The Gold Plated Dog: The Life Story of Our Golden Retriever

By Wayne Ramsay

The life story of a golden retriever called Roscoe who had relatively normal life up to the age of nine years. Medical problems arose and the book tells the story of how his devoted owners dealt with the everyday situation spending $30,000 to keep him mobile.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookTrail Publishing
• Release date: May 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781951505622

Wayne Ramsay

Wayne Ramsay was born in 1946. He joined in the Royal Australian Navy at the age of 18, married Jeanette in 1968 which has lasted 54years. He has lived a normal life with both of them devoting their time to animals. This is Wayne's second book, the first one was titled"Our Dogs Plus Roscoe the Gold-Plated Dog". The book is available through all avenues online. They live in the seaside suburb of Hastings situated in Victoria, Australia. The couple are now retired and hope to enjoy a happy retirement together.

Book preview

Roscoe

The Gold

Plated Dog

The Life Story of Our Golden Retriever

Wayne Ramsay

Copyright © 2021 Wayne Ramsay.

Paperback: 978-1-953731-19-7

eBook: 978-1-951505-62-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020923741

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Ordering Information:

BookTrail Agency

8838 Sleepy Hollow Rd.

Kansas City, MO 64114

Printed in the United States of America

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

I Wish to thank Doctor Shane Simpson from the

Karingal Vetinary Clinic in Karingal, Victoria,

Australia for making the suggestion to put what

the dog is going through onto paper. Without

that happening, this book would never have been

written.

Dogs, what a magnificent animal to keep us humans company, they are definitely mans (and womans) best friend. Many are used for work to help man, for example round up sheep and herd larger animals around paddocks on farms, many are used for hunting, once again to help man. Certain breeds are used as seeing eye dogs to help the blind and dogs are now bred to help at airports to search for drugs and also they are used to help find people buried under rubble, even the Police now use dogs for many roles, they are all there to help man or woman The majority of dogs in this day and age are used mainly as companions and are kept as house pets. More than likely they will become a member of one’s family and in many cases substitute for a child. They are loyal, will follow you around give you kisses (licks) and loving. You can tell them off when they do wrong and scold them, five minutes later they are at your side again loving you to death. Try doing that to our fellow human beings. Tell them off and they will never talk to you again or hold a grudge against you for years. Dogs, they come in all shapes and sizes big and small, fat and skinny, long hair short hair and even no hair, if you treat them well and give and show them plenty of love you will get the same in return. I would recommend to any person considering purchasing any type of dog to check out the breed and what problems can be associated with that breed.

It is written that when you buy a dog try and see the parents to see if they may have any problems, trust me this does not always work because the parents are usually youngish up to six or seven years of age and health problems usually come at a later stage in the dogs life, so the parents may look good but you cant see what the future holds. Unfortunately some breeds have more problems than others and it would be better for anyone that if you don’t want certain problems with the type of dog you want, look at another breed that has less problems. Some dogs in a certain breed may be lucky enough to miss out on some of the health issues which come with that breed but in my opinion if a certain health issue is associated with that breed steer clear.

Also when any person who wants a dog must know what pitfalls there are when a dog is a member of your family. If you want to go on a holiday they will certainly restrict you as you will have to put them either in kennels or a family friend will have to care for them. In most cases the person or kennels will not look after the animal the same as you do. They can’t be left on their own to try and fend for themselves.

Very important to remember is that the dog is on loan to you, they do not live as long as humans, so don’t expect the dog to be with you for your lifetime, the average age depending on the breed is around ten to fifteen years you may be lucky for one to live longer you also may be unlucky and only have them for a few years sometimes even less, so be prepared and enjoy every minute with your pet.

Remember a dog relies on you totally 100%, for food, water, companionship and a warm place to sleep, a roof over it’s head, any medical needs that they may require, bathing and brushing and general grooming, they can’t supply any of these things on their own, they come with a huge responsibility that the majority of owners know and fulfill all of the animals requirements. They will also soil your yard and you will have to pick up after them. The animal can become very expensive to keep and care for, it will not come cheap. You also have to be committed to your dog as it will be to you.

Unfortunately some persons are not committed and find that their pet is a hindrance and a damn nuisance, that is why thousands are dumped each year.

All my married life we have had a dog or dogs and the following is the life story of a very special dog which is so dear to us both.

It took well over six months after our St Bernard dog of eight years Blackie passed away that we decided we were ready for another dog in the family. We already had a small Jack Russell bitch called Gizmo, the dog was never called Gizmo she always got the name Giz, we inherited her from our daughter, she and her husband lived with us for a short time while saving to purchase their own home and did not want to take the dog with them as she seemed to have settled in well with us.

Giz had fretted badly and missed Blackie, as we all had, and she needed someone else to keep her company, we are believers that it is not good to have only one dog as they do need company of their own kind and can get into mischief as they seem to get bored just having human company, we know many friends who only have only one dog and the stories they tell us what their dog has done, mainly digging holes and deciding to destroy furniture while their owners are out and they are left on their own.

