Gone to the Dogs I: Memories of My "Golden Years"- Part One

"Windi"

"Windi" doing what she loved (except she hated birds pecking at her face, so we did field dummies.)

People usually end life in their "golden years."  I actually began mine (well at least my adult life) with them... eventually, lots of them...

Part of the reason there has been a long gap between posts is I knew getting into this topic would be bittersweet and that concentrating on memories so long ago would take time I haven't had.  Also, it meant sorting through 100s of photos, only some that I actually have done.  That said,

Everyone who loves and/or owns dogs will eventually wind up with a favorite (or 2 or 10...)  Generally, they have a unique quality that just sets them apart.   I was incredibly lucky to have a Golden Retriever named HIT Winvale's Rising Sun of Garan, CD, PC, TT (1981-1991) and I miss her to this day.  She not only was important to me, but she touched many lives and was just plain cool.  She was smart, following commands to the letter.  However, sometimes that would get us into trouble...more on that later.

"Windi" waving at the Gaines National Superdog Competition half-time show.  She did all the usual "parlor tricks,"  then we'd bring out the cool stuff.

"Windi" was the best $200 I've ever spent.  She was my second obedience dog and frankly, we kicked doggie butt.  She was either High-in-Trial (or in a run-off for it) or at least placing high in huge Novice B classes.  Unfortunately, I learned early on she had mild hip-dysplasia ending any conformation shows or breeding and though she was trained, I didn't let her do the full jump heights to compete for higher titles.  This was very disappointing because "The Complete Golden Retriever" by Gertrude Fischer has photos of nearly every dog in her pedigree, most in the Show Dog Hall of Fame, and I had high hopes for the show ring.  But she excelled in other things, including qualifying for the Gaines National Superdog competition, which as a college kid, I couldn't afford to go that year.  However, fate had us appearing at that very competition at Long Beach Arena a couple years later as a featured trick dog demonstrator in their half-time show.  That's a tall order considering everyone there is a great dog trainer!

"Windi's" first win

I met "Windi" at an obedience class that my Lhasa Apso "Mindi" and I were taking.  "Windi" was 4 or 5 months old and just brought along for the ride by the instructors.  I loved her immediately.  She was smart, endearing and incredibly impractical for a college-age couple living in an apartment.  Intelligence and practicality has never gotten in my way, so of course I bought her!

Breeder Mitzi Kirkbride handled her while I was away at a wedding.  They did great!

Here we are in Mexico, Tijuana or Ensenada.  I'll have to write about those trips later.  I don't have any desire to go back...  

"Windi" was prone to heat stroke, so we always found shade.

She always stayed in perfect position and watched me constantly.  If we screwed up, it was my doing.

Our journey started in Zanesville, Ohio, but right after I graduated from OSU, we moved to southern California.  (See sentence regarding intelligence and practicality...)  We started looking into TV/filmwork right away and of course "Windi" found an agent before I did.  She was the stunt double for Purina back when they had a "Hi-Pro Glo" dog.  We also belonged to several dog clubs who asked us to perform, often asking me to tell her to do something that meant teaching her on the fly.  She did exactly what I told her and even I was impressed when we pulled it off.  For example, someone wanted her to crawl.  Well, she knew the signal for down and the signal for come so I said sure (hoping it would work out.)  I signaled down, then come, then down and, by cracky, she crawled to me!  She also walked other (often unwilling) dogs on a lead.  She would dutifully keep tugging even when the other dog dug in...)  All in all, she did more than 100 hand signals/commands.

The many faces of "Windi" the wonderdog....

"Windi" and I spent a lot of time on the beach.  We had permission from the Malibu Park Rangers to practice water rescue.  I would have someone fake drowning and send her out with a life ring attached to a cord and she would bring them in.  She never really had to rescue anyone as it turned out, but being able to send her with things was a real help.  She used to carry gallon jugs of milk up three flights of steps!  (Sometimes she would take things that she wasn't told to, such as hot dogs and ice cream cones from unsuspecting kids.  I would hear screaming or crying and know she had struck again!)

She stole quit a bit of food in her life, including entire half hams, a pan of cookie bars, pizza and a lot of a 40 pound bag of dog food disappeared--but the most memorable time was when we were staying at my brother and sister in law Mary's home around Christmas.  Mary and I spent late into the night baking and decorating cookies.  I always had my door cracked open so "Windi" could go get a drink.  Well, she came walking back in and laid down the next morning.  Pretty slick, until I noticed she had sprinkles all down her chest and so did "Robbie" their dog.  I darted out to the kitchen to find everything within doggie reach gone...

