# Is your senior golden still playful?



## Buffy & Abby's Mom (Nov 27, 2005)

She looks so youthful and happy there! She sounds like such a great dog. I'm so sorry that you no longer have this joy in your life. These stories always make me extremely sad.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

My dear departed Arby was my "Let's go Girl". She would watch which shoes I put on to know if she was going to have a fun day or not. Work shoes meant ...go take a nap, the shoe that would start her jumping up and down, spinning in circles, and barking were my hiking boots, sneakers, sandels (meant ride in the boat) and cross country ski boots. I remember after she was diagnosed with lymphoma and was pretty weak and I knew I was spending my last few days with her I decided to take her for a short walk in the woods. Her ear still perked up and her eyes still sparkled when I put on my hiking boots. She had to take a lot of rest breaks (mostly mandated by me) on our walk but she was in her element and insisted on venturing off the trail as she always did and wade in the stream. A short two days later she crossed the rainbow bridge but I will hold that short hike in my heart forever.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

What a great picture.... Lexie's Mom has almost that same picture of her Rottie, Hooch....


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

I meant to attach a couple of photos of Arby


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## goldencrazy (Dec 15, 2005)

Oaky's Dad - The day before Abbey left this life, I also took her for a walk in her woods and she waded out into her stream to get her paws wet - she was crazy about water - her walk was jaunty and the only moment she needed was coming back up the hill from the lower woods.

I think back on her last 24 hours and still have a hard time believing she was gone so quickly.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Sounds like there will be a couple of gorgeous goldens splashing in the water under the rainbow bridge!!


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## mojosmum (May 20, 2005)

Awww guys - you make me so sad. I can't even BEAR to think of the time when I have to say goodby to my precious Mojo. SO - I'm going to enjoy each and every day with him and Zoe because they are truly gifts from heaven.


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

It sure hurts to lose them,but we will be together again someday at the Bridge.
Our boy Charlie had a grand time the day before he crossed over. It was my birthday and we were all outside a lot.We had steak for dinner with some made for the "kids".I cooked theirs they way I used to be able to eat steak,almost raw rare.
Charlie got a small piece of my birthday cake,as did all the "kids". When all was said and done and we had settled down,he asked to go out.He never came back in.He settled down in his hole under the rear deck and stayed the night with Amber by his side. We knew that he wanted to spend his last night outside. I just knew by his look that this was his last moments here.
I saw him come out the next day and snapped some photos of him,he died in our arms at the vets a couple of hours later.Amber never left his side,this was and is the only time she failed to listen to us and come in when we called.Sam and Jesse rotated every couple of hours,so that one of them was always with us.
I know that he is waiting on me at the Rainbow Bridge,
You must believe,
Shane


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

Beautiful stories :bawling:. Thank you for sharing.


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## FranH (May 8, 2005)

Jenny, our 14 1/2 year old Golden is slowing down, but will still play. She loves to "steal" Holly's (3yr Golden) toys. She loves to escape out of the back yard and take a hike down the street We live on a quiet cul-de-sac. Doesn't play with tennis balls anymore, but loves boat rides, trips to bank(treats), and swimming.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Beautiful dogs, beautiful stories. It really makes me happy to see these pictures and read their stories. It shows how much they were loved, and are missed today. They are still alive in our hearts and always will be. We can not longer touch them physically, but we have wonderful and funny memories, and pictures. These wonderful friends should never be put aside. They need to be shown and talked about as we would a lost child.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Well, I got off the senior playing bit. Buck will be 11 a week from today (on the 8th). He has some arthritis in his hips, but the MSM/Gluco helps a lot. He rarely walks, but does a brisk trot--sounds like a shetland pony going thru the house. Every once in a while he surprises us and tosses a rag or something around. And he still chases every squirrel that comes into our back yard. Neighbor told us a couple of weeks ago that one got away from Buck, but died in their yard.

His night vision is not good and for a while he would not go into a dark room or outside at night if patio light was not on . Also, his depth perception is not good and he has trouble judging how close things are to him, especially on his left side. But he is adjusting well. We try to make sure things are not moved or out of place so that in the dark he sees a blur that he doesn't recognize. he is not as afraid to go into dark rooms now, and I do make sure the patio light is always on for him. For a while he would not leave the patio at night to do business without one of us with him, but he has gotten over that.


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## goldencity (May 26, 2005)

Penny still likes to play, just slowly! She's 16 this month and now looks her age, her muzzle and face are white and her back legs weak. 
She goes for a walk most days for up to an hour- you cant leave her behind!
As soon as she sees my boots, thats it, shes got to go.
She likes to roll and paddle in the stream and will chase [in slow motion] any pheasants the other dogs put up....

