Jay (or anybody else with an English Standard) -- have you had any luck in finding a Christmas ornament with a light-colored GR? All the ornaments we have are of golden GRs like our first two dears who have crossed the bridge, so they don't look like Maisie. It's silly, but I'd like to get one that looks more like her. I've ordered an ornament frame in the shape of a dog house that I'll put her photo in, but if I can find one that is a lighter color, I'll get it, too. Silly, indulgent Mommy. (Since my DD danced in The Nutcracker for 12 years, I just order a Nutcracker GR ornament! Maisie will give it to her. )

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Kathleen -- hope you and yours all feel better soon. We've been struggling here, too, and will soon have a houseful, so day-by-day we're trying to do a little to get things looking Christmas-y.

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Sorry even in Australia the golden retriever ornaments are of the darker variety! Check some online english stores they're big into puppy ornaments.

Guybrush is learing to crawl in a similar way to Maisie, drop position then slowly move the treat in front while saying c-r-a-w-l. Still in the beginning of teaching that one as I can't bend down very well yet. But twirl is great just place the treat right near his hip while saying twirl when he does the full circle reward.

This year we aren't putting up our xmas tree (being in Australia we don't even use live trees just plastic ones!) With 5 kittens in the house and a dog with the cone of shame it just seems like inviting trouble. So far Guybrush has 2 presents in the middle of the dining table and will get more from both sides of the family he is so spoilt!

Have fun trimming your trees and putting up Christmas lights!

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Jay -- thanks for the response. I'll check to see if I can find UK sites for some English Standard ornaments.

I'm glad to hear that Guybrush is to be spoiled with presents. So is Maisie -- gifts from Santa, DD, DD's boyfriend and the "grandparents". But all her toys from last Christmas and her birthday are so bedraggled that I don't feel too bad. Her favorite squirrel toy (known as Nutty) is in two pieces, the tail and body, and the body now only has one paw left! And Doxie Dog, a toy stuffed dachshund, has just lost all his stuffing, his last rattle and ear -- he's just a long piece of fabric with a tail.

Since it sounds like "twirl" is easy to teach, I'll add that to our list!

Hope everybody else is having a good weekend. We went the hour and a half to visit my parents, a good trip for all since Maisie is an easy traveler and good, polite visitor these days.

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Busy, busy, busy time of year. I hope everyone is doing well. Tayla has been pretty good, but she certainly isn’t a trustworthy little teenager yet. If she can grab it she does. She has even jumped up on the front door where we hang the Christmas cards and pulled some down. They are all hung at the level of the wreath and above! She has really long legs. At least she is better about giving stolen items back.

Walks continue to be good with her with the exception of Saturday morning where she got a little jumpy and bitey for the first time in 6 weeks. She wasn’t as bad as she had been and we had it in check in about 30 seconds but I let her know teeth on hands were not happening again. Probably a little my fault cause due to rainy evenings and busy schedules she hadn’t been walked much the prior week and was very excited to be out again. The rest of the weekend went well and her walk Sunday morning was spectacular with some very good heeling during most of the 45 minutes.

I finally found her some great “tennis” balls that she loves and she carries them with her most of the time inside. I got her the ChuckIt rubber type balls. No fuzz to pull off. She has 2 medium and now 1 large one. She is officially ball crazy in the house, shoving that ball at you whenever you are still for a moment. If you can’t pry it from her mouth to throw it that’s fine with her and she will sit with you (or on you) holding it forever.

Have a great week everyone and a wonderful Christmas.

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Barb, Rick and Tayla (STAR Puppy)



Cheyenne (CGC) and Jesse (CGC) who will be always loved and never forgotten.

Jill - you might want to consider having an oranment made of Maisie. There is a woman that has been suggested on here for sure who does ornaments of a picture you send her. Last year I got one of Koda that we will hang on our tree forever and this year I ordered a bunch as Xmas gifts of dogs that have passed in my husbands family. Plus my mom wanted one of Koda and my sisters dog. She does a GREAT job.

You can email her here at: cindicowgirl123@gmail.com

You just send her a picture of Maisie and she will paint it and ship it out to you. They are $6 each and $6 shipping for 3 ornaments or $10 shipping for more than 3 ornaments.

Just something you might consider so you can get a nice light colored golden ornament that will be special to you forever!

Koda too is being visited by Santa and both grandmas!! She is a spoiled little girl. I hope they continue to remember her after her human brother/sister is born!

Koda has come around again and has been my sweet little angel girl. She has been so good to me since this pregnancy has really wiped me out so far. I am in the 2nd trimester which they say should be when I get my energy back but I am still waiting for it to return! LOL..she has been a patient girl and my little shadow! We are expected to get some significant snowfall Thursday so I am excited to be able to go out and play in the snow again! She is so happy when she is running and playing in the snow! We might have a White Christmas here afterall!

Hope all is well with you all! Merry Christmas if I dont make it back here before then!

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Woo hoo, Michelle! If you posted the baby news before, I somehow missed it. Congratulations and best wishes! What wonderful news. I bet Koda is going to be a great big sister.

Tayla's mom--I love the Chuckit balls. I truly hope whoever invented them is becoming very rich. It's so great to be able to give your dog a ball that he can't take apart and really enjoys having in his mouth. tucker does the same thing--pushing it into my lap--and I ignore him for a while and he'll stop. Then he just lays down and I hear the sound of a ball squishing in his mouth for a while.

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Kathleen, mom to one human, age 17, three canines, and a bunch of fish.

Michelle -- best wishes!! Such happy news for all of you -- If you're like most of us who've been through the process, your second trimester should be a time of renewed energy and great spirits. I remember the pregnancy glow very fondly.

And thanks for the Christmas ornament suggestion. I've been considering doing something similar. The mother of one of DD's ballet friend's does hand painted ornaments. (She even got a shout-out on the Oprah Show a few years ago!) DD gave me one with our GR Sadie in a Santa cap about 5 years ago and it's very special. Having one of Maisie would be terrific.

Tayla's Mom -- every so often Maisie does the jumpy walk bit, too. I just have to make a quick correction now, but the misbehavior isn't completely gone. Sigh...

Jay, I did find one "white GR" ornament at zazzle.com . It'll be hanging on our tree this year.

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Thanks guys, maybe I didn't mention it. This pregnancy brain isn't a joke, I forget what I did and didn't do a lot! LOL We are very excited and hoping and praying that Koda handles it well. She is our life right now and we devote so much attention to her that I don't ever want her feeling left out. She is my biggest concern with all this change for sure! And yes - i keep hearing the 2nd trimester is supposed to give me energy back but I am still waiting on it! Getting sick of being tired that is for sure!!

Koda too still does the jumpy thing once in a while - we have targeted it to cold weather/high winds! She is a weirdo! So now if it is below freezing we tend to just play ball outside and forget the walk at that point!

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Oh my! How wonderful it is to read these little stories about the misbehaving little teenaged Goldens. We have 2 now, ages 15 months & 16 months. Wow. Recently took in a foster 11 month old golden who is soooooooooo well behaved, he makes our pups look awful! It's embarrassing. We never noticed how bad they were before, only how "cute" they were. Now he comes in - with a horrible background- and looks like a perfect angel. Poor baby, aside from being so timid, has to be the most well behaved pup I have ever seen. He behaves like our 10 year old Golden did before he passed- which was PERFECTLY! Little stinkers. I guess these are the times that we will eventually forget about once they mature and calm down a bit