Elephant Parts #3
- Happy Keller
- Aug 13, 2022
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 10, 2023
8/13/22
Why Golden Retrievers Are The Best Dogs In The World!
Okay...that's just my opinion... Sorry about that, but I find myself missing my doggies (almost) more than friends & family. They were wonderful members of the family, each with their own distinct personalities, and I am going to gush about each of them for a minute.
Java
Java was our first Golden, and he made sure that he would be a tough act to follow. The photo above is from later in his life when he was being a therapy dog / cheerleader-for-the-TEAM (In Training) at the Carlsbad 5000. It was an exceptionally hot day, and he pooped-out and ended up in this plot of freshly-watered daisies to try and cool off.
My favorite memory of Java is from the picture above - The San Diego Humane Society thought it would be a good idea to hold a 5K run-and-walk fundraiser at Kit Carson Park in Escondido so they created the "1st Annual Paws At The Park 5K human / doggie run-and-walk". Since my Bride & I were already runners, we decided to let Java share in our hobby. The humans had running bibs, but the doggies didn't. I didn't think this was fair, so I designed and printed one out for Java (I so wish I still had a photo - Java was bib number "53 1/2" since I was number 53).
As all of the humans and doggies lined-up for the start, I had no idea how this was going to go. I didn't have long to wait - as soon as the starter's pistol fired, Java took off as if he were in his "finishing kick" (dragging me along with him). For some reason he wanted to win the race. For those of you who don't know, I have never been a very fast runner - I could be described as a "Participant" or "Finisher" for all of the endurance events I ever took part in - so Java taking off like he did was very difficult for me to keep up with.
Fortunately for me, he ended up pooping-out around the 1K mark in the event, and ended up walking the rest of it (stopping for water at almost every water bowl around the course). We finished, but got passed by about 2/3 of the field.
"Paws At The Park" would remain a fixture as a fundraiser for the San Diego Humane Society, but from that point on, it would be a "meet-and-greet" for doggies and their humans, plus many pet-related vendors showing off their wares. Java (as well as all of our other Goldens) would attend this event every year.
Mocha
After about five years with just Java, we decided to get him a playmate. We searched the internet for possible available Goldens to rescue. During our search we came across a Golden we would later re-name Mocha. She was estimated to be only a year-and-a-half old. We decided to rescue her.
After a 2 1/2 hour drive to LA County to pick her up, we met Mocha for the first time - she was so malnourished that she was almost pure white in color. I almost wondered for a second if she really was a Golden.
Upon returning home, Java showed how happy he was to have company in his home by growling and biting Mocha's ear to the point where she bled all over the carpet. This would be the only serious incident between them - Java had made it clear that he ran the house, and Mocha was more than willing to let him do so.
While Java (and our other Goldens) weren't very particular when it came to the toys that they would play with when we visited various Dog Parks for them to play at, Mocha adopted a hard rubber green ball with a bell inside of it, and she refused to play with any other toy offered to her at the Park. Over time, the bell fell out of the ball...then the rubber started to split...no matter, Mocha would only play with "her ball" (no matter how enticing I tried to make the possible replacements for it). I was so worried about what would happen if the crack in the ball kept growing to the point where the ball would split apart into two pieces. Fortunately for me, it never did.
When Mocha passed, I had "her ball" mounted within a clear glass case to remember her by.
Kona
A couple of years after Java passed, we decided we were ready to get another Golden puppy. After a little searching, we came across a litter we could have our pick from and, voila, Kona came into our lives. He was the wild child of all of the Goldens we ever had. Although he would earn his "Canine Good Citizen" badge from the AKC, he never really lived up to the title as our other Goldens had.
Although we trained him to be a Therapy Dog (as we had previously with Java & Mocha), Kona's unpredictable nature didn't make him a particularly good candidate. This would get him (and I) into trouble when he took a patient's knit hat from his night stand while we were visiting him at the VA Hospital and refused to let go of it. This incident would end up getting us banned from future Therapy Dog visits.
Kona was still a good doggie overall, but he was the least "Golden-like" of the four we had.
Summer
A little while after Mocha left us, we decided to look for another Golden to rescue. This time, we came across Summertime (which we would shorten to just "Summer") on the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue website. Although she was 10 years old, and blind, we decided that we wanted to give her a loving home.
Although her blindness made her more than a little challenging to provide for and do things with, she was still a very gentle girl. I wish I had a neat story regarding Summer, as I did for our others, but I only knew her for a little while before I left on my "final trip" and ended up in the situation I am in now.
