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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

What's It All About, Alfie?

Today, Alison at The Polohouse is featuring pets on her Favorites on the First series.  Who doesn’t like to talk about their pets?  Our Alfie has popped his head into one or two blog posts before, but I thought today I would tell his story. (The post title is a lyric from Alfie by Burt Bacharach.)


Alfie is our second golden retriever.  Our first was Ezra, who grew up with our kids and was part of our family for about twelve years.  When we lost Ezra, we were heartbroken.  Me most of all, I think, because I work from home, and Ez and I had spent most days together.  About a year after Ezra died, though, we began to feel ready for another dog.  The house felt empty during the week with the oldest child away at college and the youngest at school.  The husband missed having someone run to greet him when he came home (because after twenty years of marriage, you know it wasn’t going to be me).  I began stopping by the local dog rescue occasionally, but the husband really wanted a puppy.  We tried to track down Ezra’s breeder who was from Iowa, but I couldn’t find him.  So finally one evening we drove forty miles north to Woodstock, Illinois where there were some golden puppies for sale. 

There were only two male puppies, which was what we wanted, and the breeder let them run around the kitchen.  The husband sat down on the floor.  One puppy was shy and quiet; the other was rambunctious and crawled all over him.  You can guess which one he chose.  Two years later, that crazy puppy is beginning to calm down and has turned into a good buddy for the family.

Don’t get me wrong, though.  Alfie is no saint.  He is very “talkative.”  Which means he whines about everything.  If he wants to go upstairs, but is carrying too many toys in his mouth, he whines.  When he wants to play, he whines.  When he can’t reach a toy, you guessed it.  And he is unbelievably destructive with his toys.  Those cute stuffed dog toys?  Forget it.  Five minutes.  We have gotten toys marketed as tough, but he can tear them up too.  Often in as little as fifteen minutes.  He works at it.  He will lie down and peel the felt off a tennis ball like it’s a lemon.  Kongs and Megalast seem to be the only brands he can’t destroy in short order.

Still, he’s good company and, like most dogs, always in a good mood and happy to do anything his people want to do.  And when he looks up at us with his sad, dark-rimmed eyes, we’re pretty much wrapped around his little paw.


34 comments:

  1. Hi,
    Alfie is precious. Thanks for visiting me. I an another Illinois gal like you and Alison. I have family in St. Charles. Are you close by? We are about 3-1/2 hrs south of Chicago.

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  2. Hi Lynette, your Alfie is a beautiful dog. And his name suits him well. Thanks for stopping by today. xo

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  3. Sorry to hear about Ezra.We also lost our 14 year old German Shepherd, I can totally relate.

    And Alfie is so adorable!

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  4. Your Alfie is a doll. I do love Golden's! The best dogs in my opinion!
    hugs, Linda

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  5. Alfie is beautiful and pets are truly parts of the family. Thanks so much for visiting with me and the rotten Clovis. hugs, olive

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  6. Alfie is a beautiful dog and looks very sweet. I have a long coat chihuahua and 2 doxies. I have always had cats and dogs and couldn't imagine not having an animal around. I hope you have many years of fun with Alfie. Love the name.----Shannon

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  7. I'm in love with Alfie. One look at that cute face and he can spend all day whining....well, okay, most of the day. He is so adorable!

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  8. Alfie is super cute! I wish I could give him a big hug. ^.^

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  9. He sure is cute! My next door neighbor has a golden retriever too. He comes over to our house and plays with my little boston. It's funny to see them together. He likes to chase my boston around our yard and then my dog just gets a stick and ignores him. ha! I heard golden's are great family dogs.

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  10. What a doll! Give Alfie a smooch for me. Love the diversity of your blog. Adding you to my reader. Vising from The Polohouse party and from by blog Scratch Where It Itches. - Debbie O. http://whereititches.blogspot.com/

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  11. I am just shocked to find out after all your years of marriage you don't run to the door to greet the husband! Of course after all my years, and all my kids I can't really run anywhere! I think I'm going to tell my husband that's why we have a dog too!

    Thanks for stopping over to say hi at my blog. I'm gonna snoop around here for awhile.

    ~Bliss~

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  12. Alfie is beautiful! I think it is hysterical that he whines like he does, which means that he is spoiled rotten! :D He has you trained, and I love it! ;P Thanks for sharing his story with us. What does he like in his kong...peanut butter? Bonnie loves peanut butter!

    xo,
    Ricki Jill

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  13. Hi Lynette!
    Oh my goodness. What a sweet faced dog!

