Look at Us Now

We now occupy a much larger space in the laundry/utility room downstairs. Our box was big but, no longer comfy with eight of us running around, climbing on top of each other while trying to catch a few winks. As you can tell, we are all getting stronger everyday, see us all walking around sniffing out the new smells.

Hello, my temporary name is Browny (that's the color of yarn I wear, so our human Mom can tell who's who) we are all the same color and just about the same size. Which sometimes works out in our favor. Like, for instance, our human Mom makes us a mash consisting of Iam's Smart Puppy and puppy formula, she soaks the food and then blends it up to make us well, baby food of sorts, with us being all the same, some of us get to chow down twice, you see where I'm going with this... Here I am expressing my appreciation for the new space we moved into today.

Wowser, after we eat that mash, we have all we can do to stumble around to search for a warm place to crash. Our bellies are so full, and eyes so heavy, we topple over several times before we finally collapse, see my siblings, there in front of me. I'm trying so hard to stay awake for awhile and watch my human mom as she has to clean up the mess left behind, you know what I mean...

Our K-9 Mom Marley, doesn't really want to connect with us, so our human Mom has lots to do. During the day she spends several hours washing blankets & laying fresh papers down for us, along with a few feedings of mash here and there. At night, she gets up on average 2-3 times to check on us, well sometimes, we wake her up with our little whimpers, we love to cuddle up on her lap. She tries so hard to get our K-9 Mom to feed us, Marley our mother, will only allow us a few minutes at a time to nurse, then she gets up and walks away (puppies hanging from her belly, dropping off one by one.) However, as you can see, (thanks to our human Mom) we are growing at a steady pace, having lots of energy to gum each other (we are just starting to develope little teeth) as well as pounce on one another.

In just 4 short weeks we will all be ready to face our future with new owners, hope they love us as much as we are loved here.

What do you think, want to take one of us home, huh, do ya?

Are You My Mother

It would seem Marley doesn't want to be the sole caretaker of the eight pups she has brought into this world. From the delivery to the hourly feedings she requires my company either inside the box or sitting on the floor right outside of the box. During the day, I must remind mommy to get into the box at least every 3 to 4 hours (this makes it difficult to leave the farm) when the puppies start start getting restless and climbing around. At night, we make sure she feeds them prior to us going to bed, that way, I'm only required to get up once during the night (Marley comes to my bedside and starts sniffing me) once I'm up she leads me to the box where she feeds for approx. 15 minutes or so.

These little guys are going to make excellent hunting dogs, their coats are very healthy and thick (Golden Retreiver coats) their noses pick up Marley's scent whenever she is near the room. Three out of the eight pups are screamers, once they get Marley's scent they scurring around the box screaming ( well, I'm sure it is suppose to be a howl) but at the puppy stage, it sure sounds like screaming. They will be 2 weeks old tomorrow, soon, they will be moved to the utility room downstairs due to them already climbing on the cutout for Marley to get in and out of the box.

I have done alot of reading about Retreivers and have discovered, they are very brilliant dogs, eager to learn and please their masters. They are quick learners (which we've discovered with Marley) doing really well in obedience classes as well as agility type classes. These dogs are so smart they are commonly known to be trained for Guide dogs, Search and Rescue, and even for people with medical disorders like epilepsy, autism, heart conditions, etc. etc. They do wonderful with other pets in the household, not known to be agressive (not good for guard dogs) which means they are not barkers, however, they do alert you when someone unfamiliar comes.

It will be difficult to see them go but as long as their new owners are kind and respectful we'll be happy knowing their owners are getting a great deal...

Eight Little Marley's

Marley, is now a mother to eight of the cutest little critters you ever did see. Born on February 20th she gave us an equal number of boys to girls (four each.)

If they as good as their mother they will make excellent companions.

Marley has become our shadow, she follows us everywhere, loves to follow along to the barn at chore time. In the past our horses have chased dogs out of their territory, sending them hauling under an electrical fence. With Marley, the horses have allowed her into their individual stalls while we are in them cleaning. She does not like to be left behind, if we are heading out to do chores, she is right on our heels, (dogs do get sad) If we leave her inside while we go to the barn, she does seem sad. This is just the type of dog we have dreamed of, one we could have tag along on trail rides, one that will not disturb the other animals on the farm. She is very loyal, eager to please her new masters, loves to play fetch, is not bothered by water, (as a matter of fact, she loves the water.

After the first six days our little puppies needed a bigger box.

These pictures had to be taken in groups as the pups just finished eating and scattered all around the box to fall asleep.

They are 11 days old now, it's amazing how strong these babies are, their eyes are should be opening within the next few days.

That's more than enough baby pictures for one night, I will be posting more as these little guys grow. I'm sure we will have several stories to tell prior to finding them loving homes.

Marley Meets Diego

Marley, giving me the "If I would have known then, what I know now" look.

Just prior to Christmas, Marley goes into season, now, for those of you that have read prior articles about Marley, you know she had been looked over by a Veterinarian . At that time, she was so afraid of the human kind that she either ran in another direction or shrunk in place. Our Vet, worked around her very patiently and slow, determined that perhaps she was from an SPCA somewhere, thought she could feel a scar from the spaying procedure, but not completely sure of that.

You all know, that when a female dog goes into season, it's time to search the house for anything that will fit over their backside, something that you can cut a hole for the tail to fit through. We have several garments tucked into a spare drawer in the laundry room for these "special occasions."

