Written june 2005
I believe every golden needs a job to keep them busy and their minds occupied. Since my two are retired from showing they get various "jobs" to do each week.
Hunting season is not for a few months yet and grandkid season will be next week when the grandkids come to visit so right now we have Assigned jobs for each golden. Flyer (almost 11) has to gather the food bowls each day (I tell him I am getting too old to bend down and pick them up) and bring them to me so I can feed the two bozitos.
If I try and trick Flyer and tell him to get 3 bowls he stand there and barks at me as if to say, "what a dummy there are only TWO of us eating dog food today, unless you screwed up dad's dinner again..."
One weird note: We did have three goldens when Robbie was alive and Flyer gathered 3 bowls. After Robbie passed, Flyer still had his job as bowl gatherer. After picking up two bowls, I teased him and said, Flyer 3 bowls are what you are suppose to pick up. Flyer stood there and barked and barked at me as if to say, Dang it mom, he's gone..." Very weird, no? As if he knew there would be no reason to pick up the third bowl. That night I put Robbie's bowl up in the closet to await his ashes. :-(
Mewzik (almost 6) aka "the princess" would not THINK of lifting a finger to do something so mundane as "gather a food bowl" Her job (SELF ASSIGNED) is to BARK at Flyer if he does not get the bowls fast enough to her liking.
Twice a week ( or more) we strip the beds. The bedroom is at the opposite end of the house from the Laundry room. Bif the kennel boy gives each dog a sheet or pillow case or bedspread and their job is to drag it down the hallway ( adding as much dog hair as possible (to save vacuuming later on no doubt) To the Laundry Queen (moi) who loves goldens in bed but can't take the hair issues. Hence every few days I am doing the sheets.
Flyer is quite proud of himself as he drags the sheets down the hallway, he's mama's little helper. Mewzik will bring the sheets but only because she thinks Flyer is doing something that will merit a cookie and if she is fast enough she might be able to snatch his cookie midair before he realizes it was tossed his way.
Mewzik's newest job (also self assigned) is digging. Found a huge hole next to the house yesterday. MEW ZIK what are you doing?
"I am digging to China" she says...(by the depth of the hole I figure it would not be long before little Chinese goldens heads popped out)
Mewzik you can NOT dig to China from Alaska. You will hit the South pole instead. Besides, you do not want to learn the phrase "wok the dog"
trust me. I think she went through a false pregnancy and had the nesting instinct so she seems to be past that now.
I am redoing the floors from carpet to tile and next month they will get to help the tileman as "golden supervisors". Good thing he has goldens too...
Other jobs include flying with mom or dad and going to the office on the week ends. (Ours is probably the only office in the building with a dog cookie jar on the kitchen table.) eating the left over cereal, cleaning the floors if mom drops food and cleaning the dishes (before they get yelled at by crabby mom) as they are placed in the dishwasher, Last month Flyer ended up with Spaghetti sauce all over his head when I did not see him cleaning dishes as I was loading the dirty dishes..mr Spaghetti head...Er or is that CHAMPION Spaghetti head ?...Either way it was a mess..Is that anyway for a hall of fame dog to look? Perhaps he wanted to be a red dog....lol
Bif the kennel boy and I truly wonder how ANYONE can get by without "golden supervisors".
I mean really- don't you feel sorry for people without goldens? How DO they function?
