***Baxter Wilcox - Adopted 1/16/2011 - #13 on the HOT 100 Challenge List***
I am a dog person. Period.
I grew up with Golden Retrievers and Labs in the house and loved all of my dogs when I was growing up. My parents adopted Amber before I was born. She was a small, reddish Golden Retriever with an affinity for stealing my dinner if I wasn't eating fast enough. I have countless pictures of me as a toddler holding her leash at the park and laying on her as I watched TV. She was great with kids and only whined for help when I would pull on her whiskers and eye lashes. I loved that dog every day until she went to doggie heaven when I was 7.
The house was eerily quiet after Amber passed. My dinner was always safe (boring) and my shoes were always right where I left them in the months following her passing. The house was simply too quiet for my family after Amber left us, so off to the Pound we went.
Although Mom and I promised Dad that we were just going to have a "look" at the dogs, we brought one home that day, which Dad probably anticipated. It was that day that Goldie, part yellow lab and part "God-only-Knows" joined our family. She was young, jumpy and a runner. She ran through our screen door so many times that my parents finally took it off the hinges. She spent many days in dog obedience school, but to no avail. Goldie had her own agenda. She, too was great with kids and other dogs, she just didn't like being confined in the house/yard/neighborhood/planet.
My parents eventually decided to get a second dog to keep Goldie company. Goldie was older at that point and didn't love Shannon, the 4 month old Golden Retriever as much as we hoped. Shannon nipped at Goldie's feet, which were then attached to arthritic legs and shaky knees. We joke that poor Goldie may have gone to heaven earlier than necessary just to escape the paws of the young and vibrant Shannon.
After Goldie passed, Shannon was bred with another Golden Retriever and 6 beautiful puppies were born. All of the puppies found new homes except one. The lucky pup who stayed in the family was the youngest and fattest, Murphy. He's not the brightest Golden who ever lived, but he is arguably the sweetest dog on the planet. Shannon is 11 now and Murphy is 7 and they live happily-ever-after with my parents in Paradise, CA.
This brings me to #13 on my list!!!
I decided that my house is far too quiet/clean/boring and took a trip to the dog shelter, where I found a great pup. The newest member of the Wilcox family canine family tree is BAXTER! I adopted him from DAWG - Dog Adoption & Wellness Group on 1/16/2011. He has been a wonderful addition to my family and is very well behaved. He has no inclination to run through screen doors, into the street or nip at other dogs. He is a 4 year old Australian Shepard/Golden Retriever mix and he is amazing. His little, smiling face brightens my house and I feel very lucky to have found him.
He had another fun beach day today, which leads him to this very exciting activity:
Maybe I'll take him to a nursing home so we can cross off #82!
Welcome home, Bax!!
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