All in Tales of Tails

My Golden Retriever Alton Had to Have Surgery

My Golden Retriever Alton Had to Have Surgery

Jody Yarborough
Tales of Tails

I have written a lot about our Golden Retriever Fur Son, Alton, on this blog. And good Lord willing, I will be able to write a lot more in the years to come. But for today’s post, I wanted to share about a recent surgery Alton had to have. Thankfully, it was a minor procedure. But any time a pet has to go under anesthesia, there are risks. Additionally, Alton is eight years old now. As they say, for a large breed dog, he’s getting up there.

Last spring, we noticed that he was developing some lumps and bumps on his body. The largest of which was near his right shoulder. When we took him to the vet for his regular check-up, she said she would needle poke it, but she assured us she thought it was just a benign fatty tumor, another name for a lipoma. There was no need to talk of removal at the time because it wasn’t that large.

Our Golden Retriever Alton Turns Eight Years Old

Our Golden Retriever Alton Turns Eight Years Old

Jody Yarborough
Tales of Tails

We celebrated a bittersweet occasion two days ago. Our golden retriever fur son, Alton, turned eight years old. Yes, on September 18, 2013, he came rolling into the world, and our world hasn't been the same since. If you want some backstory of how Alton came into our lives, check out this blog post. But for today's blog, I want to reflect on how much joy he has brought into our lives since the day he joined our family. Every day with him is precious and every holiday bittersweet because we are starting to see him age as most larger breed dogs do. Unlike all of the smaller dogs I've parented before, I remind myself the odds that Alton will be with us until he is 17 or 18 as they were, are unlikely. Knowing this, we fill our hearts with as much love, drool, and dog hair we possibly can.

Aside from his loving personality and easy-going nature, his size is the one thing that his dad and I still comment on to this day. As two Little People, we can't believe we own a dog who outweighs and outsizes us both. When Alton fully extends, he is taller than either of us! I remember when we picked Alton from the littermates who were remaining, I tried to consider size as a factor in choosing. I asked the owners where in the pecking order Alton was born. Then I tried to deduce his growth rate based on how big he was at just four weeks old. In retrospect, it was such a ridiculous speculative projection. She told me he was middle of the pack— not the biggest, but not the runt either. I fell in love with him so quickly I am sure she could have said he was Jabba the Hut, and I would have heard "just right."

Our Golden Retriever Helps Us Around the House

Our Golden Retriever Helps Us Around the House

Jody Yarborough
Tales of Tails

He looks up at you with those big brown soulful eyes and the feathery golden ears. And just when he cocks his head in response to your question, you can’t help but wonder what he is thinking. If only our dogs could talk. I’ve been wondering this about our 4-year-old golden retriever, Alton, from the day I first held him at four weeks of age.

The Story of How We Got Alton, Our Golden Retriever Fur Son

The Story of How We Got Alton, Our Golden Retriever Fur Son

Jody Yarborough
Tales of Tails

I haven't been writing for a few weeks. My hiatus is much thanks to our wonderfully adorable and crazy cute Golden Retriever puppy. He came home to live with us on Nov. 16. We named him Alton, inspired by one of our favorite celebrity chefs, Alton Brown. On Saturday it will be three weeks since he came to live with us. Some moments it feels like just three days. Some moments it feels like three months. But no matter what joy or challenge we are faced with in each new experience with him, we wouldn't change anything about him, or the experience of being dog owners again, for anything in the world.

The Story of Ernie, My First Golden Retriever Puppy

The Story of Ernie, My First Golden Retriever Puppy

Jody Yarborough
Tales of Tails

This is the story of how my first golden retriever puppy came into my life. Sixteen years ago today those big brown eyes came into my world and it hasn’t been the same since.

The story begins in the winter of 1991. Mom and I already had Mikey, one family furball that was “mysteriously” dropped on our doorstep a couple of years earlier. She swore NO MORE DOGS! But she couldn’t say no to temporarily housing Baby, my sister’s beagle mut mix. My sister told us she had gotten Baby spade. So when mom and I asked my sister to housesit for us when we went to Minnesota for a Christmas vacation, we didn’t have any reason to worry about Baby getting out.