I know shes going down hill, she has trouble getting to her feet without help although shes ok when shes standing up. She went for her regular checkup at the vets on Monday and theres nothing they can do- just keep her going while shes happy. 
I know it wont be long, normally the vet gives me 3 months tablet supply, but this time, just 1 month at a higher dose. 

Shes at the side of me now, her paws are twitching, dreaming of rabbits I expect! I'll take her out this afternoon- I keep hoping that when its time, she just goes to sleep or collaspses while on her walk- I'm dreading having to take her on the one way trip to the vet.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

You are doing soooooright by her. My dad's English Setter Mack, lived to be 15. His teeth were all worn down and we actually hand feed him. He had been shot over a zillion times and his hearing was very bad and his eyesight was not that great. He had arthritis. AND at age 11 he had been run over. We had sold our place and bought another and the buy that bought our placed wanted to start putting up some new fencing before moving in. Daddy agreed. One day the man pulled into our dirt driveway with a pick up load of fence posts and rolls of barbed wire, didn't see mack and drove over him front and rear wheel. As unbelieveable as it is, there were no real serious injuries. However, after that he would collect fluid around his stomach and Daddy would have to take him in every few weeks and have it drained.

But, back to my story. Somehow Mack always knew when Daddy was going hunting. He would get up and waddle out to the car to go. Well, my Dad, the loving soul he was, would not let Mack (or Old Mack as we were calling him by then) down. He would pick Mack up and put him in the car and go out to someplace where the going was easy and let Mack hunt for like 30 minutes. Sometimes the old man even found quail....his vision and hearing may have been bad, but his nose was as "young" as ever."

Then Daddy would bring him home, help him out of the car, and Mack would go to his favorite sunning spot (or into garage if chilly) and fall asleep at once. Daddy would then load the young dogs into the car and take them where he really wanted to go. Mack hunted that last winter before he died in the Spring. My Dad had said mack had always been a loyal and true friend to us and he could be no less to his dear, beloved friend, Mack.

We should always pamper and love our dogs, but I think when we know their time is very limited we should extra spoil them as i did with my irish Setter, Boots, when i knew I was losing him to bone cancer. House work was ignored as i took him fishing EVERY SINGLE day for the 10 weeks between diagnosis and death. We even went in sprinkle rain.


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## goldencrazy (Dec 15, 2005)

Great stories, all. 3 Goldens - your dad's treatment of Mack was really special. I would like to think that I can be that kind of person when I need to be. I used to have Irish Setters, many years ago. They are really terrific dogs, aren't they?


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## PeggyK (Apr 16, 2005)

What a beautiful boy Charlie was!!! I think when our beloved pets go to the Rainbow Bridge peacefully, it makes it a little more bearable for us. Our Boomer had cogestive heart failure at 12 and he just lay down(we couldn't get him up) and he put his head in my hand as I was massaging him and telling him how wonderful he was and he just closed his eyes and passed. It was the so peaceful that it made it a little easier for us. He was a great big boy-120 lbs-people would always ask if he was part St Bernard because he had a huge blocky head, but had the gentlest of souls. I would take him to the preschool where I taught and the 4 yr olds would brush, feed and love him. The greatest joy I had was showing poloroids of children hugging him to the mother's who swore their children would have to be removed from the room because of their fear of dogs. One mother even started to cry!!!! I'm starting to fill up thinking of him!!!


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## janni518 (Oct 13, 2008)

Heartbreakingly wonderful stories...

Our Midas (almost 10) is still a complete goof. Gave him a chew toy this morning and he just stood there all tense waiting for me to say... it. So I obliged, "Give me that boney-bone!" I mock demanded and he immediately began to tear around the yard like a maniac, daring me to chase him. Of course I did, until winded. we both collapsed in a heap on the deck.

Our biggest problem is slowing him down to avoid muscle strain.


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## kathy/mi (Nov 6, 2007)

Sami gets really playful when River has her bones or if she's outside with him. She's always been a little princess who would rather be inside with you lying at your feet rather than running outside (like Riv).


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Abbey was gorgeous, what a face!

Carmella was the same way before she passed - always in some room squeaking her toys until I found her out and chased her around the house. She was like that up until her last week.

My uncle said something once after his sweet little Tequila died abruptly from cancer, that while crude, really seems to fit the caption for a lot of these stories: "You never know when it's coming, but when it does, it hits them like a train."

