How Many Of You Have Golden Retrievers?

Lounge By MavericksMommy Updated 24 Feb 2013 , 6:53am by peppercorns

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MavericksMommy Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 2:49am
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I've chatted with several of you on here that have golden retrievers and it was suggested that a thread be started that was about Golden Retrievers, so here it is! Maverick is of course my furbaby. He is about 3 and was on death row at a humane society after being found as a stray before he was rescued by GRREAT, the golden retriever rescue group I got him from. The humane society adoped him out twice before sentencing him, once he was returned in a day, the other in 4 hours. I think it's because he was a young golden with lots of energy and no obedience (and because he was looking for my husband and I of course).
So now that you know a bit about Maverick, tell me about yours!

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Fairytale Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 3:29am
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Morgan and Chewey are 2 and 3 years old. VERY SPOILED!! We take them to the doggie bakery for treats. They have every STRUDY doggie toy ever made, sleep with me and my husband, and walk around crying when my husband goes away on business trips. TheY get UP on the furniture, have no manners, follow you EVERYWHERE, every minute, and are sooooooo affectionate. I wouldn't have it any other way.

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NEWTODECORATING Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 3:33am
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I was with my fur baby when he was born. He was a beautiful baby of an abandoned mother. She was in horriable condition when she came into the hosp I worked in. She had been found in a ditch, hit by a car and a kind family found her and brought her in. I cleaned her up, she had more problems than I should go into here. I wasn't sure she would live through the night, but the next morning somehow she managed the strength to give birth to 7 beautiful golden puppies. I adopted my 4 legged son and she was given a forever home with the vet. This July 19 will be 15 years we have been together. I can't imagine my life without him. We have been through alot together and he has always been there to lend a furry ear. I will see if I can upload a pic of him.

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NEWTODECORATING Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 3:47am
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I can't post a pic.

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m0use Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 2:17pm
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My in-laws dog is part golden and part springer spaniel. She is such a good dog with my son, they've been together since she was a puppy and he at least 2 years old. They play together like they are a brother and sister, she will swing her butt around to bonk him when they are wrestling together. She is also protective of him and has been known to get out of her collar and leash if she is on a walk to put herself between him and any strange dog that is barking and growling at him. She has been one of the best things for him since he doesn't have any other siblings.

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cindy6250 Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 4:17pm
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Ok, this is one thread I cannot resist!! My baby, Sally,(see my avatar) is 12 years old. I've had her since she was a puppy. A coworker's wife found her in the street when she was about 3 months old. I brought her home and she has been the BEST dog ever. I had a male too, Gus, and he was a big baby. I was crazy for him too, but had to put him down last year, he had cancer. I think that was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.

Sally is so spoiled, she will not go outside at night to use the bathroom unless I go with her. She carries her stuffed animals around in her mouth and moans if I go into the back of the house and she can't find me right away. She is 93 lbs of pure LOVE! I think the only real competition I have for her attention is a big bowl of food or a chewy... She does love to eat.

I don't know if I could ever have any other breed of dog after spending 12 years with the smartest and most affectionate dogs in the world!!

Cindy

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leily Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 4:52pm
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ok, i can't resist either! I currently dont' have a dog b/c my BF and I rent a place where we cant' have animals.... but my parents have goldens and they are family too!-so I still call them mine.

Between my parents and I we have had 5 golden retrievers (i had mine when I lived at home with them) The first one my dad got locally from a breeder who was going to stop breeding and was selling of some of the younger ones they had. Nikki, she was in my avatar up until last week, and i'm sure she will be again soon. She had a tumor when we got her, but it never grew and wasn't dangerous to her health. We had her for 11 years and had to put her to sleep last spring. At that same time we had to put another golden to sleep, Brittany, we had gotten her through loveagolden rescue, based in the st.louis area. We had her for a couple of years before she was diagnosed with kidney failure. (That was a horrible horrible day)

Before Brittany we had adopted my baby girl, Amber, from a local college that took in strays and animals from kill shelters for their vet program, then they adopted them out once they were healthy and ready for their forever home. Amber was estimated to be about 10-11 years old, but no one was for sure b/c she was found as a stray out in the country. She started having seizures and major arthitus and became very restless b/c I was not at home as much as I used to be. There was not a lot we could do to relieve her pain and decided it was in her best interest to put her down. (ok, so I still get tears in my eyes when i think about that)

So then last summer after we had to put down Nikki and Brittany at the same time. My parents adopted two more goldens from www.loveagolden.com Maple and Victoria. Maple we were told was hit by a car when she was a pup and had a bad leg. (we sure didn't care, we still loved her) Victoria had been in a nursing home and was turned in b/c the residents wouldn't stop feeding her. This was causing her to be overweight and in turn was causing her to have seizures.

