Echo & Maxim
Just relaxing on the bed (where they’re not supposed to be).
Guilty.
Echo KNOWS he shouldn’t be up on the bed, and at least he had the decency to act like he’s sorry.
Maxim, on the other hand….
Maxim is a goof and he’s just happy to be up here.
Happy Doggy
Maxim is happy pretty much all the time…
Happy AND tolerant…
Here’s Maxim with one of his favorite toys… he’s not much for tennis balls or frisbees, or even plush toys, but he LOVES tugropes & bones.
Echo, on the other hand…
Echo loved all the toys. And he had to HAVE all the toys… if Maxim had a rope, Echo wanted it. Here he is begging for a ball.
Echo
For all his toadying, Echo was a sweet dog, and very affectionate.
Waggy Tail
Maxim has always loved being outdoors…or indoors, come to think of it. He’s happy as long as someone’s around to pay him some attention. He’s a people-puppy, for sure.
Baloo & Maxim
again, on the bed… *sigh*
Water dog.
Echo loved the water; in this photo, he was harnessed up so I could load him up in the truck to stay with me. He decided a quick dip in the pool was in order first.
Riding in the truck
Like all dogs, Echo loved riding in the truck. Don’t freak out – he’s harnessed in so he can’t get out or hang himself trying.
Embarassing…
That’s the only way to describe Maxim’s swimming. It’s like watching white-water rafting… all spray. Maxim is the first Golden I’ve ever met who doesn’t love the water. He will swim, but only where the water gradually gets deeper. He won’t go in if steps are involved, and he absolutely won’t dive.
When pushed, however…
Maxim proves that he CAN swim, and retrieve a ball in the process…
Wading’s Maxim’s thing.
Here’s Maxim at one of the county park dog splash events… he loves to wade & splash around.
Once again,
Maxim demonstrating his patience for all the silly things his dad does to him… case in point – wearing a shoe on his nose.
Baloo, not so much
Baloo doesn’t really care for unusual things being put on him… not even soapsuds from Susan’s bath. Here he is, looking decidedly unhappy with his suds-chapaeu.
Doyle & Susan
Andrea’s pup, Doyle gets special privileges from Susan. He usually does this when he’s soaking wet from the pool (where he hangs out).
Does this hat make my a$$ look fat?
Maxim, wearing Tony’s hat.
Looking good…
Maxim makes ANYthing look good!
Bodie Pup
This is Bodie (whose human is Andrea) when he was just a pup. Funny how they all look so angelic at that age…
YAWN!
I’m Sooooo bored!
Who, me???
Baloo is undoubtedly one of the smartest dogs I’ve met; maybe too smart. He’s always got something going on in that blue head of his, and it’s not always something we’ll like. Here he is with the wheels turning on his latest plot…
Baloo
He IS a pretty boy though.
Maxim at the dogsplash
While tennis balls don’t interest him, Max has a penchant for the bigger ones… that barely fit in his mouth. He’s obsessed, actually.
Funny boy.
As mentioned, he won’t dive; but he WILL go to comical lengths to “rescue” whatever is floating in the water. He once repeatedly swam into the lake, retrieving a single water hyacinth leave each trip, until he’d pulled all of them to shore.
echo-xmas
This pic was taken of Echo at Andrea’s around the holidays. While not a Dolphins fan, Echo always did get into the spirit of the holidays (especially the food).
Echo
Just another pic of Echo-toad.
Echo
This is one of the last pics we took with Echo, after we knew he was sick.
Echo on the raft…
Echo liked to hang out on the raft & just catch some rays… (note the tennis ball he’s jealously guarding).
echodog
This was Echo at about a year old. The “yeah, what?” look was pretty good.
Echo as a puppy
About 10 weeks old here…
Iowa
This was Iowa at about 11. She was undoubtedly the most patient dog I’ve owned.
TUG O’ WAR!!!!
Maxim (on the left) and Echo, going at it over the tug rope. They’d spend hours doing this, until they’d eventually lie down (but still with the rope in both their mouths).
Relaxed Max
Baloo, waiting.
When Baloo is interested in something, he is intense. In this case, Susan is holding a treat just out of view…this dog is FOCUSED.
Maybe this will work…
With a treat on the line, it’s time to pull out all the stops, dignity be damned! Baloo is not averse to begging if it will get him that treat…but he’d take it SO gently
Susan with Annie…
Annie is our “special needs” dog. She isn’t quite “all there”. In fact, she’s barely “there” at all. We like to think Annie’s in her own little reality, occasionally seeing things in our world. Tony frequently can be heard to mutter “there’s something WRONG with that dog”. Tony has a flair for the obvious. But Annie’s sweet, and can’t help how she is.
Three stooges?
(L to R) Maxim, Bodie & Doyle at CB Smith Dogsplash, 2007. Maxim is the only one who won’t go in; Bodie will go in; Doyle PREFERS to go in.
Doyle
Ok, I’m a Golden; I’m in the water; what else do you want from me? (and, no; I’m not coming out).
The OTHER 3 stooges…
Maxim, Baloo & Annie, at home. I think there was food in the vicinity; that’s the only thing I can think of that would have all three in this close proximity to each other…
Svengali/Baloo
HUMAN!!! Look into my eyes…you WILL give me the steak…. ALL of the steak… every steak in the world… HUMANNNNN! do my bidding or I will send my minion Annie to pee on your floor!
Box o’ Annie
Last Xmas, we had this empty cardboard box. Tony thought it would be funny to put Annie in it & see how long she’d stay there… an hour later, when we were done opening presents… yep; Annie was still “packaged”. There’s something wrong with that dog….
Meanwhile…
As Annie sat (oblivious) in her cardboard box, Maxim realized that there were treats to be had amid all this Christmas present opening stuff. YAY!
Iowa in the backyard.
Here’s Iowa, just relaxing in the yard.
Iowa the matriarch
Iowa had a regal demeanor; she looked like she was queen of all she surveyed, a quality she had her entire life.
First look…
This is the very first pic I took of Maxim, on the day Cyndi (from Golden Rescue of S. Fl.) brought him to me. He was scrawny, skittish, and not at all happy to be plopped down in strange surroundings.
Maxim, exploring…
Shortly after he arrived, he started exploring his new home, one blade of grass at a time.
Thunder
This is one of the few good pictures I have of Thunder in electronic format… He was Iowa’s litter-mate, and one of the best boys; always eager to please, intelligent, and happy. He left us way too soon…