Chuck is our “English Cream” Golden Retriever. He joined our family in January of 2022, and our life has not been the same since. Chuck succeeded my two Havaneses, who were the most loving, loyal, and gentle dogs ever, but only to me. The kids wanted a “real dog”, I needed “fluffy with floppy ears” and Doug demanded “no doodles” – so we did the Golden Retriever thing. He has been a LOT of work.
We brought him home when he was eight weeks old. (A bit young in my opinion). We were told to feed him a “raw” diet, and that lasted about two months before we were thoroughly disgusted and switched him to some overpriced kibble. (And now I even augment that with homemade food which is kinda embarrassing, but oh well.) In the early months, Chuck was up three times a night to potty and cuddle, so basically similar to a new baby. He also appeared to have descended from a shark as his razor-like teeth tore through my arms and hands. (Note: it was, and still is only mommy that experiences the full wrath of Chuck.)
For the first year, we took Chuck everywhere with us, which probably fostered his co-dependency. We went to football games, baseball games, the park, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Nevada. At 1.5 years old, Chuck has visited more places than most.
Chuck is 72-pounds and hopefully full grown. He is a lap dog, a love bug, and my permanent shadow. He helps me in the garden (digging up my blueberry bushes and potted plants), at work (pawing at my laptop), and in the kitchen (by keeping my feet warm and cleaning up anything that hits the ground, like instantly). He is pretty smart too, and manipulative. Certainly a bigger presence than my previous dogs, although I’m not sure that is a good thing. It is like having a permanent toddler, with fur.