Victoria is currently at her goal weight (she has lost 50 pounds since she has been with my parents!) She has only had 1 week with seizures and her medication was corrected b/c of her weightloss and she has been doing well ever since.

However... Maple we found out the last week of December had Bone cancer. Evidently that is what she had all along, and our vet believes the car accident was just a story. We did not realize she had bone cancer for that long b/c we had a hard time getting her x-rays from her former vets. So by the time we found out it was to late. We had to put her to sleep the second week of january on my dad's birthday. She is greatly missed!

Ok, so now that I have gone through all the emotions of loosing these girls, loving them, and etc.. (i know you all know what I mean)

I wouldn't change having all of them for the world. I am just glad we were able to give them all a good home whether it was for 10 months or 10 years they are all a part of our family. The hardest part though was having to put three of them to sleep in less than a year. That has taken a huge toll on all of us.

But... I will still own another golden!

P.S. Sorry for the book, goldens are close to my heart

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cakesbyjess Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 6:58pm
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My husband and I have a sweet golden boy named Tucker ... he's 7 years old and we've had him since he was 8 weeks old. He weighs about 90 pounds. Fortunately, he is not overweight, but just a big bruiser. We knew he was going to be huge when we saw his big floppy puppy paws. icon_smile.gif He is the love of our lives. icon_smile.gif

My parents also have a golden ... Molly, who is 8. I got her when she was a puppy, and the first time my dad laid eyes on her, it was love at first sight. So, she was my gift to them and then my husband (then boyfriend) got Tucker not too long after that. Molly has a bit of a weight problem, unfortunately (that's what happens when Grandma lives with you for almost a year ... she likes to give table scraps to Molly - her "granddog" icon_smile.gif - , even though she's asked not to!!!). She also has bad hip dysplasia. It breaks my heart to see her struggle to stand up after laying down. My parents are trying to help her shed a few pounds, as this will cause less stress on her hips. Rimadyl is a miracle drug, in my opinion!!

I think Goldens are amazing, beautiful dogs. What a wonderful breed.

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MavericksMommy Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 7:01pm
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You all have or have had such precious goldens. (of course I haven't heard of anyone having anything but a precious golden- LOL!) I smiled at your stories and cried at your losses.
My family's first golden, Alex was lost to cancer 4 years ago. I lost my golden, Marilla 3 years ago on August 31. She was truly a one of a kind. She and I could speak without words and knew each other better then we knew ourselves. She had been diagnosed with lymphoma 1 1/2 years before (and had 3 miraculous remissions without any cancer treatments-the doctors were stumped but I knew it was because of prayer), then blew out the tendons in her ankle on her front paw 6 months before I lost her due to 3 vets misdiagnosed a complete digestive blockage. The night before she died, she let me know that I should marry my now husband, and I belive she somehow sent me Maverick. He is like her in so many ways, but is also his own fur-person. Sometimes he does things that are really earily things only Marilla has done. Since he was found as a stray, I don't know the exact day when he was born, but when I adopted him at 2 years old, they estimated him to be born at the same time I lost my precious Marilla. That's another reason I think she sent him. I could go on and on about the wonderful I've had in my life. But, I'd like to hear more about yours!

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NEWTODECORATING Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 7:38pm
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MavericksMommy how did you resize your pic for your avatar? I can shrink it with no problem but can't seem to get below the 6KB required

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Fairytale Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 7:48pm
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I LOVE THIS TOPIC AND ALL THE GREAT POSTS!! Wish I could see pictures of all your sweet family members. I got both Chewey and Morgan when they were 8 weeks old. As I said earlier, their now 2 and 3. Can't imagine life before them. In order to get Chewey, the breeder made us fill out a 2 page adoption application, make several visits, and then she picked out the best match for us. AND HE'S PEFECT! I'm trying to talk my DH into letting us get a 3rd golden. Wish me luck.LOL.