As long as her hips held out, she was allowed to play with frisbees.

One of the movies we worked on was "Out On A Limb" with Shirley MacLaine.  The lead actor quit mid-shoot and I can understand.  All "Windi" and I had to do was walk on the beach and play Frisbee.  We did it in one take and were relaxing while the crew snuck her chicken breasts under the table.  A few minutes later I was called to the director who asked me to do it again because Miss MacLaine felt the dog catching frisbees was upstaging her.  Duh.  So I had to intentionally throw badly so "Windi" couldn't catch them.  I was seething and "Windi" confused at why I made her look stupid.  We have the  DVD (no small feat considering that the movie sucked---I fast forwarded to my spot and never watched past it!)  BTW, Miss MacLaine had a huge bus dressing room and a chauffered limo to take her home... three houses down the street from where we were shooting.  I swear I saw it myself!

"Windi" hanging out in Barb's kitchen.  She was very tolerant of puppies.  

Back home in Ohio, "Windi" helped me train obedience classes and entertained where she could.  She spent a lot of time with Barb Alexander who took care of her while I was at work.  "Windi" and Barb became fast friends.  I remember a rare time when I was annoyed and sent "Windi" to our wing down the hall from the kitchen.  Barb had a toy dog wall crate in that hall and one of the doors on the second level was open.  Her command for entering crates (I was thinking our wing was sorta the crate) was "KENNEL."  Instead of running down the hall, she jumped up into that wall crate, filling it up.  We were lucky there was a second door because there was no turning around and Barb and I were so startled it took us a second to think!

There were lots of funny memories of "Windi" but hands down the funniest was this one:  (I've had to pull over if I was driving and thinking of this because of the tears laughing.)

Barb's daughter Janet was dating a very classy fellow that liked dogs, but wasn't terribly used to big dogs.  Janet loves dogs and she wanted me to show off "Windi" for him.  I did the regular stuff and someone suggested that I should have "Windi" retrieve this gentleman (who was dressed for dinner at the club later on and very dapper in pressed khakis and a jacket.)  Normally, she would gently take someone by the hand and bring them to me.  But, he wasn't sure what to do and he didn't really offer his hand right away.  So she grabbed the next best, closest thing she could--his crotch.  (Enter falling tears of laughter.)

She was puzzled, he was shocked, I was mortified and everyone else was laughing.  Well, after the initial disbelief, I knew I had to act fast (calling her was out of the question or she would bring him to me. ) He was calmly asking for assistance, so I walked over and delicately unclamped her.  Unfortunately, she did leave a drool ring, which I hope disappeared before the dinner.

Our last Christmas.  She hated wearing stuff, but would do it anyway.

I have many more stories, but I'll save them for another day.  "Windi" struggled a couple years with lymphoma.  I periodically had her on steroids to slow it down.  Even though her hips were a level one (mild) dysplasia, it got harder for her to get up and around.  One day Barb and I knew it was time and we did the kindest, hardest thing I've ever done (she came for moral support bless her heart.)  In 10 short years, she was gone and though I've had other Goldens (even ones I adored) there was never another "Windi."

Many of you readers have known me long enough to remember her.  If you have any stories about her, please share:)  It would mean a lot to me!  (There is one below already.)

Until next time,
Gale

Good morning Gale. I read your article today about our wonderful friend Windi.
I'd not mourned for her in quite a while, but reading your words brought tears to my eyes once again.
She was an unbelievable intelligent girl for sure. I remember coming home from work taking her over to Lowell's house to frisbee with Betsy almost every night.
I do have one personal thing to add to your next piece if you choose to include it.
Remember after you moved back to Ohio and lived off of 315? You asked me if I'd like to see her. It had been a couple of years I think since I'd come back to Ohio myself.
She wined continuously and stayed by my feet the whole time we talked. I could feel her love so strong as she felt the strokes of my hand.
I'll never forget that visit as long as I live on this earth. I just hope that dogs do go to heaven as I know she'll be waiting for me wondering what took me so long.
Thanks for the wonderful memories of my friend Windi!!

Thanks
Randy

My "Rescue 9-1-1" Blunder-- Part Two

...and here's "the rest of the story!"

