Archive for

Jul 22

Our Dog Flirt has Died

Jan and I knew this day would come. This is our 4th Golden retriever . . . Wrigley was our first, Jack our second, and Ellie our third. All four died from cancer – the golden curse.

Over the last couple of years we could see Flirt age . . . she couldn’t jump up on our bed anymore, long walks became difficult, and so on.

However, her death was so sudden. The morning we couldn’t get Flirt to get up to eat. A bad sign as she loved food. Since none of local vets would see her, we ended up going to the Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center, a 24-hour emergency center, in Medford, Oregon. They were great, professional and very sensitive.

Flirt could no longer walk, so the vets lifted her into the center. After an ultrasound scan, the doctor gave us her diagnosis – Flirt had a large mass in her abdomen near her spleen and fluid in her lungs. All of it probably cancerous. Because of her age, treatment was not an option.

So we’re cutting short our summer trip and heading home in a few days.

We’d like to share a number of movies and photos of Flirt over the years . . .

2012

After our dog Jack died, we decided to get another Golden Retriever. We visited a golden breeder in Wisconsin in June 2012 to put our name in for an upcoming golden litter.

In the following video, Flirt’s father is the last dog on the clip, a 10-year-old male, who melts in Jan’s hands . . . just like Flirt did.

2012 – Flirt’s father is the last dog on this clip

2012 – Flirt and Ellie playing (Jan is worrying in the background)

2014

After getting Flirt in late 2012, we adapted another 7-year-old golden, Ellie, a short time later.

The following video was taken on the porch of our park model in Lake Havasu, AZ of the two girls playing:

2014 – Flirt & Ellie in Lake Havasu, AZ

2016

When we lived at the Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu, AZ, Flirt met two dogs who she played with from time to time . . .

2016 – Flirt and Katie

2016 – Flirt and Ollie

2016 – Flirt loved fetching

2016 – South Lake (elevation 9,000′) outside Bishop, CA

2017

During our summer 2017 trip, we stayed at a seaside campground in Port Aransas, TX. From there, we could Jeep along the miles long Padre Island and play in the Gulf.

This was Flirt’s first time off leash in the water. We’ve never seen her happier. Her tail wagged continuously. Flirt was so excited that soon after running into the water, she took a poop in the waves.

2017 – One happy golden

Flirt loved air conditioning . . .

2017 – Lake Havasu park model