I’m glad Honey has you to understand her fears and that she in turns understands yours. Isn’t it an awesome relationship we get to have??

I think I could come up with ten. I know it sounds like I’m grumbling, but I seriously know how far my dog has come. It’s the ways to go that gets me down sometimes. 🙂

So true, the drive has been bred right out of many Goldens. The breeder we bought the dog from was honest in saying he would probably not be a hunting dog. He was so birdy though that we thought we would try a couple of different things to see if he could overcome it. He was just never able to.

Thanks for the encouragement, Roberta. It was scary to write this post and only remembering my kind and supportive blogworld friends gave me the courage to write it. 🙂

Thanks, Jen. I just hope I’m not the one feeding all this fear.

I’m not always sure I want to know what dogs are thinking… 🙂

If you were in one of my long-ago journal writing classes, I’d probably prompt you to come up with 10 things you love about Delilah’s independent spirit, courage, and problem-solving skills. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend that exercise when you’re nursing a sore arm after her mad dash or untangling her from the neighbor’s lawn furniture. 🙂

I love the race car analogy. But look at all you’ve learned from having a Ferrari instead of a Volkswagen Beetle. If your first dog of your own was “soft and easy,” you would never have learned all you’ve learned in the past 3 years with Shiva.

Agatha and Christie were certainly a challenge all those years ago. But I don’t think I’d have developed so much interest in understanding how dogs tick if they hadn’t motivated me to figure out just what I was dealing with.

The one thing you have on your side, besides learning so much about dogs, is that Shiva is settling in as she gets older. Even tornados slow down eventually. 🙂

So many Goldens have been bred for new work–therapy, service, and companionship. It appears that the hunting and tracking lines have been underemphasized recently. It must have been disappointing to end up with a gun shy dog. But it sounds like he was still a great companion.

However, it appears that Storm, Thunder, and Freighter have what it takes to do what you need them to do.

Thank you for the reminder of one more thing to be thankful for. Yes, I am quite happy for my petite, 50 pound golden retriever. 🙂