Hildy showed excellent puppy training skills, entertaining youngsters Millie and goose
Happy 2025!
The Thinking Dog blog is taking a break in January … see you all in a few weeks!
2024 in Pictures
The Thinking Dog Blog
Dotty Has Met Her Match!
Dotty will be graduating soon as a hearing assistance dog!
She has met her new person and is learning to do the specific tasks that will become her daily work.
She’s been back with her trainer for a while, but recently came for a visit. Underneath her (slightly) more mature demeanor, that goofy puppy still lurks. She quickly emptied the toy box, strewing toys here and there, and putting on a little concert with the most, um, musical of them.
In the yard, Dotty headed straight for the digging pit and quickly checked to see if the sand fairy had hidden any treasures that Orly had missed (she hadn’t). She then enjoyed a frozen treat with her sister, just like old times.
On our neighborhood walk, she walked purposefully, but without pulling, straight to the treat hydrant and sat, waiting for her well-deserved reward. And when we went for a run at the golf course, she remembered — with great delight — all the best places to find deer poop.
After all that activity, it’s no surprise that, when we settled down on the TV-watching sofa, she snuggled in with a happy sigh for some petting and pampering.
Orly enjoyed playing with Dotty, but … wasn’t terribly sad to say good-bye again either. I think that Orly enjoys having her own house, yard, and human.
I am proud of Dotty and hope that she works hard, plays harder, and has a wonderful life and career.
Pillow Fight
Orly likes pillows. In the human sense, of wanting to rest her head on one when she sleeps — not the usual golden retriever sense of loving to shred them.
I frequently find her curled on my bed with her head resting on the pillow, wearing a big, sweet smile.
When no actual pillow is at paw, she uses other dogs…
or even toys, a stand-ins.
Looking through photos of her, I realized that it actually started when she was a puppy; I clearly wasn’t paying enough attention.
When, not long ago, I woke up to find her sharing my pillow, though, I decided a line had been crossed. I mean, cuddling was sweet, but … yeah, I don’t share my pillow with anyone.
The only possible solution? Orly needed her own pillow.
So I got her one for her recent birthday. The only thing left to do was negotiate which side (and what proportion) of the bed she gets. Her opening offer was 3/4 for her, taken from the middle.
Except …
Somehow, my solution doesn’t appear to be catching on. Yet.
What Is Happening to Local Vet Clinics?
The first (and only, so far) time I changed vet clinics because I was tired of being pressured to pay for tests and services that I knew my dog didn’t need was almost 15 years ago. The clinic, where a friend had taken her dogs for several years, was pushing and pushing and pushing. The final outrage was when they suddenly decided that my dog needed a heartworm test every 6 months.
They had been insisting on annual tests before issuing a new prescription for the preventive. I thought this was overkill, since we never missed a dose, and I was confident that my dog did not have heartworm. But every clinic demanded that, so I played along and paid up.
When they refused to give me the prescription for more than 6 months without a repeat test (and vet visit), I took my business elsewhere.
Since then, I have been fortunate to have found locally owned, outstanding vet clinics.
This is getting harder and harder, as more practices are being purchased by private equity companies. This often happens when the owner of a small clinic retires.
As has happened with human health care, private equity purchasers of clinics and hospitals tend to focus aggressively on increasing profit—with the results including higher prices, improved efficiency (which may mean cutting some services), and closing unprofitable clinics and hospitals. In veterinary medicine, it also seems to mean high-pressure tactics to convince pet owners to purchase more services, even if their pets don’t need them.
In addition to higher prices, many pet owners are finding that they have fewer options for routine and emergency care — similar to the scarcity of rural and community hospitals in many parts of the U.S.
Huge growth in pet ownership during the COVID pandemic caught the interest of some private equity firms, a Stateline article said, leading them to purchase small clinics for many times their market value, making it more attractive for a retiring owner to sell to them rather than to a local vet. The new corporate owners might leave the clinic name unchanged, meaning many clients are unaware of the ownership change. This has happened in Missoula, where I live.
