My Love of Golden Retrievers

My love of Golden Retrievers all started in about 35 years ago . That is when I purchased my first golden boy, Rusty.He was a very light colored golden. Two years later we decided to get a female and start breeding, so we bought Tara. She was a very dark golden, almost red.Tara had a litter of puppies, 12 females and 1 male. After the puppies were born we dicovered, both Rusty and Tara had seizures, so we didn't breed her again, because it can be passed on through their genes.We kept 2 of the pups, Casey and Amber. Amber also had seizures, but Casey never did. The vet told us it was common in some breeds, but it wasn't life threatning and could be controlled with medication. It did not effect there life span, both Tara and Rusty gave us 16 years of love and companionship. Casey lived to be 13 years old, his hips gave out and poor little Amber got out one day and was hit by a car.
After all my babies were gone, I never thought I could go through that pain again, but a few years later we heard of a woman who was getting rid of her golden puppy, because he didn't get along with her cats. and that is when I found the love of my life. His name was Alex. He was a dark golden like Tara. Alex was the most awesome dog ever. I say dog, but he was more like a child to me. He was very intelligent and very athletic and loved playing ball. We decided to get him a companion(but not for breeding purposes). That is when I adopted Abbey . She was an English breed golden, very light gold with thicker hair. The people I got her from showed their goldens and they said she wasn't show quality.She was a small stocky little girl.It doesn't end there, I adopted another golden from some people who were going to take him to a shelter.His name is Goldberg. He is a medium gold color.
One morning I was awakened by an aweful sound. My Alex had a siezure. He was about 11 years old. This time it was more than just a seizure.Alex had a brain tumor. I decided to have radiation done on him, which was not a good decision. He lived an extra 18 months, but not a good quality of life.He also developed a tumor on his foot and that is when I had to make the hardest decsion of my life. I cried everyday for almost 6 months . My family was tired of my sorrow , so they talked me into getting another puppy, so now the baby of the family is Adin.I must say even though I love him, he runs a close race to Marley(the worst dog in the world.) He is not very affectionate and hates to be groomed. Just recently, my little Abbey passed away with cancer. She passed on her own May 26, 2011. She would have been 15 in Aug. Now it is just Goldberg  (who is about12) and my bad boy Adin, who will be 4 in Oct.
I wrote this blog im memory of all my goldens who have went on to " Rainbow Bridge" and despite some medical issues with the breed. It was worth it for all the love I experienced with each and every one.