Meet Our Furry Friends
Meet Our Furry Friends
Besides selling real estate and a little gardening on the side, there is one other thing I enjoy: I am in love with and addicted to Golden Retrievers, my first one being my “Merlot” (March 28, 1997 – May 26, 2008). He was also known as: CAN. CH. Goldarrow Kona’s Magic Merlot TD. CD. CGC. Merlot and I enjoyed many long walks in several of our superb walking areas or on one of our spectacular beaches. One of Merlot’s favourite places was Qualicum’s Off Leash Park. He loved running though the woods, meeting all his friends, old and new. We also enjoyed training and helping with our local kennel club and canine events. Probably our most rewarding activity was our visits to local long term/extended health care facilities. Merlot was the perfect height for leaning against a wheelchair and receiving under-the-chin rubs. He loved entertaining the nursing staff when he dropped at their feet, rolling over on his back and waiting for his tummy rub.
And yes… he was named after my favourite wine making grape.
MERLOT March 28, 1997 – May 26, 2008
Merlot fathered a few litters in his later life but his all time favourite girlfriend was always BAILEY. Bailey was Glenda’s dog and when we were still working out of my Home Office, Glenda was already working with me and she of course brought Bailey to our house. When we moved from the House to the Office in town, Bailey would remain the Office Dog for several years to come!
BAILEY March 18, 2001 – May 2, 2015
In 2002 it came to my attention that a little 1 year old Maltese was in need of a new Home. I had been thinking for a little while that it would be nice for Merlot to have another dog at home to keep him company…..so I took in little MAX to see if the two of them would get along!!! Well….Merlot loved Max right away and wanted to be friends but Max would keep pushing him away and didn’t like having to share his new home with a big Golden! It took Max about 3 days (with a patient, non-pushy Golden!) to warm up to Merlot and become friends for life!
MAX August 7, 2001 – August 7, 2015
Merlot fathering a few litters in his later life (with a reputable breeder in Qualicum Bay) gave us our SHIRAZ (much to little Max’s dismay!). Shiraz was born in 2005 and was an off-the-wall Golden puppy with tireless energy! He was just too much for Max who did not like Shiraz upsetting his Home. Shiraz kept trying (in his pushy Shiraz kind of way) to be friends but it just would not happen. Once Shiraz slowed down a LITTLE bit at 6 years old Max started warming up to Shiraz bit by bit. Shiraz is now slowing down some more but going strong and steady! He loves his walks and his tummy rubs just like his Dad! He’s a good boy and has bonded very much with my Dad who lives on our property!
SHIRAZ March 9, 2005 –
After Merlot passed in 2008, Shiraz was the only Golden for a while which he liked as he received ALL the attention! However…..we could tell he was ready to have another Golden he could play with, especially because Max did not like playing with him or hanging out…..so along came RIESLING (REEZY)…….who actually came to us instead of us actively looking for her!
RIESLING May 22, 2009 –
When Riesling was 3 years old we decided to have a litter of puppies! Ultimately this was supposed to be a “test litter” to see if she would be OK to have a litter of puppies for us with Merlot’s frozen sperm. YES….you read correctly!!….this is how crazy I am and I really really wanted to have another Merlot baby!……So I found this really wonderful male from Langley and he was going to be the father of our test litter to see how Riesling could handle pregnancy/litter etc…Turns out Riesling is the PERFECT Mom. She was wonderful with the puppies, had no problems with her pregnancy and whelping or anything! So we had a litter of 9 Happy & Healthy Golden Puppies…..HOW FUN WAS THAT!!!!!
LITTER of 9 GOLDEN PUPPIES born on March 22, 2012
So….after all this work and cuteness……we just couldn’t let them ALL go and we had to keep just one of them……..so we kept little Ms Sunshine (yellow collar) because she basically picked us. Her name is ZINFANDEL (Zinnie) and life without her just wouldn’t be the same!
ZINFANDEL March 22, 2012 –
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