I have three dogs and they are a handful. This is my first & last time of taking on 3 dogs, its alot of work trying to clean after 3 dogs both inside and outside.
We had a 13 yr old golden retriever we lost 2 yrs agp due to old age. His name was Willy and he was a cracker jack, everyone simply loved Willy. This guy drew people to him like a magnet. He went everywhere with my husband and I. He was just an incredible boy. He was a big boy and his top end weight was 137. I gave him my husbands middle name, Lee, so if he got in trouble with me it was Willy Lee. He was scared to death of my fly swatter. I can probably count on one hand how many times he ever got swatted. We spent alot of weekends at the lake and of course he was right there in the middle of it. He learned to ride the Sea Doo with my husband or my son. In fact when we said you want to go for a ride be beat us down to the water edge and would be standing on his hind legs propped up against the Sea Doo waiting. He thought the Sea Doo was his. This was a big 3 seater that topped out at 52 on the water and he loved it, those ears just a flapping in the wind, not a care in the world. He was also a big swimmer. He had his own thick foam float to lay on. He & I would get on our floats and just float around the pool. He also like to to be pulled on his floaty around the pool. My husband could hold him in the pool and tell him to relax and he would go limp as a noodle, he never tensed up, he just mellowed out. Losing him was so hard for my husband & I, we both still cry to this day. In fact my husband just rented Marley and Me and only lasted half way thru said all he did was cry thinking of Willy. He never finished the movie.
That left us with Jake, my golden retriever. I say my, because he was abused and I think by a man and he really did not want much to do with my husband. A neighbor boy brought him to our door thinking he was ours. Well, husband thinks its the neighbors dog so he said just leave him with me and I will take him home when they get in from work. So, he thought he would let Willy & Jake play together. Willy always met at the door when I came home from work. Well, this day no Willy and it scared me, cause he was not sitting at the wrought iron double gates looking out. I walk out back and there is this dog in my pool that cannot swim worth a hoot andh he is panicking and so I go yell for the husband to come help get this pooch out of the pool I figure Willy knocked him in or he slipped and went in. Either way, Jake swims like a rock, I have tried and tried to teach him to swim. As it turned out no, it was not the neighbors dog, wrong color. So, that how I got Jake. No ads in the paper for him, no signs up nothing. Well, I take Jake boy to vet who guesses him to be about 2 yrs old. He had heart worms, he had whip worms but looked healthy as a horse and he had been a street boy for awhile cause his toe nails were ground short from running on concrete. So, I get the vet to dr my little fella and oh, let me tell you, heart worms are so hard the treatment is and sometimes can kill a dog, especially if they are older. Since Jake was young it was best to treat him. He had to stay with the vet for 8 days and it was awful. Our vet finally made me stay away until Jake was ready to come home because Jake was real weak from the medicine and it upset me to no end seeing him in that shape. I got him home finally and the next day he started having breathing problems, I am on the phone hysterical and crying so back to vet we go. All he needed per the vet was a shot of steroid for the inflammation in his lungs and to lay on the couch for a couple of days. He did, I put him a sheet and blanket on the couch and made him a pallet. Jake is now 11 yrs old and the best boy anyone could ever hope for. He is my constant shadow and never leaves the room if I am in it. He is getting a little hard of hearing. He does have arthritis in his hips and legs but he is now on a supplement that has a made all the difference in the world. He walks so close to me if I have on slip on shoes he walks in the back of them. Jakerboy weighs about 75 pounds.
My husband decided Jake needed a friend after losing Willy. After all Willy showed Jake the ropes around here. He was afraid Jake would get depressed. Well, it all sounded good but my husband was so darn depressed he could not stand himself. He lost his buddy. I started getting hints of a new dog. Out of the blue one day he said he wanted another Brittney Spaniel. He had one yrs ago he hunted with. The search began and there was not many. He finally found a litter about 80 miles from here. I overheard him telling the owner about losing Willy and he told the man he just needed something to love. Off he went with the grand baby and his Momma. They came home with a liver & white puppy. He was 11 weeks old and the cutest thing. He named him Britt like the other bird dog. This one turned out to be a cracker jack too. But, my Jake was just too old for this whipper snapper that wanted to play 24/7. So, Jake was brought upstairs alot and he could look thru the slats to see what was going on downstairs. Charley had to build a gate to keep Britt downstairs. He ate everything in this house from woodwork to cell phones. He was introduced to a kennel at night for sleeping or when we left the house. He adapted very well to his kennel and it became his hideaway when he grabbed a steak off the counter, my husbands full breakfast one morning, my pancakes. He is a sneaky little thief that uses his front paws like hands. He can get those paws on something its gone,lol. He loves to tear up grand babys toys if he can find one out. His eyes turned yellow as my husband predicted and he can melt you with them. If I add or take way one thing in this house the minute he walks in he knows it. He also has a fetish for my vacumn sweeper. He has to be inside when I am sweeping. He will sit on the landing steps till I get to those. Then I swap out attachment and the little one with bristles he likes for me to swipe down his back, its a must. I have to do this or he does not stop talking. He is a very smart little guy about 50 pounds. He had also turned into a big baby. Yoy can change the tone of your voice and ruin his day. Those dogs were bred to please and he gets his feelings hurt real easy. He has nothing to do with the big pool, however, he has his own plastic pool that he loves.
Then one morning I am coming down the stairs to hear my husband tell someone on the phone "thats exactly what my wife & I been looking for." So when he gets off the phone, I am like what are we looking for? So, he tells me about this 4 month old golden retriever this lady has free to a good home. The dog has papers from a very good line. The claims she did not know the dog would get so big. Her name is Jazmine, Jazz for short. She was about 30 miles from us so off we wenrt and home with us she came. I figured if we didn't keep her I could get her a really good home. Anything to get her out of a backyard and alone. She was a timid little girl who rode home with my arm wrapped around her. Of course we hit here and the boys are they welcome wagon. She and the boys get along fine. She is the alpha dog and what she says pretty much goes. She is a big marmaduke of a girl. Right now she is weighing 90 pounds and has another year to grow. She has finished off my woodwork, one chair, a hole in the carpet on the landing, front of husbands leather recliner. Anything she can get her mouth on. She takes her big butt and swings it around sending the boys flying like bowling pins. She gets scolded for messing with Jake he is too old for that crap. Its so funny my husband is always telling her she isn't exacly a little ballerina. Oh, she has discovered the top steps of the swimming pool. I imagine she can swim like a little beaver.
Sorry my post is so long but each one of my tribe is unique and cannot be described in one sentence. I think this is a great topic. Susie