Category: Golden Retriever

Martin van Buren standing portrait

Golden Brodie’s history nuggets: #8 POTUS & tigers, Oh My!

Published on by Lucas Pam6 Comments

Born in 1782 and died during the Civil War…Kinderhook, New York was his birthplace… of Dutch decent and the son of a tavern owner…made it through middle school…then studied law and passed the bar…had the nickname of “Red Fox of Kinderhook” because of his red flaming hair…served faithfully in Andrew Jackson’s cabinet…was a senator…had a one term presidency from 1837–1841…his presidency began with financial crisis which he inherited…banks failing…know as the “Panic of 1837″…a real run on bad luck for Martin Van Buren…aka Red Fox…8th President of the United States.

Tiger cubs in the wild
Tiger cubs in the wild

No dog paws in the Red Fox White House but Van Buren was given a pair of tiger cubs by the Sultan of Oman…the cubs stayed with Red for a short period of time and then off to the zoo they went.  Bet they were beauties…

Golden Brodie the Golden Retriever…digger of history nuggets… signing off…over and out…

 

 

Andrew Jackson on his horse Sam Patch

Golden Brodie digs up unusual stuff on #7

Published on by Lucas Pam3 Comments

Do you know who #7 was?  Hint:  Initials AJ…yes, you got it…Andrew Jackson.  His history is loaded with goodie dog treats… with factoids that will raise your awareness of this man who was loved by many, yet a very controversial figure.  Like this…

Jackson’s parents emigrated from Ireland…Jackson killed a man in a duel and carried a bullet in his body as a result of this stand-off…”Old Hickory” won the popular vote for president three times…He was the target of the first attempted presidential assassination…He adopted two Native American boys…and much more…”Old Hickory stabled his steady stead at the White House…Sam Patch…a white stallion that he rode during the War of 1812…AJ also had a racehorse, Truxton and an African grey parrot named Poll…who cussed like a sailor, offending many guests.

Golden interesting…

John Quincy Adams first president to be photographed

Golden Brodie fetches a gator and silks on #6

Published on by Lucas Pam4 Comments

#6…John Quincy Adams born 1767…first son of a former president to become POTUS…first president photographed… born in Braintree, Massachusetts…Harvard grad… traveled abroad assisting his father…who was a founding father… outstanding multilingual talents…Q spoke English,French and Russian fluently and got by with Greek, Italian and Spanish.  John Q’s life had him as a young boy witnessing the Revolutionary War practically in his MA backyard…he knew Thomas Jefferson well and hung out with Benjamin Franklin’s grandchildren…in his father’s footsteps…he dedicated his life to public service…architect of the Monroe Doctrine…after his presidency he served as U.S. Representative from Massachusetts in 1830, serving for the last 17 years of his life with greater acclaim than he had achieved as president.

Best golden digs…Q did not have a dog while in the White House…he did however, have an alligator gifted to him from the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette’s family.  In the absence of social media then…ha!… we don’t know how the lovely first lady Abigail Adams felt about the reptile…but the toothy jawed creature lived in a bathtub in the East Wing…constantly shocking people with its mere image…eventually finding a new home (unknown location.)  Abigail also raised silk-worms and the silks contributed in the making of her dresses.  How about that?!  Gator and silks…

Young alligator in the reeds
Alligator in the reeds…not in a bathtub
A silkworm eating a Mulberry leaf
Silkworm eating to make a dress
Standing statue of James Monroe

Brodie’s history nuggets about #5

Published on by Lucas Pam11 Comments

5th President of the United States…James Monroe…born in Virginia…graduate of the College of William and Mary…was instrumental and in the room as one of the founding fathers…there are so many “the only or the first to” regarding his presidency that my golden-self had to take a treat and grab a slurp of water. Example…Monroe was the first president to wear long pants…bye bye knee breeches…his daughter was the first bride in the White House…first president to ride in a steamboat and the last to wear a wig.  Man he was out there!

His contributions to the development of the United States were monumental.

Here’s the golden part.  He had sheep dogs and a black spaniel that enjoyed living in the White House.

Fireworks on the night sky
Fireworks on the night sky

This is amazing… this little nugget tugs at my patriotic heart…three of the first five U.S. Presidents died on the 4th of July… John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died in 1826 within hours of each other, while James Monroe, #5, died five years later in 1831 as the fireworks and celebration of our independence  rang through the skies and the streets. Golden amazing…Thanks be to these great men.

 

French Briard Sheep Dog

Brodie digs #3…Thomas Jefferson and his Buzzy

Published on by Lucas Pam12 Comments

# 3 President of the USA…TJ…Thomas Jefferson…the renaissance man…true author of the Declaration of Independence…visionary of the manifest destiny of the coming United States of America…and who knew…there’s a dog in there…yeah…the French Briard Sheep Dog.

Big paws up TJ… After being introduced to the Briard breed while in France… Thomas walked the streets of La Havre to find a Briard ready to whelp…purchased her… naming her Buzzy.  Buzzy gave birth to two pups in the middle of their Atlantic crossing and there you have the beginnings of this beautiful, intelligent, fierce protector and strong french breed working dog introduced into America.