This is a strange question, however, one that needs to be asked, Have any of you forgotten to remove these special garments prior to letting your k-9 outside to releave themselves? It's just not a pretty picture...

Marley, is really starting to look good, she is finally filling out some, which is nice considering she was awful thin when she first decided to chose our family to be hers.

It is Sunday, on Sundays we attend mass, then usually go for brunch o a country drive. Returning home after church on this particular Sunday to change into different clothes, and let the dogs out for a potty break before we go out for the day. Hubby goes out to call in the dogs, no Marley, where could she have gone, calling to her "Marley come" still no Marley. Hubby darts in the door, grabs the keys to the car, and heads down the driveway. Wondering what is wrong, I go to the livingroom window, the Jeep is stopped and parked in the middle of the road, behind it is my husband holding onto Marley's collar with one hand and reaching for the dog who is now connected to Marley (you all know what I mean) as he reaches for Diego, who at this point is twisted in all directions; Diego snarls at him. At this point, I'm standing in the front door shouting to hubby, there's nothing you can do, just let them work it out.

Diego, is another retriever that lives down the road from us. Looks alot like Marley, except his hair is a little longer, his head a little broader. He often visits without us knowing he is around, until we go out to spot him stalking chickens, or lifting his leg on the posts of the front porch.

It is now the end of January, Marley is really filling out now, she is going to be a mommy, Diego, is going to be the daddy. Our family has recently started to place bets on how many retrievers we will have to foster. My guess is 9, hubby guesses 7, and our granddaughter who also lives with us guesses 6.

Marley is close, in a week or less we will no longer just have an orphaned retriever, we will own a whole pack of them.

Looking at Marley now, how many pups would you guess Marley may have?

The Things Marley gets into...

How many of you are familiar with the Book written by John Grogan titled "Marley & Me"?

My husband & I often comment we are living this book with our dog Marley. One difference is our dog is a female, however, this does not matter to her. It seems like, when you're back is turned, she knows it and will do some awful things. Being home with her all day myself, get to fish things out of her throat, such as; gravel, twistie ties from bread bags, fabric scraps, tin foil, kids little toys, and that's if I catch her in the act. One of these days, she'll most likely require surgery of some sort to fish all this stuff out of her stomach.

She just loves tagging along to the barn at chore time, it would seem she loves eating (well this is being as modest as I can) droppings. Marley does not discriminate, she loves it all, rather it comes from the kitties, chickens, or horses it's one of her favorite things. I ask hubby, "please don't take Marley out there, she just wants to eat maure, but he loves having her there for company. I'm not sure I'd enjoy her company, knowing she is scarfing down such dirty things, Yuk!

Marley, loves to lay on the ottoman, she listens for her daddy to arrive home each evening. With every passing car Marley pops up into a sitting position, so she can peer out the window to see if that's him. She adores him so...

All day, while everyone is away at school and work, Marley is at my heels, especially, when I'm in the refridgerator. I wish I could have my space back in the kitchen, I cannot recall, how many times I've nearly tripped over her. If I'm standing at the sink doing dishes, she's laying right behind me, If I'm at the stove, she's right there, laundry's just the same, I'd love to be a fly on the wall to see what she does when we are away from the house....

Another Day with Marley

Marley loves the snow, she will lay on the ground, in the snow, for long stretches. She loves sticking her nose in it, as if she's smelling a little mouse, somewhere, down under there.



















Must take nap, playing in all this white stuff makes one tired. I'm so blessed to have found a nice warm house to call home. It has heated floors, therefore, keeping me warm from head to paws.

I adore this little girl! You see, I had wandered the countryside for months, scared out of my mind, just a persons voice would send me sailing off, with my tail between my legs. It was this caring soul, that got the bright idea to capture my heart, by acting like me. She got down on her elbows, waged her tail, whimpered and whined, until I came close enough to give her a lickin' on the face. After a bit, I got to thinking this is kinda nice, I gave in, as I enjoyed the company.

Sure am happy that I decided to pick these people to love me, and spoil me.

The place Marley calls home

Here you see Marley in the kitchen, she is asking Mom to play ball with her, however, mom is busy making Christmas cookies. Look at this face, how could anyone resist, I couldn't and ended up tossing the ball a few times so she could chase it and bring it back. Marley also likes to get Buster in the game, after awhile, having the ball in her mouth, she will run around the coffee table with Buster hot on her heels (with no intentions of letting him have the ball, of course) changing directions, jumping on the furniture, it is fun to watch them play together (not bad for Buster being 12 years old) it seems to bring out Busters playful side. Marley, also loves one of our three bunnies (Spunky) she will lay on the floor until Spunky comes over to touch noses, then they do alittle hide and seek (well Spunky hides) Marley is always the seeker in this game. Spunky is in the background trying to sneak up on Marley from behind, as you can see Spunky has the run of the mill in our woodshop/storage area. (very spoiled animals)

Spunky saying to Marley; "catch me if you can" then she hops to a place no dog could ever squeeze into. Marley is so patient she just lays on the floor with her nose stuck into little cracks waiting for Spunky to reveal herself , frequelntly Spunky changes her hiding spot and is somewhere else close to Marley (who doesn't have a clue) until the bunny hops up and tags her. Yes, Spunky will touch you with both front feet to capture your attention.

Our dog Marley, loves to tag along during barn chores, she frequents the chicken coop, as well as the horse stables. She loves all the attention the other critters give her, and is very happy living on the farm.