Molly with T.C.
I am starting this blog with a tribute to our darling Molly. She was a Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever cross. As you can see, she looked like a black Golden but with a Lab head. She was forever a puppy, never, ever growing up! We called her our little pigpen because if there was mud or mess to get into, Molly found it! She was a very loving puppy (I always refer to our dogs as “puppies”- not related to their age) who probably didn’t get enough attention in her earlier years due to being the “middle child”. Don’t get me wrong, she was loved dearly and given lots of love but she was one of 3 (and later of 4) and was not really as demanding as the others. True to her Retriever heritage, she always had to bring you something when you came home…and would grab whatever was handy…a shoe, a cushion, a dog bed…a piece of paper out of the trash can. And, if you let her, she’d lick you until your skin came off, never tiring of giving love.
Shadow – Brandy – Sara – Molly
She liked to go out and play when we played catch but she very early on stopped trying to catch the balls because with two other Labs, the competition was fierce and she got body slammed a few times! She decided that going after the ball was not for her. I never just threw one ball. Each had their own color but our yellow Lab Sara is a pig and wanted all of them – would literally hold at least two in her mouth at the same time and tried always for a third.
In our family, all the puppies talk. (Well, Mom does the talking for them.) Each has a distinct voice that was created in accordance with their personalities. Each knows the voice associated with each other, as well. Molly spoke with a lisp but she tried very hard to come across in a very scholarly manner and purported to know much about the law and claimed to have several lawyers on speed dial. She would frequently offer assistance to the others if they felt they were not getting their fair share of treats and the like. Of course, when she was racing to kitty bowls of food in the barn and being ahead of the other puppies, cries from behind to save some for them was responded with “possession is 9/10’s of the law” and she wasn’t going to save anything for any of them if she made it there first!
Molly didn’t have a lot of decorum. When we were out feeding horses or whatnot, Molly had no compunction about squatting dead in the path up ahead and go potty. Or, immediately after mucking the back yard – having taken off the latex glove! – Molly would go right over somewhere and create more for pickup. But I would just laugh because it was Molly being Molly.
Now, her name was a bit of a thorn for her. Our first yellow Lab was Cara Elizabeth (Molly was #3 then), our Chocolate Lab (#2 in the mix) was Brandy Katherine, our current yellow Lab (who came in after Cara left us) is Sara Laiea and Molly
was “Molly Mushroom”. She was constantly telling us she should have a prettier name like “Molly Millicent” and was always trying to get us to call her that. Alas, we did not. I called her Mushroom because it just seemed to fit…she was so cute…I know, it doesn’t make sense. It was just something that came to me and stuck.
Molly loved everyone. She was very much a homebody though she did love going for rides in the truck – even though those trips tended to be only to go to the vet or to the groomer! I would take her down our lane to the mailbox sometimes to give her Mom-only time. They go on the leash to the mailbox because of getting near the surface road (people tend to drive very fast on country roads) but coming home, the leash comes off so they can explore smells and the like. Molly didn’t care about exploring. As soon as she was free, she would run as fast as she could back home. And, that was a good thing.
Molly loved to play with our neighbor’s dog, Hanna. The back of Hanna’s property abuts the side rear of ours. Every evening Hanna would wait at the fence for the puppies to come out and they would race back and forth along the fence, barking loudly. All of mine would do it but Molly, I found, was the incentive as, now that she is gone, our other two don’t care that much. Sara immediately runs to the back if I mention “Hanna” but she and Jake
Jake
only run back and forth a few times then get to other things, leaving Hanna alone at the fence. Jake is our Rat Terrier/Jack Russel cross.
Any more, Hanna hangs back quite a bit and rarely comes to the fence to play, as if she is waiting to see Molly. I think that is sad.
Molly was a sweet and faithful friend. There will never be another like her and we will miss her forever. We were blessed to have her and know that her passing released her body from the debilitation’s that came on rapidly at the end. We know that she is running and playing in Heaven with her buddies and who knows? She just may be up there playing catch and doing some body-slamming of her own! God bless you, Molly Mushroom.