Crude, I know, but my god did it apply to Carmella.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Selka is almost ten and as active as he ever was. He never was a maniac retriever the way Gunner is, but he still gets the zoomies in cold weather, loves to be outside and roll around and he retrieves inside and out, be it frisbee, toy or a ball. He LOVES stuffed toys that squeak! he is my snuggle boy too, always laying across my lap. : )


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

kdmarsh;651844
My uncle said something once after his sweet little Tequila died abruptly from cancer said:


> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> Not crude and so true. Sam was playful and energetic into Thursday evening. Woke up 'off' on Friday and became worse as the day wore on. A trip to the ER VET on Saturday gave us the horrible news and we helped him to the Bridge on Monday Morning. He was 12 years 5 months and 7 days on this earth and forever in my heart.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Wow. That's fast. I guess in some ways it's a blessing but how shocking 

Daisy is a very calm dog. She always has been. She still gets playful but ordinary stuff doesn't excite her as much anymore.

Except fishing. She still gets so much excitement from going to the lake and catching a few fish. When she doesn't want to fish, I will know something is terribly terribly wrong.


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## Celeigh (Nov 29, 2007)

Don't we all wish the same end for ourselves? A long, happy life, playful until the last moment and no suffering at the end. I can think of nothing better for my furbabies and myself...


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Raleigh played hard- swimming, parading around with 3 balls stuffed in his mouth, right up to and including the day he passed away as an old man. He was even grey on his back and mixed into his tail, but he thought he was a young turk.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

My Rigby has always been lazy- from 8 weeks- but he has his playful moments and they're every bit as frequent now as they were in his youth (he's 11 years old now). He gets playful and will chase a ball a few times or zoom around the park. He also still loves playing with stuffies inside- he'll pounce them, sometimes just out of the blue, which is super cute. The other dogs are all young, but I think Epic will always be playful too. Sketch is more into chasing the ball- not really playing. His idea of playing with a toy other than retrieving it, is ripping it to pieces in ten seconds. He does LOVE tug!! I can't see those habits ever going away. Francine isn't a big play dog- she's a cuddle bug. She's not into wrestling and tug games. But, she loves to fetch now, and is gentle and calm about it, and she likes to carry toys around the house. I can see her being very dignified in her old age!


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Oh, and my avatar dog played like a puppy until his dying day. He was sooo into fetching and swimming, and he loved to roll on his back and play with a stuffy or other toy he'd hold in his front paws.


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## New Golden Mom (Dec 17, 2008)

Our Shamaya (Malamute) was active right up until about a week before she died when she started to slow down a bit. We thought it was becaause it had suddenly turned cold and she had arthritis and felt stiff. On the Saturday night she ate her regular dinner but more slowly...that was my first indication that anything was really wrong. The next clue...she didn't want to go up the stairs with us to sleep in our room...but still I thought it was her hips. At 5:30 on Sunday morning I awoke to her screaming out..I ran to her and she couldn't get up...refused water, food...anything. I laid on the floor with her and begged her not to leave me but something deep down told me this was it. She ate a few pieces of cheese and drank a bit of water after about an hour and that seemed to help her perk up a bit. We waited until 9 to call our vet who happened to be there taking care of animals who were at the hospital overnight and he told us to bring her in. By the time we drove the 50 minutes to the vet she had gone donwhill and her eyelids and gums were white. Turns out she had cancer and the tumour on her liver had ruptured, she was bleeding internally and she was in very bad shape...the vet said she would probably not survive the surgery. We were in shock...we thought we would be taking her home with some meds to help with her pain in her hips...not having to make the decision to help her across the bridge. My husband and I both hugged her, held her and cried...told her we loved her and she was gone. I have never really talked about that day in detail...thank you for the opportunity to share. It has helped me.


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## AtticusJordie (Aug 15, 2006)

Celeigh said:


> Don't we all wish the same end for ourselves? A long, happy life, playful until the last moment and no suffering at the end. I can think of nothing better for my furbabies and myself...


Celeigh--

I think you've hit it the nail on the head. The LAST thing I want for me, my partner or my pups is to languish in pain or simply not be able to live a reasonably normal life. It's all about quality of life!

Thank you all for sharing!

SJ


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## Golden_Luver (Dec 16, 2008)

Ceasor is 12 years old and is very playful. I took him to the park today and he was the most playful dog there.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Raleigh was playful, stuffing his mouth with three tennis balls, even on his very last day. Miss him!


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Gosh, Raleigh was beautiful. I just want to stroke his ears in the first picture, they look so soft!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks, Raleigh was a sportsman to the last. He'd cuddle and snuggle and night or early morning, but he really was more of a "GO" dog wanting to do his life's work of fetching as much as possible. He'd jump off any dock, spend hours trying to walk with that fourth tennis ball in his mouth, and was a wide&kind old sailor. It's dreadful losing them!


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