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bluehen92 Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 7:56pm
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I don't have a Golden but I love all of your stories. Thank you for sharing icon_smile.gif

-Lisa

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justducky Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 8:30pm
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I have two golden boys. Magic and Lucky. Magic is the dad and lucky his son. We just lost his Mom a few months ago. We call them our golden retards because they are so goofy and wonderful. They have nice feather duvets on the floor near my bed, but many nights I will hear a thump, go into my sons room and the dog has taken over the bed. (and they kids let them!) We also foster for out local animal shelter. Lucky and Magic are the best teachers. We have yet to have a guest in that our dogs have not been able to get trained to go to a new family.
How lucky we all are!!

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m0use Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 9:19pm
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These are wonderful stories!
When my son spends the night at m in-laws Suzie sleeps out in the hall right outside of the door of the room he sleeps in, but if he's not there she will sleep in my in-laws bedroom on the floor next to my FIL.
(The dogs are not allowed in the beds at their house.)
My hubby's brother and his wife have a golden retriever and lab mix name Tank. He's huge, and he's such a big dope. He's so funny when he walks around looking for attention, he'll step on your toes and not even realize but man oh man does it hurt. When he comes down to stay with my in-laws when my BIL and SIL go on vacation he has to be watched when he goes outside otherwise he will take off because he misses my SIL so much. icon_rolleyes.gif

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MavericksMommy Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 11:48pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NEWTODECORATING

MavericksMommy how did you resize your pic for your avatar? I can shrink it with no problem but can't seem to get below the 6KB required




I put Maverick as my avitar about a year ago, let me think....
I think I had to compress it using the software that came with my camera until it met the requirements. I think I also went by how many pixels by how many pixels that they said it had to be under and that got me to where I needed to be.

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MavericksMommy Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 11:55pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m0use

He's huge, and he's such a big dope. He's so funny when he walks around looking for attention, he'll step on your toes and not even realize but man oh man does it hurt. When he comes down to stay with my in-laws when my BIL and SIL go on vacation he has to be watched when he goes outside otherwise he will take off because he misses my SIL so much. icon_rolleyes.gif




m0use- That is so funny, Every golden I've had stands on your feet and doesn't know they're doing it too! The two goldens that I've personally had also don't seem to know that they have a back end- they have knocked things off of tables and then look surprised when they see you scrabling to pick something they've knocked (like a soda)onto the floor- the look Maverick gives is- How did that happen? Boy you're clumsy!
As for running away, Maverick also will do this if he's gets loose outside- the good part about it is that he's also a sucker for a car ride! All you have to do is push the car alarm/door opener so he hears the beeps and he does a 180 and runs to the car- then jumps in for the fun! He's so gullible! We do take him on a short car ride every few times he does this so he won't catch on too soon!

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MavericksMommy Posted 20 Feb 2007 , 11:57pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluehen92

I don't have a Golden but I love all of your stories. Thank you for sharing icon_smile.gif

-Lisa




Another Delawarian! Hello! It's always neat to see someone else from our tiny state!

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justducky Posted 21 Feb 2007 , 2:21am
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Talk about not knowing their backends. I had a candle on the coffee table. 1 Jar candle + 1 Fluffy tail= oh crap!! I caught him quickly, but now all candles go up high!!!!

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m0use Posted 21 Feb 2007 , 5:05pm
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LOL- I know about the back-end thing. Well, my in-laws are babysitting Tank this week, I dropped my son off this morning and he was so funny. My son was like "oh no tank is here, he's going to start trouble". In the meantine Tank is so happy that someone is here to see HIM that his tail is swinging back and forth so hard his butt's swinging and he's knocking a laundry basket over that happens to be on the floor.
The only problem I have with them is the shedding...of course it wouldn't be so bad at my MIL's if she would brush the dog daily. icon_mad.gif

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MavericksMommy Posted 21 Feb 2007 , 11:31pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m0use

LOL- I know about the back-end thing. Well, my in-laws are babysitting Tank this week, I dropped my son off this morning and he was so funny. My son was like "oh no tank is here, he's going to start trouble". In the meantine Tank is so happy that someone is here to see HIM that his tail is swinging back and forth so hard his butt's swinging and he's knocking a laundry basket over that happens to be on the floor.
The only problem I have with them is the shedding...of course it wouldn't be so bad at my MIL's if she would brush the dog daily. icon_mad.gif




m0use- that is too funny about Tank! They always think everyone is there to see them don't they?
I agree about the shedding-with some goldens. Our first golden, Alex, had fur like a sheep and shed in clumps-all year. You could have knit a sweater a month from the fluffy fur that came from him. My other, Marilla and now Maverick don't shed all that much in comparison. Yes, he fills up the vacume cleaner every week, but I know how much worse it can be! Whenever I look down at my clothes though I think how much he loves me because he wants me to take some of him with me every day!