Another Nutty Idea Grows Into Something Fun
During one particular trip to the Oakland Coliseum to see the then-great Oakland A's in the late 80's, I noticed there was a Malibu Grand Prix track just outside the stadium. Since I had always been a racing fan, I put this facility in the back of my mind for future reference.
In my early tenure as an Assistant Producer at Electronic Arts, it wasn't uncommon for me to spend time during the weekend at the office testing (this is also a testament as to how empty the rest of my life was at that time). I decided during one weekend day to take a break and go to Malibu Grand Prix to drive a few laps. The tiny cars didn't look very fast watching them go around the track, but once I got into one of them to drive, I found the experience quite exhilarating. Now I wanted to share the experience with my fellow EA-ers, so I searched out the Manager to find out if I could rent out the track for an hour or two (and what the cost would be). I got all the particulars and drove back to EA to continue my testing session.
Unlike The Lion King opening day event that I funded, I knew I couldn't fund this one all on my own, so I made and announcement during a Friday EA Company Meeting to measure the interest my fellow employees might have in racing at Malibu Grand Prix after work in the future. I was pleasantly surprised to find a wide swathe of people who were very interested in driving "fast".
I scheduled a time with the Manager at Malibu Grand Prix, and started taking sign-ups. As I gathered more sign-ups, I realized that one hour wasn't going to be long enough, so I arranged to increase our reservation to three hours. Still, even with that amount of time, I was now concerned about how many laps everyone would get to drive - I did know that we would have fun together, but I was worried about whether or not attendees would view it as "good value for money" (as I had hoped).
After work on our "Race Day", about 60 of us carpooled our way to the Malibu Grand Prix to race against the clock. All of the attendees seemed to have a good time that evening (I know I did). I tried to keep track as best as I could of each driver's best lap time (I had help with this too as I also needed to take time to drive myself).
Between our evening of "racing" and the EA Company Meeting on the following Friday where I planned to announce the results, I discovered the little Lego F-1 car shown above. I had the hair-brained idea to hand them out as trophies to the Top 5 Men & Women drivers. I also contracted with a local trophy vendor to make metal placement plaques I could stick to the bottom of the cars. While I don't remember who the fastest female driver was (sorry), I do know that the fastest male driver was the late great Mark Wallace (I remember mainly because I finished 2nd).
Special thank you to Jeff Haas for reminding me about this one!
Running For More Than "Personal Records" Or Medals
While I know that I have mentioned it previously, I do want to send a "shout out" to those organizations that I ran/biked/swam and raised money for during my endurance sporting "career".
TEAM In Training (benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
I did the majority of my Marathons, two Century bike rides (around Lake Tahoe), and one Ironman Triathlon for this organization. I met a lot of fellow "Cancer Warriors", as well as some very inspiring and brave Honored Teammates during my time training & raising money for the TEAM.
I had such a great time as a participant with the TEAM, that I would later serve as a Mentor, Captain, and Coach in an attempt to inspire others to meet their own personal goals (both athletic and fundraising).
Huntsman Heroes (benefiting the Huntsman Cancer Institute)
When TEAM In Training stopped being a real option for me, and because I always wanted to complete all of the events I participated in for one charity or another, I discovered the Huntsman Cancer Institute and their "Hometown Heroes" program. This freelance program allowed me to train on my own (since I already knew at this point how to put together my own training schedule), and raise money for their wonderful cancer research hospital (I sometimes wish they had a bed for me now).
I even produced a video during one of my seasons to bring attention to, as well as raise money for, this charity.
WDW Radio Running Team (benefiting Make A Wish)
When my endurance sporting participation turned primarily to RunDisney events, and after I became a fan of the WDW Radio podcast, I joined their running team (I even was a virtual Coach for the team for several years laying out training schedules and answering questions from participants).
If you are planning to participate in a RunDisney event, I can't think of a better group to share the experience with than the WDW Radio Running Team!...(and, if you do, don't forget to give a sweaty hug to Lou)...
While I am not doing any coaching for them currently, I know that Deanna will take good care of you.
"So Why Did You Tell Us All Of This?"
I just wanted to encourage those of you who might be interested in training for, and completing, an endurance event to reach out and do it for more than just a possible "PR" and medal. These three organizations, and many others, are doing wonderful work and need your help. They can also provide you with the support & encouragement you might need to complete your chosen event.
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Thanks again to all of you who are reading my ramblings!...I so appreciate it!!!
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