Within a few months to a couple of years, though, the changes in business practices are often obvious — and not in a positive way. I know many pet owners who patronized a local clinic for years, remaining loyal through the original owner’s retirement. Ultimately, though, the clinic “went corporate,” and at first a trickle, then a stream of friends were asking for vet referrals.
The privately owned clinic where I take my girls is thriving; they’ve added two vets in the past couple of years and are always busy. Even so, my vet always has time to talk with me and has never tried to talk me into a test or treatment that Cali, Orly, and now Dotty didn’t need.
If your clinic doesn’t deliver that kind of service, check into the ownership … and if needed, search for one that is owned locally, by an actual vet.
All Grown Up?
The human family of one of Orly’s siblings has been sharing the above graphic periodically, showing the stages of golden retriever puppy development, since we all got our pups.
When the litter turned 3 on Oct. 22, the group chat featured many celebratory posts about how we’d “made it!” … and a couple noting that not all of Orly’s brothers have exited the phase yet. During this phase, it is impossible to provide enough exercise and stimulation to actually tire the dog out unless a team of at least 3, maybe 5 or more, people is on the job around the clock. Velociraptor goldens might also counter surf, eat stuff they shouldn’t outdoors, destroy hundreds of dollars worth of toys, and frequently disguise themselves as mud puddles.
I am fortunate: Orly has been mostly a mellow, well-behaved girl since soon after she turned 2, but, even at the mature age of 3, she still shows some puppy traits. She’s silly and loves to make me laugh by doing “bagel dog,” where she chases her tail, catches it, then falls over and rolls around like a bagel. She cannot help instantly melding with any and every mud puddle she encounters and often tries to lead me INto the river on our walks… She loves her toys but is also pretty gentle with them.
We celebrated Orly’s birthday in the usual manner — with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at the Big Dipper. She also got a new favorite toy from one of her aunties, and she has been carrying that toy around for days.
Doesn’t Share Well with Others
Orly is a bed hog. It’s amazing how much of a queen-sized bed a smallish 52-pound dog can fill (all of it—every inch). But it’s not just human beds that she hogs:
Orly is usually a great sister to Dotty. They share toys nicely, don’t fight over food or treats, and even get along in the back seat of the car during long drives.
But beds are a different story. If Orly is not on the human’s bed, she wants the dog beds to herself. All of them. All at once.
Dotty will be moving on soon, starting a new job and life with her new human partner. I hope that wherever she lands, there will be multiple dog beds and other places to curl up — just for Dotty.
Family Reunion
Orly recently got together with several of her siblings, niblings, half-siblings, and miscellaneous other relatives. Sometimes, it’s better not to be too clear on the exact relationships.
There are many family resemblances, starting with Mom Charm’s restrained whimper when gated off from the area she wanted to be in — Orly deploys similar vocalizations when she finds herself on the wrong side of a door, a frequent occurrence. The siblings sure look alike, though Orly was the lightest blond / least red of the group. They are all small for goldens, and several of them share Orly’s little “zipper” — a small patch of rough fur between the eyes that gives Orly a worried look.
Two young puppies — nieces? — were in the mix as well. Hildy was the best pup-playmate, entertaining (& exhausting) the youngsters while the sibs all went from person to person soaking up pats and cuddles.
What Is ‘Puppy Breath’?
I took Dotty to see a friend recently. The friend hadn’t seen Dotty in quite a while and after commenting on her pony-like stature, she exclaimed, “I can smell her puppy breath!”
Dotty is 16+months old. How is it that she has “puppy breath,” a sweetish scent usually associated with puppies up to about 6-8 months of age? Is puppy breath simply the absence of typically stinky “dog breath”?
It really might be that simple: Dogs’ puppy teeth aren’t around for long enough to get dirty and cause bad breath. Their adult teeth are usually in by the time they are 5-6 months old. Without brushing, those permanent teeth immediately begin to develop a coating of plaque and tartar, and… dog breath occurs.
If this is the cause, then, the secret to extending “puppy breath” throughout your dog’s lifetime is (you know what I am going to say …) brushing your dog’s teeth.