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bluehen92 Posted 22 Feb 2007 , 12:17am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MavericksMommy

Another Delawarian! Hello! It's always neat to see someone else from our tiny state!




Hi there! I do get excited when I see someone from Delaware on a message board/forum because it doesn't happen very often. The really odd thing is that when we lived in Idaho, we kept meeting people from DE icon_lol.gif

-Lisa

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christyA Posted 22 Feb 2007 , 2:26pm
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We have a 6yo golden named "Ma Petite Amie" or Amie for short. Ma Petite Amie is French for "my little friend". I got her from a breeder in North Carolina. I flew from KS to NC to get her when she was 8 weeks old and she barely fit in the carrier then! Now, she's about 80 pounds and a lot bigger than I had expected. But she's the sweetest dog and not a mean bone in her body. She loves her treats and my preschoolers love to give her table scraps too.

She loves to go for car rides and loves to go to the lake. We have a dog area at the local park with an area of the lake for the dogs to go swimming. We throw a retriever dummy out in the lake and she swims out to get it. She just cries and cries when she realizes we're going to the lake! icon_lol.gif

Amie sheds something horrible too. It's everywhere! I always have hair on my pants! I have to keep her out of the kitchen when I'm doing my cakes, which is hard because she wants to be where I am. I just put up a barricade at the top of the stairs and she lays at the bottom of the stairs and waits for the opportunity to get closer to me!

Thanks for letting me share about my first baby!

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m0use Posted 22 Feb 2007 , 8:20pm
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My manager has 2 retrievers and she says they shed so much. She bought the Animal Dyson and said it works great, it gets every last bit of hair.
LOL- retrievers do think that everyone is there to see them. My in-law's dog Susie always comes up to me to pet her when I first walk in the door, she won't leave my side until I pet her for a little bit, then she's fine and goes on her merry way.

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cakesbyjess Posted 22 Feb 2007 , 8:47pm
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OMG ... we have the animal Dyson, too, and it is just AMAZING. Worth every penny. Blows away any other vacuum I've ever used!!! I highly recommend it if you're in the market for a vacuum!!!

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MavericksMommy Posted 24 Feb 2007 , 9:37pm
post #25 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluehen92

Quote:
Originally Posted by MavericksMommy

Another Delawarian! Hello! It's always neat to see someone else from our tiny state!



Hi there! I do get excited when I see someone from Delaware on a message board/forum because it doesn't happen very often. The really odd thing is that when we lived in Idaho, we kept meeting people from DE icon_lol.gif

-Lisa




I know what you mean, my husband and I were on a cruise in late November and we met someone on the plane ride back that was not only from Delaware, but our hometown! In fact, I sat next to them on the plane! Sometimes you realize how small the world is!

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MavericksMommy Posted 24 Feb 2007 , 9:39pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesbyjess

OMG ... we have the animal Dyson, too, and it is just AMAZING. Worth every penny. Blows away any other vacuum I've ever used!!! I highly recommend it if you're in the market for a vacuum!!!




Thanks cakesbyjess (and m0use), I've seen them on tv but always wondered if they were really all that much better. I have a dirt devil now with a hepa filter and it gets up lots of fur. I think when it finally dies I'll have to look into an animal dyson-I hope they will still be carrying them then!

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NEWTODECORATING Posted 4 Mar 2007 , 12:05am
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YEAH DOUG!!! He helped me upload my new avatar. It is my 14 year old golden SHAQ. He does alot of pro-mo work for the vet hospital I work for. I don't think I will ever own another golden. He has me so spoiled, no one else could compare!

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cakesbyjess Posted 4 Mar 2007 , 7:27am
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NEWTODECORATING ... I LOVE your new avatar!!! So cute!! thumbs_up.gificon_biggrin.gif

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crustdust Posted 23 Feb 2013 , 11:16pm
post #29 of 30

AWe have 6 Golden :)

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peppercorns Posted 24 Feb 2013 , 6:53am
post #30 of 30

Oh, I love dogs, any kind, color, size etc. Last Dec 2012, I rescued a starving  6 week old black lab mix, after a few trips to the vet, all he needs do to is eat and be a proper puppy again. He is now good as new and spoiled.thumbs_up.gif

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