Well, we had some time to rehearse alright, but not because of my request.  The house was disgusting and the cast/crew had made some comments, even sending someone to the store to get cleaning supplies.  The girls (of course) came back with rubber gloves and disinfected what they could, plus had to do the dishes, etc.  Well, the owners (and the subjects of this episode) overheard comments and were offended that anyone would find their home abnormally dirty.  (Think "Hoarder" episodes... hey, the flies were going out the doors...)  They threatened to throw everybody out.   (Darn, they didn't!)

So, trying to rehearse was a nightmare between the cleaning crew, arguing and who would have a better sense of smell than a human???  You got it!  The dogs were so distracted with the place they couldn't focus for more than a second.  Plus, I saw the original dog scratching... I pulled my gang out and we practiced in the motor-home, applying a generous amount of flea protection to the dogs.  I also appreciated being able to keep an eye on my Range Rover to make sure it hadn't wound up on blocks... such was the neighborhood.

After observing the situation, most of us were having trouble believing the storyline...  We started shooting mid-afternoon while the production company unhappily arranged for a second night in the hotel and the per-diems.  We weren't starving, because "Ann" was smart and put stuff in her fridge.  The three of us went through two pounds of M & M's we nicknamed "stress tabs."

One scene, the director, me, an actress and the cameraman were in the bathroom getting a shot of the dog coming through the door to the shower.  (I was actually getting the dog to come to me, so I was in the shower with the actress portraying the mother, fully dressed with shoes on and still grossed out even though it got bleached!)  The poor cameraman had to sit on the toilet because the director was in the only other out of range spot.  I said to the cameraman, "That has got to be against union rules."  He said, "If not, it's at least against the laws of humanity!"

This whole shoot was like an out-of-body experience in a dream you can't wake up from.  The main dog's owner we'll call "Bertha" decided she should be paid a trainer's fee because we needed her help sometimes.  That wasn't in the budget, but she was ticked and I was frazzled, so I believe I gave her a cut of my ever-dwindling profit to stop her from walking off with her dog in the middle of the shoot.  They weren't going to give her money as they didn't even like her.   I was asked to tell her to chill or leave the set more than once.

Thankfully, "Ann" was calm and helped me through this, helping to figure out how to "cheat" some shots and keeping "Bertha" at bay.  When we were finished, we were so drained we just grabbed stuff and left.  I needed to get the other collie home (she did get some face time though!)  Of course, I left two brand new personalized director's chairs in that backyard, a cooler and who knows what else.

I hadn't talked to the sitter in a few hours, so decided to stop at a pay-phone to save some money and call.  Well, it turns out that two year old Audra had been helping herself to the cupboard while the sitter was on the phone.  She grabbed a box of red jello (which was a fluke we even had it, but it came with free alphabet cookie cutters someone gave her for Christmas.)  She ripped open the box and spilled the powder in the center of our living room on the pale silver carpet.

Not a big deal, except instead of vacuuming it up, the sitter claimed they didn't want to ruin my "sweeper" so they, "mopped it up as best they could."  I let that process a second and then I said, "what do you mean by 'mopped it up?'  You added water?????"  Take a guess.

I came home to an enormous red spot in the center of the front room that had already dried.  I tried everything and then had two cleaning companies come out that specialized in stains.  This cost a couple hundred, not to mention it didn't work.  You couldn't cover it with furniture, so the only option was to buy new carpeting for the living and dining rooms, plus at least the hallway because it was the same carpet throughout and nothing new would match exactly due to the age of the carpet.

Well, it was a rental and I wasn't doing that even if I could afford it.  We might get dinged on the carpet (though legally landlords are supposed to paint and change the carpet) when we moved, but it wouldn't be as much as replacing it.  So, I cut an organically shaped piece out of a closet and put in a nearly matching carpet sample there.  I took the piece to the living room and cut out the stain and used dog clippers or something to lower the pile and blend it in.  If you didn't know it was there, you couldn't easily tell.

That would be the end of the story, except when I got the final check from the company, I had forgotten per diems with some companies are merely advances and not extra pay (though I usually got this in addition.)  So, backing out the per diems and paying for the dogs, "Ann" and "Bertha" left me with nearly nothing, nothing or in the hole.  Can't remember.  Certainly after the carpet, way in the hole.

My wise brother Jeff summed it up by saying, "Well, now you know this is something you don't want to do anymore."  I gave it a try and learned from it.  So mistakes are often kind of helpful in a painful way.  I could focus on another direction.  The show came on and it looked okay, but I never accepted another assignment!