Dotty and Orly (and Cali and Jana before them) have excellent oral hygiene. That is, they brush their teeth daily. Well, most days. When I leave them with a sitter, I think the daily brushing goes on hiatus.
Cali never had a professional teeth cleaning in her life, and she had beautiful white teeth and good breath. Orly and Dotty are still young, and so far, both have gorgeous teeth.
Their doggy toothpaste claims to taste like chicken (really!). I haven’t verified that claim personally, but the girls like it. I’ve tried other brands over the years, but return to Petrodex because it’s easy to find in a large-ish tube that lasts several months. I also use small, soft kids’ toothbrushes because a lot of the ones sold as dog toothbrushes are stiff and awkwardly large.
Looking through the comments on a recent Whole Dog Journal blog post about brushing dogs’ teeth, I discovered another ally in the battle against dog breath: Kelp powder. The commenter recommended a specific (pricey) brand, but I started looking at other powdered supplements for dogs’ oral health, fell deep into a rabbit hole, and emerged with the conclusion that powdered seaweed sprinkled on the dogs’ food could help keep their teeth clean and breath fresh, as well as providing other potential benefits.
I’m giving them each a small sprinkle once a day of “Raw Paws organic kelp” — about half the amount that the package recommends. They seem to like it (not that golden retrievers are fussy eaters).
This completely unscientific experiment has brought what I consider to be excellent results: After a few months at a training kennel without her toothbrush (or her devoted tooth-brusher), Dotty returned home with some icky brown tartar on her back teeth. Brushing and kelping has completely eliminated that buildup and put her squarely on the path of permanent* puppy breath (*for as long as she lives with me…).
Oh Deer!
Our neighborhood doe had twins this summer, and we’ve seen the fawns — with or without Mom — several times. The girls showed little interest. In fact, both Dotty and Orly have been remarkably uninterested in deer in the neighborhood, whether young or adult, alone or in small groups.
(Well, except for that one time when a handsome young buck ran past us out in Crazy Canyon and Orly took off after him … for a moment, before sheepishly returning. Dotty ignored him and enjoyed watching Orly get reprimanded.)
Had been.
Not long ago, we were on our morning walk in our neighborhood. I spotted the family group, this time with a young buck, a block away. I was trying to decide what direction they were headed so we could give them plenty of space. Suddenly, something spooked the twins.
Instantly two fawns were racing down the block — heading right toward us. They are fast!!
The girls froze, suddenly fascinated by deer!
I quickly UNfroze and urged them across the street. By the time the three of us stumbled across the street, the fawns were racing across the spot we’d just been standing, with Mom and Dad? Big brother? in hot pursuit.
To their credit, Orly and Dotty just watched, interested but not predatory, not even pulling on their leashes. Such good girls! They got lots of praise and treats for that!
Too Much Fun?
Missoula experienced a long “heat dome” with what seemed like months of 95+ temperatures. Added to our long summer days — in July, it’s light out until nearly 10 pm — it was brutal. (We have no air conditioning.)
As a recent post shared, we tried lots of ways to keep cool. It’s possible that Dotty might have gone a bit overboard.
On one of their hikes, the girls encountered a mud puddle. Cool, wet — what’s not to love?
While Orly’s legs and belly were pretty muddy, which is to be expected when one wades into a muddy puddle, Dotty flung her entire front half into the mud. My normally white dog was black. But cool, very cool.
And, judging from her expression, pretty pleased with herself.
Orly’s more worried expression, once back at home, might have been born of experience.
These dogs were not allowed into the house.
Nope; they were marched straight to the backyard for the indignity of a hosing-off.
What? No warm water??!!
In their post-hosing-off photo, Dotty’s glum expression matches Orly’s. The price of fun …
Somehow, I doubt that she regards it as too high — or will even remember it. And, to be fair, they got to enjoy some frozen yogurt-banana-peanut butter treats while drying off on the deck. (Even Mean Mom has a softer side …)
Next time Dotty sees a mud puddle, watch out!