P.S. TJ also tried to rid his dogs of fleas through a flea prevention…infusion of bitter almonds into their daily diet of barley soaked in milk.  Those darn fleas!

President John Adams

Brodie digs #2…John Adams

Published on by Lucas Pam1 Comment

Good digs…Our first vice president became the second president of the United States…John Adams was also the first president to live in the White House…he had the first White House stables built…and his dogs…Satan and Juno were the first pups to run on the new White House lawn.  Lots of firsts with #2!  President Adams was dedicated not only to serving his people…but to caring for his animals.  Paws Up for John Adams.

 

 

Golden Brodie in the human bed

Uncomplicated thoughts: Tuesday Monday Morning

Published on by Lucas Pam7 Comments

Feels like Monday this Tuesday morning.

Golden Brodie in the human bed
Golden Brodie in the human bed
Oil painting of a hound

Brodie discovers a true dog and horse lover- #1

Published on by Lucas Pam2 Comments

So…here comes President’s Day and of course, my golden retriever research has taken me to a spot in history that celebrates not just #1…but the fact that George Washington loved dogs and horses.

Painting of George Washington in battle uniform sitting his saddle on the back of his horse "Old Blueskin"
Painting of George Washington on the back of Old Blueskin

His favorite horse was Nelson, a chestnut with a white blaze…a steady stead…unflappable during Revolutionary War gunfire.  Then there was Old Blueskin who was a high-handed gray…oh you know Blueskin…you’ve seen very famous paintings of “The Father of Our Nation” on the back of the gray.

#1, loved dogs so much… after loosing a hard fought battle to the British…his aide-to-camp, Alexander Hamilton brought him a small dog found on the battlefield.  The dog wore a collar showing General Howe as the owner…the owner who had just defeated the fighting Americans.  George…with haste…hand wrote a note to Howe and sent it along with the dog…safely returning the four-legged friend to the victor.  What a golden guy!!!

Still more dog love…well GW raised hounds and it is thought that he perfected the breed of the American Hound.

My dog paws are celebrating President’s Day by reading on about GW and his love for our country…and his animals. Golden wishes to you.

"Trench Art" handmade gift of wire sent home from a soldier in WWII trenches

Brodie’s golden heart melts over “trench art”

Published on by Lucas Pam14 Comments

Here comes the heart day…the day we give and receive the loving cards…handmade and bought…here we give and receive flowers and jewelry…and you name it in a box wrapped with a crisp red bow…

Your passion for love and gift giving would appreciate knowing that during World War II, our brave soldiers…given where they were serving in either the European Theatre or the Pacific War often found themselves where “Lack of materials on the battlefront often forced servicemen to use wire, mother-of-pearl, wood and inexpensive metals to fashion gifts. The engraved personalized messages, military insignia, locations and dates on these specific pieces illuminate the bonds between home and abroad”.  The creative hearts…the longing hearts for home…the suffering hearts for a grateful nation…think about these creative gifts and the hands that fashioned them…how they were so much more than just a present…true gifts from the heart…forever treasured.

I love history…it’s golden.

 

The phrase: Heads or Tails?

Brodie barks on the coin toss

Published on by Lucas Pam11 Comments

The Super Bowl…one of the super star icons of the United States of America…a defining day where hard-fought football…played for over 4 months…teams from sea to shining sea faced off and moved up the football madness to this day…Super Bowl 51..

As a golden retriever…I can tell you that this day is a record breaker for food…human food that normally NEVER touches my dog lips…I’m talking pieces of chicken wings…a bit of a hot dog…oh don’t get me started…and then there are the many delicacies prepared with loving football lover hands…I can’t wait for the coin toss.

Speaking of the coin toss…did you know that the physics of the toss has been studied…you know the probability…of course you did..but let me put this in front of you today….you gotta look at this if you care about your team...seems though…the NFL has it down regarding fairness.  Bring on the wings and things!!….and look for a possible golden retriever to show up in one of the million dollar plus commercials.  I’m just saying 🙂

Here are the broad strokes of the physics of going flipping:

  1. If the coin is tossed and caught, it has about a 51% chance of landing on the same face it was launched. (If it starts out as heads, there’s a 51% chance it will end as heads).
  2. If the coin is spun, rather than tossed, it can have a much-larger-than-50% chance of ending with the heavier side down. Spun coins can exhibit “huge bias” (some spun coins will fall tails-up 80% of the time).
  3. If the coin is tossed and allowed to clatter to the floor, this probably adds randomness.
  4. If the coin is tossed and allowed to clatter to the floor where it spins, as will sometimes happen, the above spinning bias probably comes into play.
  5. A coin will land on its edge around 1 in 6000 throws, creating a flipistic singularity.
  6. The same initial coin-flipping conditions produce the same coin flip result. That is, there’s a certain amount of determinism to the coin flip.
  7. A more robust coin toss (more revolutions) decreases the bias.