Rest In Peace Sophie... our Rhode Island Red hen died right after I finished Part One.  She was fine (at least to me) in the yard a few minutes before.  We are now back to the original nine hens. --GW-T

Until next time,

Gale

My "Rescue 9-1-1" Blunder---Part One

What I really needed was someone to rescue me... "If I were to write a book entitled "Dumb Things I've Done" it would wind up looking like a set of encyclopedias (hey a good way to organize it!)  I would have to say that this story would be in the Top Ten." --GW-T

I'm typing this story totally from memory (one that I have suppressed for maybe 18 years):

Once upon a time, there was this gal (me) who wanted to make some money as a stay-at-home mom and do something "fun" at the same time.  I owned and trained a wonderful golden retriever bitch "Windi" to obedience high in trial awards, as a water rescue dog in Malibu and a motion picture trick dog during the 1980s.  (I will post about her soon.)  So, I figured doing a little TV/print work around Ohio would be a piece of cake compared to Hollywood.   This was not the case.

My dog love of my life "Windi" had long passed away, but I am well connected in the "dog world."  I have been active in many clubs, forming many life-long friendships with folks who would trust me with their dogs.  I set up a little business and mailed out a few brochures.  I did some print work and would pay a rental fee (or offer, some folks just liked having their dogs in ads) and charge the customer a wrangler fee for myself.  I wasn't getting rich, but all I had to do was a little training and show up ---usually.

My "big break" was when a casting director called and asked me to send some photos of collies to do a "Rescue 9-1-1" in Dayton.  This was a reality show way before they were popular.  All I had to do was match dogs and have a spare that could paw at a door and push it open.  No biggie.  I also needed to give them a rate upfront.  That comes into play later.

I have lots of friends with collies, so I easily found a matching pair, way better looking than the original dog, but nobody would know that.  I found one of them through a trainer friend, who wanted to become involved.  So, I decided to be broker and turn over the training which could take a few hours to her.  Unfortunately, the owner of the main dog decided she too wanted to participate.  That has never been my policy as the potential for disaster is exponentially multiplied---and I usually like being right, but not this time.   The owner was originally just coming along for the ride...I would only be paying the dog...

We, of course, only had a short time to get our act together before the shoot.  Thank goodness the trainer friend I will call "Ann" had a motor home we could use as a home base.  I swung by and picked up my 2nd dog and met them at a rest area.  We got to the hotel in Dayton and settled in with our instructions.  All was well, get up at 4 a.m. and go.

I went to the morning meeting and the director changed everything.  Why I didn't expect that, I don't know.  With "Windi" I could train on the spot if need be, so I guess I hadn't thought about it.  This happens all the time, even though we were supposed to be re-creating an actual event.  The director, who immediately said he hated working with kids and dogs, obviously knew nothing about either.  There was a set of six week old twin babies who were miserable the whole shoot and never stopped crying.  My dogs kept coming unglued with that as it upsets them to hear anything cry.

This director also decided this was his one chance to direct a "Lassie" episode and wanted us to have the dog walk in the nursery, put feet on the bed, see the baby not breathing, fretting and barking, then circling a certain number of times,  jumping on the bathroom door as well as pawing, push it open and jump in a shower, dragging the mother out to "save" the baby.  Shooting would start in 30 minutes.  We had to be done by dark.  And oh, there won't be room on the credits to add me.

I left the meeting shell-shocked and went back to the motor home to explain.  This was to be shot in a sequence and not takes of each trick, meaning the dog would have to go from A to B to C on it's own.  There would have to be all three of us directing that poor dog.  The house was tiny and between us, the cameraman, gaffers, sound guy, etc. it was crowded and overwhelming to the dogs.  My beautiful second dog was mostly an insurance policy and not really trained.  I did work with her on the door stuff a little.  Everything obviously had to be hand signaled as you can't have us hollering commands all through the scene.

I went back to the A.P. (assistant producer) and explained the situation.  We would need some time to rehearse in the house at the very least and I would see what I could do, but this was not in the original agreement and I was making no promises.  They could tape some barking and plug it in where necessary and we had to get the dog to do that without saying anything.  Try it sometime.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my original babysitter was unavailable and poor Mark had to arrange a replacement at the last minute as he had a business to run.  This also turned into a disaster and the dollar a minute cell phone bill escalated---chipping away at my "profit."  This would prove to be the least of my worries.

Believe me, you will want to come back next week "for the rest of the story"...

Until then, have a great week!

Gale