As many of you know, I have lost my two heart dogs to very rare circumstances.  Angel was my first golden bought in 2003.  She died one week from whelping her 12 puppies due to Hydrops Amnion in 2006.  It was devastating.  You can see more about Angel on her page.  I owe so much of what Golden Clover is about to her and her breeder, Julie Speer.  LoverBoy was purchased from the Corrals less than a year later when I was looking for a Hobo son and they happened to have saved a puppy back for Beth Johnson.  We ended up with a special dog.  Thank you God for that!  Losing LoverBoy this spring 2011, was just beyond heartbreaking.  For six weeks we fought hard to try to figure out what was wrong with him.  Purdue vets worked so very hard.  He died in May from Mesothelioma which they called a "bad luck" cancer.  Anyway, for a year I had planned to breed his daughter ( LoverBoy x Seraph) to Mister DJ, which would be a line breeding on Woodie amongst other goldens.  The last week, when Sweetie actually came into season, I discovered that Angel's nephew had his clearances and was available as stud.  This was a major last minute decision but here I was, looking at my original Dream litter possibly happening!  Angel's sister, Wedge, is Lincoln's dam and LoverBoy is Sweetie's sire.  Oh my goodness, this will be a very special litter for our entire family.  Even though Savannah was only 3 when Angel died, she remembers her and she has been through all the disappointments we have endured to continue Golden Clover.  We have had to return bitches that did not work for us, we had a beautiful dog, Dreamer, develop elbow dysplasia, Seraph had to have an emergency spay, and one of the hardest, was Wynne, a Wedge daughter.  She has moderate to severe hip dysplasia!  Then our last golden bought for Savannah to show ended up with elbow and hip dysplasia.  All of these special dogs have been placed in very, very loving homes (except for Spoof as we are still looking for a good home for her) but we just kept having set-back upon set-back. Savannah and  Dakota were involved with LoverBoy and his death was very, very hard for them.  Now, we have our Dream Litter in Sweetie x Lincoln.  I pray for protection for Sweetie and the puppies.  I have placed our first photo of the pups on the website!  It is their ultrasound photo taken today.  Here we go.....off on another adventure.  Hopefully, it will be a wonderful Dream adventure!

  I have received some sad news today that Dreamer has Hemangio.  Dreamer was given to us when Angel died by the Corrals.  He did not pass his elbow clearance, our first dog to not pass, and we were devastated.  We ended up placing him in a fantastic home with Dougald and Hannah.  The love him beyond words and he has the life as he is on the beach or running free in the rivers and lakes of Lake Tahoe.  We are saddened by such sad news.  Dreamer is living in the moment right now, as all dogs do and something we well should do ourselves.  We are not promised tomorrow.  
Another sad thing is that a handler friend of mine, Audra Snyder, was killed in a car crash and she leaves behind four lovely kids and her husband, Denny.  Audra always tried to help me and was an encouragement to many people.  This is such a sad loss for her family and friends!

The following writing really helped me today and I wanted to share with you.  I saw it on Face Book today and thought how appropriate it would be for me to post it. 

“From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a dog”, or, “that’s a lot of money for just a dog”. They don’t understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for “just a dog”. Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog”. Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a dog”, but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by “just a dog” and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “just a dog” gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day. If you, too, think it’s “just a dog”, then you will probably understand phases like “just a friend”, “just a sunrise”, or “just a promise”. “Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. “Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person. Because of “just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog” but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. I hope that someday they can understand that it’s not “just a dog” but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “just a human.” So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog”, just smile, because they “just don’t understand." Taken from Pamela Green.