Tag: golden retrievers

Posted on in dogs, family, pets

Happy Gotcha Day

Golden retriever with a top hat

Three years ago today, this big beautiful boy wagged his way into our hearts and lives. He arrived a week before Christmas fresh off a plane from Egypt.

Every dog has their own unique personality and spirit, but Bentley is special. He instinctively knows which one of us needs him most. This past week, when Dave was as sick as a dog with the flu, Bentley barely left his side and when Grace comes home tomorrow, I’m sure he will be snuggling up to welcome her home and make up for lost time.

He’s stupid, loveable, stubborn, lazy, ball crazy and we love him to bits.  

Happy Gotcha Day Bentley.

golden retriever
Dog and toilet paper

The time he was drinking the toilet water and caught the toilet paper roll.

Golden retriever
Grace and her dog

Grace and her best buddy

Posted on in dogs, health and wellness, lifestyle, nature

What’s your happy state?

Bentley wet and bedraggled at the lake

They say people resemble their dogs. This is definitely true for Bentley and me. During the summer months, we know it’s been a good day if we’re wet and bedraggled.

Bentley of course, wears the look much better than me. After a day of swimming at the lake, his gorgeous russet brown fur glistens in the sunshine, making swirly patterns on his back.

I’m more on the bedraggled side, but I come by this look naturally. I have fond memories of my Mom, wet and bedraggled after a day at the beach at Lake Simcoe.

She’s been gone almost 40 years now, but I can still picture her walking back from the beach, in beat up old running shoes filled with sand, her short brown hair tousled with a few strands falling across her face. She wore an old one-piece bathing suit with a towel draped around her neck with a big smile on her face. We were always happy up at that old beach cottage.

I think about my Mom as I trudge up our wooded path from the lake, my feet squishing in my crocs feeling clean and refreshed. I’m in my happy state, wet and bedraggled.

What’s your happy state?

Author at the lake with a towel draped around her neck