Our 2 Goldens live happily together

by Henry
(LA, USA)

Back in August 1999 my family and I decided to move from our home in San Antonio, Texas to move to another to my parents home country, Colombia. Knowing our love for dogs when we were back in the USA, we decided to buy ourselves a dog - but not just any dog, our most favorite dog of all: a Golden Retriever.

The father of the father of the dog the owners were selling to us stated that his dog was brought from Miami, Florida. He was a purebred lab just like his son that was being sold to us. His original name was "Champion", in my opinion, it was kinda corny so we changed his name to "Teddy" as requested by my father.

He was only 2 months old when we brought him home, but he was a very large dog for his age. I believe that it has to do with his fathers genes, since most dogs in Colombia are not purebreed, they tend to be small and slim.

When he was young he was very happy and playful, I remember he used to chew on our shoes and a sofa we had. He reached maturity at the age of two years when he mated with a non-purebred Labrador. Of the litter of puppies she had, we had the right to keep one, his color was dark brown and we called him "brownie".

Brownie inherited his fathers physical aspects such as his body, his face and his big feet. Teddy seemed to be more calm and mature than what he used to be. I have noticed that Teddy, unlike his son Brownie, ages slowly than Brownie. Despite his advanced age and his gray facial hair, his face isn't as wrinkled as his sons and Teddy has less health problems than Brownie.

As the years go by, Teddy is now over eleven years old and Brownie is about 9. They both live happy together. Brownie has the age of an old dog, but he is still very hyperactive and playful with everyone, unlike his father. He seems to be more of a wild child comparing him to has dad, Teddy. Brownie is an old dog and he still plays, fools around as if he was still only a few months old.

Brownie is also a bit more aggressive with other dogs. When I take them both out for a walk, Brownie always drags me to where he wants to go, unlike Teddy who always listens to what I say and obeys my commands. I'm very surprised Teddy is able to be such an obedient dog despite the fact that we didn't give him any kind of special training.