Hello, hello! This post is all about miss Zoey – who just celebrated her 8th birthday! The pups don’t get enough of the spotlight around here these days so I’m going to shower Zoey with love and admiration as she enters her “golden” (senior) years.
ZOEY’S 8th BIRTHDAY!
Zoey turned 8 years old on October 6 and I truly can’t believe it. How? I got Zoey when Sullie was 8 and she was the best little sister to Sullie. If you want to go down memory lane, here’s the post I wrote for Zoey’s first birthday where I talked about embracing that there’s rarely a “right time” for anything.
Zoey was a wonderful companion to Sullie and kept her active, playful and moving for almost five more years. Now she’s the best big sister to Finn and Benji. It’s been special to watch her transition into more of the alpha/protector role. I got emotional going through eight years worth of photos of Zoey for her birthday tribute. Our dogs are a constant presence through so many of life’s adventures and challenges. What a ride it was with Sullie, and now I have so many special times with Zoey.
Eight has hit me hard with Zoey. It feels like a true transition into her senior years. Senior goldens are my absolute favorite sweet souls in the whole world but these years can be full of ups and downs.
HEALTH CHALLENGES
I mostly get very scared of the C word because we’ve lost all of our goldens to it. I took Zoey to the vet the day before her birthday because she had a hot spot on her face and I found the first lump I’ve ever felt on her. In that visit, she was also diagnosed with a double ear infection (hot spot and ear infection are likely related to fall allergies) and the doctor found a really big cyst on the underside of her tail that had popped up super quickly. She needle aspirated the lump and the cyst. The lump is just a fatty lipoma but she saw suspect cells on in the cyst and sent it off to the lab for pathology. I was so anxious waiting on the results but luckily it came back benign. Had it been malignant, they would have amputated her tail due to where the cyst is located. Big prayers that everything stays benign.
I’m happy to report that Zoey’s hot spot is healing and her ear infection is improving. I had to put her in an inflatable donut collar because she just wouldn’t leave her hot spot alone and kept scratching the scab off and opening it back up. She seems to tolerate the donut much better than the cone and it keeps her from getting to that spot on her face.
ZOEY’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
After spending her birthday eve at the vet, Finn and I made sure to spoil Zoey on her birthday. We went to PetsMart and picked out new toys and treats for her, and baked her a birthday cake. I am happy to report that so far these Rip Roarin’ Tough toys are actually tough! We’ve had both of them out for a week now and neither dog has been able to rip into them. They also have a fun and loud squeaker!
A BOY AND HIS ZOEY
I want to take a moment to talk about Finn’s bond with Zoey. He loves her so much and it absolutely melts my heart. He talks about how sweet and beautiful she is all the time. We were on a walk last week and Finn looked down at Zoey and said, “Aw, look how beautiful Zoey girl is.” I agreed and he said, “She looks so beautiful in her purple (harness).” Zoey has been with Finn since he was born and they’ve developed a special relationship. He loves helping with Zoey whether that’s brushing her, throwing the ball or feeding her. It’s very sweet and Finn is great with both dogs. I’m glad they’re all growing up together! 🙂
One more because I can’t help myself. <3
CHEERS TO MANY MORE
While Zoey may be entering her golden years and slowing down a little bit, she’s still got plenty of spunk and stamina. She still loves to chase a ball and wrestle with Benji and regularly walks 3-5 miles. I think it’s so important to keep senior dogs as active as is comfortable for them. Sullie wrestled/played (pretty hard!) with Zoey and walked 3 miles with us well into her 12th year. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma shortly before her 13th birthday that she really slowed down.
I am looking forward to many, many more snuggles, walks, adventures and sweet memories with Zoey. And I’ll keep wondering when she’s going to stop eating deer poop in the yard and stealing food off the counter. 😉
QUESTIONS
How old are your pups?
Do you kids have a special bond with your dog(s)?
What’s your favorite thing about being a dog owner?
My pups (two English bulldogs) are 10 1/2 and the other is an unknown age (she was a foster failure). My 10 1/2 year old has a truly special place in my heart and life. I got her as a puppy with my ex, she helped me move on from that (physically and emotionally), we spent several years just her and me before I met my now-husband and his two daughters. She’s my ride or die. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that she’s 10 1/2. I take zero days for granted with her.
Goldens are the BEST! I’ve been fortunate to have had two wonderful golden boys. My second golden, Rocky, was also born on October 6th! Happy birthday to sweet Zoey!
Happy Birthday Zoey!!!! I’ve followed your blog since well before Zoey, so I cannot believe how quickly these years pass! And so glad to hear the lump was benign.
We have two dogs, a 5 year old standard Goldendoodle and a 2 year old mini Sheepadoodle. They are hilarious and so fun! The best brothers to each other. And they are developing a very special relationship with our 1 year old daughter! I have loved seeing Finn’s bond with Zoey and hope to see something similar with my kiddo and dogs. 🙂
The best part of being a dog owner is the sheer joy and happiness they bring to my life!! And now seeing my daughter shriek with glee and snuggle with them is just more incredible than I could have imagined ❤️
Happy birthday Zoey! I have a border collie who is about 12, and he’s slowing down now too. It breaks my heart knowing he doesn’t have many years left but I’m so grateful to have so many wonderful memories with him.
The best part about being a dog owner is no matter what kind of day I have had, my dogs are always happy to see me. Their love is truly unconditional and I don’t think humans deserve dogs. They’re just the best ♡♡♡
Happy Birthday to Zoey! Such a cutie patootie. I am partial to Goldens. 🙂
We currently have two dogs, Reese, a 5-year-old “Maltipoo” (but probably mixed with some other breeds too) and Fozzie Bear, a 10-year-old golden retriever. Sadly, my sons are not particularly attached to either of our dogs, although they will pet them both occasionally. Weird to me because I know so many kids who are more like Finn with respect to their dogs. (They even picked Reese from the rescue and still are meh about her.)
We had a different golden retriever when my sons were born, and although they went through a brief period of fascination with him when the were crawling and then toddling, they mostly treated him like a piece of furniture. (He died of old age when they were 6, and he was 15.) Maybe it’s because he was older and “not playful,” or maybe my sons just aren’t “dog people.”
I had a particularly special bond with one of my old goldens, Sebastian, who died when I was pregnant with my sons. He was special, but I love both our current dogs, too.
Two rescue dogs, both hound mixes for me. Stella is now 10 and Jack (got him around a year) is approximately 9-10, the healthiest dogs my family has ever had. I grew up with mastiffs who sadly all died from cancer or chronic issues (breed can be prone to a variety of things) between 7 and 8. Having true senior dogs has been so special and they are both so active, Jack will walk 5 miles a day every day if possible, Stella is more choosy and will walk 4 miles one day, and then run to her bed on days when she’s not feeling up to it/wanting to go. Happy birthday to Zoey! Seeing her with your son makes me excited to hopefully add to our family in a few years. 💜
Hi Jen!
We use to follow each other on Bloglovin…( Do people still use that?). I just happened to open it up just to see if any of my old time blogging friends were still blogging and there you were!
Your Zoey girl is beautiful! Happy belated birthday to her! I have always had Labradors but in 2020, we added our very first Golden to our family. She will be 3 in December. They are definitely “People dogs”. She doesn’t like to be away from her people. Good thing my Lab keeps her company.
Crossing our fingers that the C word stays away from Zoey.