Hunter and KayCee came home with us on October 4, 1999.

Hunter was12 pounds, Kaycee was 11 pounds.  Such beautiful golden puff balls.  To keep them safe they slept in a mesh playpen beside the bed for about 4 months, then in our bed.  If we left the house they were put in a "puppy proof" bathroom with a child gate across the doorway so they didn't feel "shut up."  They were walked even as tiny puppies to be taught leash, etc.  They were always taken to our vet for shots and when they developed allergies, we had them to the vet often.  WE took the best care of them that we could.

Hunter loved to play and had several toys......

His favorite being a red and blue stuffed rocket ship looking thing.  He actually had 3 of them (from a neighbor) but the girls tore the stuffing out of two of them.  After that we only got his out when we could watch--he would give up his toys to them if they wanted them.  He loved to chase squirrels on the powerline over our back fence.  He stayed fairly thin and we often called him the "Long Lean Playing Machine".

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Unlike most goldens, Hunter was not a chow hound....

He would eat a few bites, go play, come back and eat more.  He always took hours to finish off his dish of food.  Also, he would not eat candy, chips, etc.  He also ignored dog treats except for Milk Bones and the treats I made for them.  Everyone that came to our house fell in love with him and threatened to take him.  We often joked that we had to check out departing company's car to make sure they were not sneaking off with Hunter. Our vet hired 2 more vets early last year and the first time I took Hunter and saw Dr. T started talking to me about Hunter and me taking therapy dog classes. He said Hunter was perfect--laid back, gentle, smart, not to meantion beautiful.

Hunter and I had games we played.  Every night I would say "Time to go night-night babies" and they would all run down the hall, Hunter in the lead.  He would jump on the bed and flop on my pillow and watch me.  I would put my hands on my hips and say "Move Petey" and he would move over.  I often called him Petey and Wampie.  Also, making the bed was hard. No matter which side of the king size bed I would be trying to work on, Hunter was there.  He would run across the bed, flop down in front of me and put his feet on my shoulders and "kiss me".  He loved to play fetch and would bring his ball or rope toy back to you over and over til you felt like your arm was going to fall off.

Hunter was a clown.  When they first started sleeping in the bed, he often fell off.  He discovered that if he got at the head of the bed on my pillow, if he rolled he either rolled onto my head or up against the headboard.  He continued to want to be there even after he stopped falling off the bed. 

And for some reason Hunter could not howl.  Anytime we heard sirens on the TV or for real, he would throw his head up and this "whisper" of a howl came out.  We would just laugh at him.

Hunter's Memorial