Our Golden Story

Billy and I brought our first Golden home during our first year of married life.  Billy never had a dog growing up and he always wanted one.  A big yellow dog. We thought that we would get a yellow Labrador Retriever, but after meeting our friends' Golden, we decided that a Golden Retriever would be the perfect dog for us.   As soon as we purchased our first house, we began the search for a Golden and we found a breeder in NJ.  Our first Golden puppy, Bogey, made us fall in love with the breed.

He was there as we welcomed all three of our baby boys into our family.  All of the dog books told us how wonderful Goldens are with children and Bogey did not disappoint.  He was gentle and fun and always ready for any adventure.

Kyle and Bogey

When he passed away suddenly at age 8, we were devastated.  We learned the pain that comes along with loving this breed, which is plagued with cancer.  Sadly, death at age 8 isn't really all that rare in Goldens.  However, we decided that our family just didn't feel complete without a dog in it.  So, we set out to bring home another.  Forrest, who is named after Forrest Gump and lovingly called "Gumpy" in our house, joined our family when our youngest boy was just 6 months old.  Our parents thought we were insane.  Three active boys, one of which was an infant, and now a new puppy.  To us, there was no other choice.

Forrest, 8 weeks, and Matty, 6 months

But, Forrest was up for the task.  He didn't complain when he had to spend time in his cage because we had a new crawler and his razor sharp puppy teeth were dangerous for a baby.  He loved these boys something fierce from day one.  They were his pack.

He has taught our boys about unconditional love and compassion.  He has taught them about responsibility and joy.  

When Forrest got sick at just five years of age, we couldn't believe we could be saying goodbye to yet another young dog.  The vet told us that he had cancer, hemangiosarcoma, and that he probably wouldn't survive through the night.  His heart was filled with fluid, likely from a ruptured tumor.  They could try to drain the fluid, but chances are, his heart would fill back up.  Despite the high cost, we asked them to drain the fluid.  We came home and tried to be strong for our boys. We all returned to the animal hospital to pick up our Gumpy and bring him home after the procedure.  He survived through the night.  Christmas was 2 weeks away and we were in the middle of renovating our family room.  We took Gumpy everywhere with us.  He came to the stone yard to pick out our hearth.  We snuck him into my mom's condo, that didn't allow dogs, on Christmas.  I cooked him scrambled eggs for breakfast and chicken and rice for dinner.  We spoiled him rotten.  And aside from the part of his fur that they had shaved to drain his heart, you wouldn't know there was a thing wrong with him.  He ran around with the kids.  We spent a large amount of time researching his condition.  We learned that there was a small chance that this fluid build-up could be idiopathic (no known cause) rather than cancerous.  As he got stronger each day, we prayed that would be the case.  We welcomed Keeper, another Golden, into our family.  Her name represents what we hoped she would be for our family if we lost Forrest, a keeper of our hearts.  

We celebrated Forrest's 8th birthday this past year.  His heart has filled with fluid twice more.  Both times, we recognized the symptoms (lack of appetite and white gums) immediately and brought him in to have the fluid drained.  We have consulted with a heart surgeon who was willing to do surgery to remove the sac that surrounds Forrest's heart, but he told us that there was a 50/50 chance the surgery wouldn't help at all, and in fact the surgery and recovery would be very tough on him.  We were so grateful to have found such a compassionate vet who wasn't just concerned with making money from a very expensive surgery.  We opted not to have the surgery and to continue being vigilant about his health.

We never leave Gumpy to go on vacation.  Billy and I know him so well that we can spot when something might be wrong right away and get him to the animal hospital to get checked out.  We are fortunate that he can come away to Upstate NY with us.  Our kids understand this and, although they might be missing out on that trip to Disney, they are learning what it is to be responsible pet owners and what is is to put another's needs first.  They all agree that Forrest is worth it.

While we were in Upstate NY this summer, we had to take Forrest to a local vet for an ear infection.  When the vet commented on what a healthy dog he is, Billy told him our story.  He was amazed at all Forrest had been through.  We were reminded, yet again, how lucky we are.   

I know we are a bit extreme about our dogs.  We really do consider them our 4th and 5th kids. Goldens (and lots of other types of dogs, purebred or not) just have a way of getting into your heart. We have learned a lot about the breed over the years.  If you have any questions about Goldens, please feel free to e-mail me and I would be happy to tell you more.