Trash, Hair, and Lose Stuffing - Signs You Own a Golden Retriever

I just wanted to update everyone from this week's events with Pawley.

Caught red handed!!!

On Tuesday, Bailey and I decided to go outside for a couple of minutes - without Pawley.  I forgot to close the laundry room door before I left.  This may not mean much to you, but I must let you know that my garbage 
can is in there... And you guessed it.  We come back and Pawley's gotten into the trash. It wasn't as bad as we've seen before (thank goodness), but needless to say, she wasn't missing us while we went outside.

Last Winter... preparing for Summer. Pawley
 got shaved.

After her mischievous rant, I decided to brush Pawley since her Winter coat is starting to shed. You wouldn't believe (unless you have a Golden or have had one before) how much they shed! The only way to control this is by diligently brushing her or shaving her, as seen here to the right.

She sure was happy when I was done - she's
feeling much better :)

This is the bag of hair that we got off of her when
 Pawley was brushed...ridiculous

Wednesday night, Pawley was playing with her squirrel.  She must have been in her own world (or I must have been), because when I looked down at her, I saw this: 










***OH! And I almost forgot - Bailey got home today, and his house was a little stinky.  We figured out it was the trash, so we planned on taking it out before we went to the gym.   As we were getting ready to leave, I was walking through the entrance and noticed that Pawley had gone #2 right in the hallway!  But to our surprise... it had been there for a while! We had probably walked passed it several times before we even noticed it.  To our defense though, his floors are a dark-stained concrete, so it blended in very well.  You can imagine my hysterical laughing when I noticed it.  Needless to say... I teased him that the smell in his apartment probably wasn't only dirty trash :)


Gotta go now, as Pawley's pacing around the room panting in our faces with the "I GOTTA GO TO THE BATHROOM" look on her face.


Stay Tuned,


Emily and Bailey

Lake Swimming > Dog Treats

We had gorgeous weather in the south this weekend!  After church today, Bailey and I ate lunch outside, and as always, Pawley accompanied us!  She never turns down a chance to 1) go outside and 2) have opportunity to get some food (especially something other than her dog food).


While we were eating our lunch, we had her on her leash tied to my patio (trust me... she was suffering in NO way) so that she wouldn't run in the lake or chase dogs.  When we got finished eating, Bailey was standing in the doorway calling for her while I was untying her from the patio so that she could go back inside.  We figured the 7 foot walk that she had to take to go back inside wouldn't serve too much of a distraction, especially since Bailey was using "treats" to try and get her back inside.  Boy were we wrong! As soon as she knew she was off her leash, she darted for the lake!  Once again, we were not planning on her going swimming today.  Luckily, though, it was such a pretty day outside, so we let her swim for a bit while we laid out.  Why we have yet to learn that Pawley cannot be trusted to walk 7 feet un-harnessed, without running into the lake is beyond me.

This is what it looks like when you're laying out and a wet, hyper, 80 lb. golden retriever comes and hovers over you to throw a stick for her to fetch.

Oops... got a little distracted by the birds chirping .

Completely worn out after a day of swimming.  Catching some zzz's with her friend Mr. Squirrel.

Looks like this weekend didn't pass without Pawley continuing her "activities" while we were left to try and hold on for the ride.  Stay tuned this week, as I'm sure within the next few days she will surprise us with another one of her escapades.


Emily & Bailey

About Pawley

Age: 4 years old

Birthday: December 24 (Christmas Eve!)

Weight: During a trim month: 75 lbs.  During the holidays (and 2-3 months afterwards): 80 lbs.

Hobbies: swimming, fetching, eating snacks, sleeping

Favorite Toy: Kong, squirrel, and the racquet ball (this is her favorite toy but only gets it about once a week because she is ABSOLUTELY psychotically obsessed with it)

Her Racquet Balls

Wanting us to play with her and her squirrel

Eating Habits: 2 cups of food in the morning and 2 cups in the evening.  She also loves mid-evening snacks whether it’s through permissible offerings or by flat-out snatching it off the table!

Eyeing my breakfast...

Favorite Food: cheese, pecans, hamburgers, Twizzlers, Cheetos, chicken, apples (not cut up but eating it straight off the core), and pretty much anything a human would eat.  We’ve never seen her turn down food. (I sure hope a Vet isn’t reading this…)

Fears: Vacuum cleaners!!!

Best Qualities: loves to cuddle, loves people, very sweet, extremely loyal :)

Ready for Bed!

Not So Great Qualities: gets into the trash, more hyper than a normal Golden Retriever, shedding, stepping on feet

After she had chewed up her second racquet ball in a week, we put it in Bailey's tackle box so she wouldn't swallow any pieces.  She didn't understand that it was in the box. She could only smell that it was around there.  I guess she thought it was in the ground, so she kept digging and digging and digging trying to get the ball back.

Thanks for coming back to read our blog. We will continue to post new adventures we go on with Pawley as they happen, usually several times a week.

Stay Tuned,

Emily & Bailey

Pawley 101

My boyfriend, Bailey, and I have a 4 year old Golden Retriever. Her name is Pawley. She would probably top the charts as one of the sweetest dogs on Earth but at the same time one of the most mischievous ones too! We have always joked that Pawley would contend with “Marley” (from Marley & Me), but never really penned all of our experiences with her… until this week. In the past, she has gotten into more food than a family eats in a month, been swimming in the lake (without our permission) more than a 10 year old during the summer, and done more circles chasing her tail than a tornado. But this week’s adventures opened our eyes.

Each night, Bailey and I take Pawley outside to the bathroom one more time before she goes to bed. Tuesday night seemed no different. Except this time when we took her off her leash, she darted for a nearby field. In order to get there, she had to go under a barbed wire fence. When we called for her to come back, she failed to come when called… what’s new. When she finally felt that she had spent enough time roaming the fields and having “dog devils” at 10:00 at night, she came running back- full force! And you guessed it… Pawley ran right into the barbed wire fence! Luckily, there wasn’t too much damage done other than a pretty nice gash on her hind leg :( .

Then, on Wednesday night, Bailey was making his peanut butter and jelly sandwich for his lunch the next day, as he does every night. For some reason, he did not put it in the plastic bag when he was finished but left it sitting on the counter on a napkin. Bailey and I resumed with watching TV, and didn’t think anything about what Pawley was doing. When a commercial came on TV, we both looked at each other and said “Where’s Pawley?”, as we always do when we notice it’s too quiet. We look in the kitchen, and Pawley’s in there. I look on the counter… no sandwich! Pawley had a nice midnight snack before bed. But what amazed us is that the sandwich was sitting on a paper towel. Somehow Pawley managed to take the sandwich off the counter without even moving the paper towel, which seems impossible as she usually sliiidees things off the counter.

Lastly, Friday night was pretty quiet in our town. March Madness was permeating from (it seemed like) every channel, so we took Pawley outside for a little while. It was nighttime, so we let her off her leash as she usually does not run too far from us. She was pretty good, except we noticed her inching closer and closer to the lake. Finally… ka-plunk! Pawley decided to go for a midnight swim. This tends to happen roughly once a week, and for some reason it always catches us off guard. Sometimes she won’t get in the water, and other times she feels the urge to cool off a bit. We just never know! This picture is from tonight after we got her back inside to dry her off.

Boy, do I love swimming!