Regalgoldens Golden Retrievers

Mr. Chocolate Fudge “The Time Machine” It was early. The sun had just begun its daily struggle to illuminate the morning sky and the room was still filled with a murky darkness. We heard the rumble off in the distance. Moments later, we heard it again, except much closer. Suddenly the mattress began to ripple from a weight deposited in its centre. Much to our surprise, Heidi had exited the whelping area, broken through two barriers and was guided to our bedroom by her internal GPS for a bit of rest and a morning cuddle. Heidi’s mastitis has cleared up and she’s ever the happy and loving creature. She is very content with the move of her mini-pack into the library where she can attend to her flock and have lots of room to lounge in. (She has yet to read any books though.) Even her “sister” Sierra comes by routinely just to inspect the goings on in Heidi’s whelping box. While Heidi has welcomed the move, she’s still intent on investigatin...

Mr. Buff hamming it up! “The Al Fresco Dining Plan” Life is good. Not only do the puppies get to spend an unprecedented amount of time outdoors with some of the beautiful weather we’ve been having, but they’re also stylishly dining al fresco. Beneath a giant patio umbrella surrounded by clear blue sky, a gentle breeze and chirping birds, they’re enjoying some of the three meals of the chunky porridge-like concoction they get daily. Of course there’s a lot more to do outdoors than eat. The puppies also savoured a few naps stretched out in the cool grass. And there’s no shortage of things to explore and sports to play. Some of the gang tried their hand (paws) at rock climbing and others set out in search of twigs and fallen cedar leaves. While Mr. Raven and Miss Crimson were playing a game of chase in the middle of the yard with the others gathered around, Mr. Sapphire wandered off by himself to begin plotting his escape from the compound...

Miss Kahlua “The Hangover” It took a quite a while before they stirred and they were all rather groggy in the morning. It was a particularly late night and everyone had enjoyed themselves at the milk bar, which thanks to Sierra acclaim as one of our best moms ever, is still open 24/7. This must be the dreaded milk hangover. That doesn’t mean that the puppies are exempt from gym class. The group now has a great deal more room to stagger around in since we’ve added the extension to the whelping box and a play station too. Miss Kahlua was the first to spread herself out and take advantage of this new block of real estate at her disposal while Sierra keeps a watchful eye on her family from her vantage point perched on the sofa. Despite the many options available to her now, Sierra chooses to sleep in the “dorm” with her little ones quite regularly. When the puppies aren’t eating or sleeping, they’re managing to hone their motor skills as th...

Mr. Twinkie “The Recital” The room was dark. Only a blade of moonlight cut through a gap in the drapes. With only minutes to curtain call, the performers were growing restless. First the sopranos opened softly. Then the altos and falsettos layered their voices on top, piercing the silence like violins being tuned before a performance. As this a cappella arrangement of “Mommy, We’re Hungry!” reached its crescendo, the audience of two was brought to its feet, wrenched out of our sleep at 3:00 a.m. once again to help Heidi and her little ones get recoupled. Ironically, it seems as though the choir spends most of the day and evening just resting up for some of these impromptu late night performances. Heidi is now the octomom; mother to eight perky little darlings, but this description is also anatomical in nature. While most Goldens have ten teats and our Bella has eleven, Heidi has been endowed with only eight. This is why we promote an equal opportunity milk bar where each and every...

Exploring the great outdoors! “Oh Tannenbaum” He awoke from his slumber to find that he was in a place that was unfamiliar to him. A gentle breeze tickled his whiskers. He feared not because he was not alone. And so began the gang’s first outdoor adventure as experienced by Mr. Buff. A rather brave bunch, the puppies wasted no time taking in their surroundings and searching for things to amuse themselves with. For the most part it was their sibling, but they made careful note of some things to take a closer look at on their next outing. In the meantime, Whitney assumed the role of a sentinel. As she stood there majestically surveying her flock, the puppies saw an opportunity and seized it. They quietly lined up on either side of their mom, got up on their tiptoes and fastened themselves to Whitney’s dangling milk bar apparatus like furry white tinsel hanging off a Christmas tree. There’s no doubt that Whitney is rather delighted by the fa...

“Like Mother like Child” First it was just one, followed by another and then another. We’re not clear on why it happened, but since Sierra has been sleeping on her back in the whelping box, more often than not, her mini-pack has been doing likewise. One benefit of this sleeping position is that we can inspect everyone’s feet and schedule them for their weekly pedicures. With their tiny little black paws pointed skyward, we can hardly wait until they all start snoring in unison.   Miss Limoncello Since her pack mate Heidi who was about to have her own litter had designs on moving into Sierra’s whelping box with a ready-made family, we relocated Sierra and her family to the living room. Here she joins her good friend Whitney who is already living there with her four week old flock. While Sierra spends a good deal of her time in the whelping box with her puppies, she now has the added freedom and flexibility of sharing the end of a s...

Proud mom Heidi. “The Test Drive” After her temperature dropped and she spent a restless night, we knew that Saturday was going to be Heidi’s big day. We rose at 6:30 a.m. to attend to the rest of our pack and get a few last minute things in order. In the meantime, Heidi rummaged around in the bedroom to plan for the event. She lay in the empty whelping box we had set up for her and that seemed to feel okay. She jumped on the bed….well only just her front paws because she needed some assistance to get all the way up and that felt pretty good too. But when Heidi discovered that the door to Sierra’s whelping box was open with Sierra out on a break, she saw her chance and settled in with Sierra’s puppies. She even began to nurse some of them. This felt good. It felt right. And this box already came with a set of puppies! We tried to convince Heidi that she really needed to make her own puppies, but she would have none of that. We finally had to use ...