Life Is Golden: What I’ve Learned from the World’s Most Adventurous Dogs

By Andrew Muse and Kicker Dog

Meet the famous traveling adventure dog, Kicker, and his human, Andrew, in this photography book all about the duo that inspires readers to fall in love, chase their dreams, and live a more passionate life.

In this adorable book all about the famous golden retriever that won over the Internet, Kicker and his human, Andrew, take readers on exciting adventures all across the world. Whether they’re paragliding down snow-covered mountains, exploring vast ice caves, kite surfing some big ocean waves, rafting down the Colorado River, or repelling off super high mountain cliffs, this celebrated duo are journeying together. And they’re sharing their story, for the first time all in one format, with the world. Now, never-before-seen photographs and untold stories are compiled into one book for fans, old and new, to enjoy page by page. Life is Golden champions bravery, wanderlust, and compassion by inspiring readers to fall in love, chase their dreams, and live a more passionate life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Release date: Apr 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781423660286

Book preview

9781423660279.jpgPhoto of title page.Photo of dog under a tree.

Hood River, Oregon

Digital Edition 1.0

Text and Photographs © 2022 Andrew Muse

Front cover photo by Tom Lebsack

Photographs by Andrew Muse unless noted otherwise

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Published by Gibbs Smith P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

1.800.835.4993 orders

www.gibbs-smith.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Muse, Andrew (Vlogger), author.

Title: Life is golden : what I’ve learned from the world’s most adventurous dogs / Andrew Muse.

Description: First edition. | Layton, Utah : Gibbs Smith, [2020]

Identifiers: LCCN 2021025287 | ISBN 9781423660279 (hardcover) | ISBN

9781423660286 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Adventure travel—Pictorial works. | Dogs—Pictorial works.

| LCGFT: Illustrated works.

Classification: LCC G516 .M87 2020 | DDC 910.4—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021025287

Photo of dog swimming in a pool.Photo of Andrew and his dog.

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Photo by Ashley LaMarre

Photo of contents.

Love at First Sight

Our First Adventures

At Home on the Road

The Accident

New Beginnings

Life with Kicker

Into the Last Frontier

Building a Dream

What I’ve Learned

Acknowledgments

Photo of Andrew and his dog.

Moab, Utah

Photo by Taylor Maag

Love at First Sight

Photo of chapter title.

Dogs have changed my life. The love I have received from my dogs has been pure, unconditional, and special. It’s a deeper emotional connection than any I have ever had with a human. And it all began with Booter.

Because I grew up in a single-parent household where substance abuse issues strained relationships, my family moved around a lot, and life was often unstable. We had a few dogs over the years, but more often than not, against my will, the dogs we did have tragically ended up in the care of a shelter after just a year or two. Even at a young age, I recognized this behavior was wrong.

So when I first felt it was time for me to find a