    You are describing both of my dogs when it
    comes to destroying stuffed animals in
    two seconds flat! Must be a lab/retriever issue??
    :) The sad part is, they LOVE to get them....just not worth
    the money for five minutes of enjoyment!!!

    Lynette, I am so impressed. You have made it to each and every
    linky party entry to make a sweet comment! Each time I click on
    one to go say hi and thank you.... I see you beat me there!

    Thanks so much for not only linking but for sharing your
    sweet and caring enthusiasm for each animal shared!

    You're the best.
    Alison
    xoxoxoxox

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  14. Alfie is adorable! Our female Golden, Daisy, can really destroy those " indestructible" toys, too! Still, Goldensl are such gentle giants, aren't they?

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  15. Alfie is just gorgeous. And I don't think any home is complete without a four-legged friend. That is so sad about Ezra but I'm so glad you found Alfie. And what a beautiful looking boy he is. Your post makes me think I should share something about my two naughty but lovely little girls!

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  16. Just called in to thank you for your latest post on my blog - www.ColdhamCuddliescalling.blogspot.com and my first response to this post is Awwwwww......! We've never had Retrievers, but Labs (both black and yellow) plus a whole heap of others (German Shepherd, and several ASP's (aka All Spare Parts) in our 42+ years of marriage always stand out. All have similar unique stories, but now we've reached an age when vets bills render canine chums an expensive luxury that cannot be afforded, nor can we walk the woofers as they (and we) want! So, we enjoy our memories - and I, for one, wallow in other folks' animal chums! Have quite a few that I follow. Please keep me posted on this new friend of mine!

    Give Alfie an extra pat from me! Isobel

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  17. Aw so sweet. Those kinds of dogs are such people pleasers. Not so much ours. Our Elroy whines (and destroys things) all the time just like your Alfie! We rarely know what he wants though. But, he will sit on the floor and tear squeakers out of the toy and tear eyeballs off. Despite all that, we're talking about getting another one.

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  18. oh my goodness, that second picture of alfie is complete and utter muppy puppy head. you know that biggo fluffy head they have? so cute I can barely stand it. I really enjoy reading about everyone's pets. as you know, like you, i have my office companion Lucan who is sleeping quite soundly, snores and all, right behind me. you gotta love 'em.

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  19. Lynette, I'm slow getting around to visit. So happy you stopped by to meet Mabel. Algiers is adorable! We had a special dog for 15years, but haven't taken the leap of getting another pet. We should!
    Sarah

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  20. Hi there, new follower here! What a cutie Alfie is! I wonder...does he destroy things around your house too, or just limit himself to his toys?

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  21. Such a cutie! Our cocker spaniel Ginger went to doggie heaven last year after 17 years of loyal friendship. I could not think of getting a new puppy for months but my kids have worn me down to saying we could get a pound puppy this spring. Ginger looked like a little Alfie..such a sweet face!

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  22. What a cute puppy and look how handsome he is now! You mean you don't drop what you're doing and run to the door when the husband comes home? LOL Don't worry, I don't either!

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  23. What a sweet post about Alfie! Your Alfie sounds like my Emme. She tears up every toy we give her, but I adore her. Alfie is just beautiful! Amazing how they become such a part of us, isn't it.

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  24. nice pics!!! enjoyed your blog...

    visit my blog!!!

    http://voguelyvan.blogspot.com/

    kisses!!!

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  25. I read this to my hubby because he would really like to get a dog, although we cannot have one in our present circumstances. He would like a breed like this and he enjoyed the story, except for the part about "the husband." Ya think my husband is a little sensitive?? You might be right!!!!

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  26. Awwww, Alfie is adorable! I'm sure he will bring you many years of enjoyment as Ezra did. Thanks for sharing.

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  27. Alfie is just darling! I love visiting blogs who have golden retrievers since we just got our puppy this weekend! Thanks for stopping by my blog to read about her! I would have gotten back to you sooner, but as you can guess - I am a little sleep deprived!
    -Shelley

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  28. How adorable! I love doggies, we have a Dalmatian called Ellie and my parents have a golden retriever called Cassie. I wouldn't be without Ellie she is my companion and so loving. Blessings Niki x

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  29. I've only just read this post about Alfie. Don't know how I managed to miss it! Isn't he just so gorgeous? Shame we so far apart as I'm sure if we were all to meet up, Spencer and Alfie would get on like a house on fire! Maggie xx

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  30. Alfie looks just like our Lucy. Actually Lucy is my daughters dog.
    She is about 4 years old. But still looks and acts like a pup.
    Thanks for sharing your story.

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