Grandpa is so patient.  He carefully and slowly explained to Nana that I have a soft mouth.  Nana knows this because I have chicken. Because I STILL have chicken.

After The Boy, The Girl, Toddie, Nana and Grandpa, I love chicken.  I have 1 chicken, 2 chicken.

I do not chew on chicken.  Chicken can go up the stairs and down the stairs.  Most of the time, I carry them but sometimes for no apparent reason, they fly off the top and I am surprised.

Most of the time I am surprised that Nana would fling chicken through the air.  This does not mean "Food FIGHT" - it just means that she has a mean streak and pitches them.

And just because she pitches them does not mean she will get a job with the Mariners. OR the Cardinals. She throws like....well, I don't know.  She would not be on MY team.  Grandpa would take her because he feels sorry for her.

Sometimes chicken get stuck in the pool flapper suck in thing.  So I stand up and put my left paw on top and put my right paw in and scoop out chicken so we can play the hokey pokey. Because that IS what its all about.

NOW LISTEN TO ME!!!
As you may know I am a Golden Retriever.  I am beautiful, bold, obediant, sweet, soft, shy, sing bass in the local choir, have clean teeth and a tail like a Jeter bat. I am a bit bigger than Grandpa said I would be...I am whole lot bigger than Nana thought I would be: I am a big baby weighing in at 111 pounds.

ANYWAY.  This is the important part.  Golden retrievers have a sad fact: after 2 years old, 60% of them get cancer. All different kinds.  The Morris Foundation is helping the doctors study why we get sick and how to help us. If you or someone you know has a best friend made out of golden retriever stuff, please have them get in touch with the Canine Lifetime Health Project which studies only Golden Retrievers. 

If your dog is a Golden, under 2 years old, he can be part of this study.

Please Please join to help us. We get cancer just like you and the meds that are given to us are just like the ones they give to you.  Please help us figure this out so that we can help our brothers and sister Goldens, and help humans in this cross-species study.

go to www.caninelifetimehealth.org   You will sleep better if you do.

Todd and Bailey say, "Thanks! Thank you so much!"

I am feeling so much better.  In and out of the ears...I have been Bailey the Brave, Bailey the Tough, Bailey the Obediant.

Nana wants to paws here to tell you about a company she found that helped us (read:me). It is like Nana's health insurance and it helps Nana by paying her back some of the money she spent on me for the medication and for Dr. Wendy.  PetsBestHealth Insurance.  Talk to Laura...we liked her.

I was anxious!

Nervous!

And I was a patient patient.

Dr. Wendy gave me medicine.  Nana cleans my ears every night and then she puts medicine in.  It has taken a long time and Nana has been very worried.  But I am feeling better and better.

Nana is very proud of me.  I come and sit when she squishes the stuff in and then puts cotton balls in and squishes again over and over.  I do not like it.  Not at all. Then an hour later, she puts MORE stuff into my ears.  I shake and shake like Dr. Wendy told me to.

I am now feeling better. Yes, thank you.

And Dr. Wendy!  THANK YOU!! You are the best. I am so glad that Nana found you! And Dr. Black, you are so cool.  Thank you.
Nana thinks you work too hard. 

I have been sick. My ears are too warm, too dark and too wet.  They got sick. So Nana took me to the doctor's.

This is Dr. Wendy's room.  Can you see what is wrong with this picture????  Dr. Wendy has cats all over the place but I sort of liked them. They were a bit testy but I sniffed and left them alone.  There was even one that was the same color as me.

Anyway, we went here and they checked me out and in.

Toddie ROCKS!

Todd is my best friend.  Everyone should have a friend and it is Nana's goal that everyone have a friend.  Todd is mine.

We hang out together and we curl up together especially when Nana abandons us and leaves us HOME ALONE!

Todd eats my food. But that is ok because I eat his. We share although Nana has a different name for what we do.  He drinks my water and I drink his too.

Todd sleeps most of the time in his little cave. If he sleeps with Nana, I don't mind. He doesn't like to get up before noon but that is ok with me too.  I can wait.

Every evening Todd gets his exercise by going up and down the stairs. He goes up and then he comes down. We don't know why but dogs and people do lots of things that we don't understand. Nana says that it is ok to be different and that being different teaches us to be tolerant.

Being tolerant helps us to be kind. Kindness then helps us to be patient. Being  patient with others helps us learn to be patient with ourselves. It goes on and on...just like Nana. 44,000 words a day.

At 8 o'clock Todd and me get a treat.  It tides him over until the next day.  It tides me over until he goes to bed and I can finish up his dinner without being distracted by him.

I love Todd.  He shares.

I am in time out.

I used my time out wisely and took a nap.

Nana decided that I had rrrrrrrrrrrrrufffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff paws. She went and got this cream and smeared it all over my paws and massaged (THAT part was great!) it into my paws and it smells like Girl and I don't like it.  IT tasted funny and ruined my night because I had to spend extra time to lick it off.

But, after Nana did it about a gagillion times, I think I maybe like this. Nana uses it on her paws too. You should try it too!

This is my swing. Sometimes I leave my back parts on the swing and walk my front parts off the swing so I can swing myself. But I prefer that Nana swing me.

Do you see the bushes?  They have birds in them.  Shshhhhh...don't tell the cat!!!

lol. We don't have a cat! Just Toddie.

Nana made me post this picture.  I had a momentary lapse. It was not my fault. Nana left me all alone (Todd does not count) and I was so nervous and anxious that I ran around and then I saw the birds in the bushes and there were no cats and so I went to see them and and...it ended up like this.

See! It was the cat's fault.

Oh Nana! Don't be like that!  I was only pretending that there was a cat!  No I don't want a cat! NO I am not the first cousin of a cat!  NO NO NANA! Don't swing me by the tail...

OK. Nana.  I am sorry.  I know you would not swing me by the tail.  It would come off, I know.  I am sorry.


We don't have a cat. AND my tail is fine. Hahahaahhaaa Nana. Can't take a joke?

Nana had a codindanose.

AS you can plainly see, I do not. Although Nana did use a kleenex on mine. I was so mortified.

Today is another one of my unBirthdays.  I have been very busy so I will have to go backwards on what we have been doing, where we have been and where we are going.

As you can see, I am still beautifully photo-genic.  And Todd is still pretending to be afraid of getting his picture taken because he thinks it would steal his soul. 

Anyway, see how close we are?  Todd and me are a band of brothers and we want all our army guys and our sailor gentlemen and women and our fly boys and our Simper fi dudes to know that we love them. And our Coast Guard guys and our National Health Corp People!  Thanks. Thank you.