet...

Happy 4th of July!  We hope you all have a wonderful day! 

...and oldie but goodie...

If you have been following us on Facebook, you will know that I've been attempting to try a RAW diet with our boys.  We've had a few success, but mostly failures.  Monty, for example, has been horrified that we expect him to eat raw food....

It was cold, and didn't have any spices, and it was like bleh!

Sam, on the other hand, has been at least willing to try what we are offering...

I ate a sardine and I liked it....

Why are we trying RAW?  Well, we are trying to improve the quality of what the boys are getting, find something Monty will actually eat, and give our boys a more natural diet.  I know the first thing everyone thinks of when they think of RAW are large packs of wild Golden Retriever's taking down a moose...  In fact, the thought was so disturbing I had to illustrate it.  Don't look if you are squeamish!

Click to make bigger.  The poor Moose never had a chance. 

We will keep trying.  Although, like the time we went on the all juice diet, I think this might take years for Monty to recover from trying a RAW diet...

The horrors I've seen...