Kloe, Sticks, and Balls

January 28, 2018

Sticks

Kloe loves sticks! The bigger the better. It still makes me laugh out loud to see her emerge from a dense part of the back yard with a stick almost as long as her. She seems to take great joy after a storm or very windy day when new branches and sticks have fallen from the trees around the Golden K.

Here in this brief video Kloe “gets to work”.

Shortly after she proudly displays the fruit of her labor having reduced the giant stick to tooth picks. “Look dad, I made kindling”.

Balls

But above all Kloe loves balls and playing the game we call “drop ball”. It’s our name for fetch because she usually has to be prompted to drop the ball. So if we really want her to get in a good workout we use two balls. As she returns from catching one ball the other is in our hand. She’ll drop the one in her mouth and we immediately throw the second ball. At 22 months and 80 pounds of pure muscle she can do 30 or 40 reps in a row without blinking an eye.

“Drop Ball”

Airborne

And this is how we know it was a great game of Drop Ball as she finally lays down exhausted for a nap ( of course with the ball in her mouth!)

The Master Teacher

January 19, 2018

As I helped my Golden Kali with her aging hips onto the couch I cuddled her. We were alone in the family room while Holly cleaned up after dinner. Puppy Kloe was still sleeping under the dinner table.

As Kali settled onto the couch I whispered out loud into her ear. “I love you Kali, more than you can ever comprehend”.

Kali looked at me with sleepy eyes and it hit me. I paused for a moment and then I said, again out loud, “Wait – maybe you love me more than I can ever comprehend”.

And so it was. Another moment, another day, and another lesson I’ve learned from my Golden Kali.

My Golden Kali The Master Teacher.

If Begging Was An Olympic Sport

January 14, 2018

The sound of the chopping board to Kali and Kloe is like a bell to Pavlov’s dogs! They rarely get something when ~~one of us~~ Holly is in the kitchen cooking unless it’s vegetables or fruit. Still once they hear the sound of chopping they come running from near or far with unbridled optimism that treats are in their immediate future.

Dogs seem to instinctively know how to beg. They sit patiently staring at their benefactor mentally urging them to “give it up” or accidentally drop something on the floor. Kali’s begging style is generally the classic sit or sometimes lay at attention.

The 2018 Winter Olympics are coming up and if begging was an Olympic sport Kali would get a 7.5 or 8. A respectable score that would be based on strong conformance to standards, a low risk routine, but excellent amounts of drool. It probably wouldn’t win her a gold or silver but overall it’s a steady and acceptable performance.

Kloe on the other hand would receive at least a 9.5 scoring low for conformity non-existent drool and very high for risk factor and style. She would probably make the finals, albeit in quite an unconventional manner.

Captured below is Kloe being Kloe while working out at home during the off season.