- Woot! Woot! Snow day! Time for a happy romp!
- Inked on 300lb arches rough, then watercolor washes.
© 2013 MaryALivingston
Winter Break Bliss
19
Category Archives: Pets
Tail Wagging Bliss
Image
The impish look comes right before the paper shred. Don’t worry Rhythm, the book was saved in the nick of time!
Friendship Bliss
Image
Sneaking a little bliss with Tim’s pens… shhh, he doesn’t know 🙂
Puppy Bliss
Saturday Night Kintaro of Akiyama – Kinta helps me haul firewood.
Meet Saturday Night Kintaro of Akiyama. We call him Kinta. He will be a guest at our home for several months before he is able to join his family in Japan.
Japan is a rabies free country. Kinta was born in Montana, USA. The US is not a rabies free country. He comes from Saturday Night Golden Retrievers.
The procedure goes something like this, Kinta will receive a rabies vaccination as soon as he is old enough. Then he will receive a booster a month later. A month after that, his blood will be tested for rabies titers. If his titer level is high enough, he then must wait for six months before going home. Once in Japan, he will be observed for several hours prior to being released to his family. He will also undergo many other health certifications prior to getting a green light to breed. It is a lengthy process.
Kinta checks out the pond. He’ll be swimming in no time.
Our friends Noriko and Yoshi are very dear to us, so we are happy to assist them with a foster home for Kintaro. We have fostered two other pups for them, Sakurako and Jutaro. Noriko and Yoshi are dedicated breeders of competitive golden retrievers in Japan. They take care to select genetically sound parent stock.
Kinta enjoys some Northern California sunshine.
For the next 10 months or so, I will get to enjoy, train, and share the love of a good pup. His family will visit from time to time, we take care to be sure he knows them and knows their scent.
Handsome boy watches down the driveway… are those quail he sees?
Kinta on the move – this is his standard pose.
Here are a few shots and a quick watercolor sketch of Kintaro.
Saturday Night Kintaro of Akiyama – watercolor by MaryALivingston
Pursuit of Happiness
Gallery
This gallery contains 10 photos.
“The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin
Puppies, Friends and Bliss
This last autumn, I received a surprise package from my dear friend, Noriko. When I opened it, my breath was taken away by a gorgeous portrait of my dog, Hawk. Our family of golden retrievers are fairly long lived. We routinely see them age 14-16 years, so we were stunned when Hawk suddenly died in June of 2012 at the young age of 6. Hawk was littermate to Noriko’s Sakurako. Saku, lived with us for 11 months before she was able to go home to Japan.
Prior to and while Saku was growing up at our home, we were blessed with the friendship of Noriko and Yoshinori. This friendship has continued over the years.
We had an inkling that Noriko was artistically talented, but in her modesty, she did not let on. When I see the way she captured the spirit of Hawk, it is as if a part of Noriko’s beauty and grace reflects back in her creation. I see her in every stroke.
This beautiful gift is on display at my art table as a reminder of the gift of friendship spanning miles and time. Simply bliss.
RedTail’s Wind Walker “Hawk” – by Noriko Akiyama, posted with permission.
Hawk and Saku with Noriko and Mary – 2006
Noriko, Sakurako, Mary & Hawk – December 2006
Noriko and Yoshi with the pack. July 2010
2011 – People: Noriko, Yoshinori, Mary, Tim
Goldens: Jutaro, Hawk, Blitz, Tessa, Tom, Nellie, and Teka
Sweet Nellie Left Us Today
Nellie 2000-2013
The house is quiet today. It is the first day in a long time that I do not have a dog by my side in the office.
These were just a few of our precious moments…
God got a good dog today. We are grateful for the time we had together.
These were some posts that featured Nellie.
http://theforesterartist.com/2012/09/17/nellie-in-watercolor-part-1/
http://theforesterartist.com/2012/09/23/nellie-in-watercolor-part-2/
http://theforesterartist.com/2012/10/06/nellie-in-watercolor-part-3/
http://theforesterartist.com/2012/10/08/nellie-in-watercolor-part-4/
http://theforesterartist.com/2012/11/23/nellie-in-watercolor-part-5-the-rattler/
Wolf at the Door
Tim shared a map with me this morning while we were having our morning coffee. It is a map of OR7’s travels in Northern California. OR7 is the first known wild gray wolf to enter the state since 1924.
Map of OR7’s path in California. Downloaded from CDFW. (formerly DFG)
What is so special about this map? Take a closer look…
Blue path – the wolf.
Red dot – Our House
The red dot is our house. So I checked OR7s California Blog (yes, there is a blog). The timing of his visit to our neck of the woods was January 7 – 8. They don’t provide real time tracking, we all find out after the fact.
Odd that this lone wolf would venture into populated areas.
Perhaps he has traveled into more populated areas looking for a mate. Since he is the first wolf to enter the state, there are no wild females for him to service. The domesticated bitches probably smell just as good when they are in season.
Something to think about. It is not the “Golden-ORe” I would be looking for. 😉
OR7 has since returned to Oregon. Here is more on OR7
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/wolf/
Living Bliss
There is no greater bliss than live one’s purpose.
Blitz displays style, drive, steadiness and pinpoint accuracy to start the day.
Our retrievers are working retrievers. They are descendants of generations of canine companions that hunt with their human counterparts. When harvesting upland game or waterfowl, a working retriever is essential. Often, game lands in an area inaccessible to the human hunter. Enter the well-trained retriever to recover dinner.
The ultimate test for a working retriever is to work in a real time hunt and retrieve dinner for its family. There is a process to test these working dogs to a standard established to determine their readiness as a hunting companion.
In these tests, the retriever’s natural abilities and trained abilities are judged.
Natural abilities: marking and memory, intelligence, attention, nose, courage, perseverance and style.
Trained abilities: steadiness, control, response to direction, and delivery.
Here are some snapshots of Tim, The Forester Artist, with the girls yesterday. It was a very difficult test. Twenty-eight dogs entered, twenty-one competed, only eight qualified.
Congratulations to Blitz on her first Senior Hunter qualifier.
Blitz, a working golden retriever, shows nice style on her water retrieves.
Blind retrieve: the retriever does not know where the bird is. The handler must guide the retriever with whistle and voice command.
Teka shows speed and style on her blind.
Teka completes her land series.
Teka is fast, that is because she spends more time in the air than most dogs.
Teka on the return with her first water mark.
Teka greets Kathleen, one of her people who came to watch her at the event. Teka properly loved up both Doug and Kathleen.
Tim, The Forester Artist, with Blitz and Teka.
Good-bye Tom-dog
“Our animals shepherd us through certain eras of our lives. When we are ready to turn the corner and make it our own…they let us go.” Author Unknown
Tom dog came home to a young 11 year old boy. Now 26, Tom’s “boy” misses him the most.
We knew this day was coming. The average lifespan of a retriever is 10 years. Tom-dog was 14 years, 8 months when we said good-bye today.
He came home to our youngest son many years ago and was the grand-pup of our first retriever. In the learning hands of a growing boy he was trained into an outstanding hunter and companion.
Stephen and Tom with Tim and Blaze following successful Senior Hunter Qualifiers.
When his boy grew to manhood, left for college, got married and started his family, Tom stayed with us. In the years that have followed, this magnificent family member has been greeted by 3 rowdy grandkids that he loved dearly.
Tom-dog always loved kids. It is only fitting that Tom-dog’s grand-pup, Jake, now resides with Tom-dog’s first person and family.
Tom dog (R) walks with GrandThing 3 and Jake (L) Jake is Tom dog’s grand-pup.
Sneaking Bliss 