My wife Jeanette and I discussed the purchase of another mate for Giz as well as for us. Giz was more Jeanette’s dog, as she was at home with her all day while I was at work. Even though they are a magnificent breed and have a great temperament we had certainly decided that another St Bernard was out of the question as the life span of a Saint is about 8 years, and that was not long enough for any dog as we wanted a mate for as long as we could. Prior to Blackie whom we bred ourselves, we owned her father who’s name was General and leased a bitch called Brandy so that we could breed. General unfortunately contracted liver cancer and only lived for three years. So another Saint was certainly out of the question as was any real large breed because of the smaller life span.

A small dog was not an option even though they have a longer life span and we already had Giz and I am not a small dog fan, I am not over wrapped in the squeaky barks they make and some look like overgrown rats so a medium size which actually looked like a dog which can live to around 12 years plus was what we were after. Several people suggested a Labrador, we had had one in our early days of marriage and they do get up to a lot of mischief while they are young and don’t mature till they are around two years of age, I did not want another one I wanted a breed we had not had. We have even had German Sheppard’s and again I wanted something different.

I had noticed that many people owned and I had seen many Golden Retrievers around, they seemed to be a very popular family dog, they looked good and had read that they had a marvelous temperament, were very good with kids which is what we wanted because the grandchildren will be visiting and staying for a few days at a time, so a dog which is good with children is the type we want, they are also being trained as guide dogs, so they must be intelligent enough to be able to do that, which means that the breed is not dumb, they also live to around the mark we were looking for providing everything went fine health wise. So the decision was made, now the mission was to find one.

Looking through the local paper we found an ad for Golden Retrievers not far from where we were, I rang to see if they were home and to also see if they had any pups available, they did, so excitedly off we went. It is a very special time when you are ready to include another member into the family.

ROSCOE MEETS GIZ

The pups were on a farm in Somerville and all they wanted for the pups were $250 each, that price certainly fitted well into our price bracket, the lady at the farm took us to the pups, they only had four left three males and one female, all were a beautiful creamy golden color, and they were a cross between a golden retriever and a border collie, we certainly could not see any border collie in them as they are black and white, the pups were six weeks old, and ready to leave their mother which suited us fine, I did not want to pick one out then have to wait for several weeks until they were ready to leave.

The pups parents were also there, and they looked fine to us, we wanted a male and after about twenty minutes checking them all out we decided we had picked the one we wanted who was very playful and full of life, until I saw another one of the little balls of fluff rolled up asleep next to his mother, after waking him up and checking this one out we talked about each of the pups then agreed that he was the one for us. I still don’t know why I chose him there was just something about him. Paid the lady and before taking him home we had to show off our new pet to our daughter and our granddaughter who was only 9 months old at the time, the puppy sat on Jeanette’s knee all the way and did not seem too concerned about traveling in the car, the name I had picked for him was Roscoe. I don’t know why I just liked the name. We were not to know at the time how much effect that this dog will have on both our lives.

I have to explain what he looked like, he was just one little creamy ball of fluff, like a fluffy soft toy but alive, with the most beautiful looking face and just a dream to hold and cuddle, all the pups were similar but there was just something about this one which was so appealing to us, what a hit with the kids, they all loved this little ball of fluff. He was not shy with the kids, he really enjoyed the attention he was getting and loved every minute of it.

ROSCOE AT SIX WEEKS

Roscoe arrived home and Giz was very excited to see a new mate, as were we. He settled in very quickly, and I am sure that she made life easier for him to settle in to his new surroundings as he was not on his own after being used to having his family with him all the time it, with her around it was not a lot different for him.

They both became good mates right from the start. He bought back the puppy into her as they would play all the time, she was very gentle with him and seem to know he was only a puppy, he was the one that gave her more of a hard time, jumping on her biting her ears and legs and digging his sharp little teeth into her body, she seemed to enjoy the company. We were expecting a little homesickness and a few moans and groans being the first night without his family but were lucky there was none of that.

His first night was spent on the floor next to the bed with a blanket and newspaper spread around in case he had an accident, I must say a lot of the first night he actually spent on our bed. We made sure that he was taken outside to empty out so as to minimize any chance of an accident on the bed. He settled in like a house on fire as if this is where he belonged. It only took a couple of days to house train him, which has to be a world record mainly because he took notice of where Giz went to do whatever, and he followed her. We have a doggy door and he can go in and out at any time. It is always nice when a new dog becomes house trained as there is no need to run around behind them with a bucket and mop.

At the time Jeanette and I had been married for 29 years and have had dogs all our married life, all our dogs were or are house dogs, they have the run of the house, sleep inside eat inside and before they were house trained left a few deposits inside. We are believers that the dogs if they are kept groomed and bathed regularly will not have the normal doggy smell and then there is not a problem having a house dog. With a house dog you seem to get closer to the dog as they are around you all the time and join in with what you do as if they are outside you do not seem to have the same closeness.

They all sleep or slept in our bedroom either on the bed or next to it, many a time either one of us had been pushed out of bed just because one of the dogs decided to sleep in between us both, especially with St Bernards and often when two Saints were on the bed at the same time there was not a lot of room left for us, often when they stretched while laying next to us one of us would go flying off the bed. It never seems to worry the dogs as long as they are comfortable. Luckily Giz was small and Roscoe only a pup so there was not a lot of problems at this early stage. We made a couple of steps that were placed at the end of the bed on the floor so that they could jump up whenever they wanted. What makes me have a giggle to myself is that the amount of people we know that have dogs and allow them on the beds and also let the dogs rule the bed, all we are concerned about is that the