Pumpkin came from championship parents. To see him prance in the yard with a toy on a string was a delight. He had the genes that gave him the talent to be a showman. It was like watching the Clydesdale horses do there steps. He was so gifted and in so many ways, continued what his parents gave him in birth to accomplish. He loved to please and was such a character. He loved an audience and when he had one, he stole the show.

His gentle soul would gently sniff and kiss a baby, of course he then became very attracted to their toys. He loved his toys and anyone having their toys seemed to be his as well. With a little understanding, Pumpkin would give up their toys but he so wanted to have them for himself. He always shared everything he had. No pet friend was refused his toys to play with. He would wait for them to drop them and he would retrieve them and show his friends how much he loved his babies.

If you ever came to the house or the office, the first thing he would do was pick up a toy and present it to you. One small problem: if he had it in his mouth, you couldn’t have it. His fetch was his and he wouldn’t give them up. He’d love to play pull, but many babies ended up in the babies E.R. at home until we could mend them.

Throughout Pumpkin’s life, he had tons of furry toy babies. If they had many arms, he would hold them in his mouth and bash them back and forth in his mouth. He loved the dangling parts hitting his face. A lot of times you would see him walking with one eye blocked because the baby had a foot or arm in his eye sight. He did well with one eye anyway. It was pure joy to see this beautiful soft furry angel engulfed in love and admiration.

He had a schedule for walks daily. If you didn’t pay attention to the time, He let you know it. He would come to you, sit and look into your eyes. If you didn’t pay attention, he would end up laying down and you would hear him making baby noises, (whining) to get your attention. The minute you said, lets go for a walk, he was on his way to the door, tail wagging and in full delight.

He was a sniffer. We learned very quickly that he had to stop and enjoy all the scents he gravitated towards. Some took longer to enjoy than others. Sometimes we would ask him if he found FIFI?? A long lost girlfriend. In Arizona, we became a little concerned because of Valley fever. We didn’t want him breathing in spores from fungus, etc. We did our best to let him enjoy, but at the same time was very cautious.

He loved introducing himself to everyone. His walks could be placed on hold long enough to say hi and get a rub or petting, and be off again, taking in all that nature and life had to offer.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew Pumpkin. He was a special part of our neighbor’s day seeing him. He brought such happiness to everyone who met him. He made everyone feel his love.

His demeanor truly made him a great therapy dog. Anyone with a heavy heart, melted with Pumpkin’s presence. He would lift any unhappiness away from you. Looking in his eyes, was like looking into the eyes of God. A great friend in deed, and he was in your heart forever.

Within the last year or so of his life, he even started talking very aggressively to us. He was so funny. To get our attention now, he started making a happy growling noise. Once he got our attention and our laughter, he would continue the noise. We captured his talking to us on video and are proud to show you his vocabulary. Such expression. Great punctuation. Such an orator. That was our special angel.

Talk about a car riding enthusiast!  If he even thought you were going in the car, he was at the door waiting for you to say come on. In the car he went and the rides were always in comfort. Full doggie bed, blankets, pillows and if long rides, fresh ice water. A lot of occasions, we couldn’t get him out of the car when we got back home. He was so comfortable; he didn’t want to leave his digs in the car. With a little coaxing, or picking up on his butt, he would exit the car, and in the house he would run. He always wanted you to pay attention to him in the car as you traveled. A hand and arm was nice at times for him to share his happiness and thank you for his ride with a few licks. He liked to come forward in between the front seats to lie next to us as we traveled. Yes, the console came with soft pillows to lie on and prop him up to see out the front windows.

He would travel down the road like a child, sitting and taking in all the surroundings. He never barked if he saw dogs on the street or in other cars. We would pull up next to dogs barking in other cars at him, and he would just look at them with this look, (like what’s your problem?).

Now, here’s some comments on two of his favorite eating and drinking routines:

Pumpkin was very particular about his water. He would not drink from tap water. It had to be distilled or filtered from the refrigerator. Brian even gave him ice cubes in the water, and Pumpkin rushed to the bowl to partake. He was picky. If it sat long, Brian or I would have to throw out the old and refresh with new water and ice. It was like sugary soda to him.

Every night before bedtime, he would come into the bedroom, look at his bowl, and the look was enough to demonstrate, he wanted his night cap refreshed. In came the new water and ice, and Pumpkin would nearly consume the whole bowl. This always made for us being awaken half way through the night to release his bladder. He had us so trained. We loved it and would have done this until eternity for him.

When it came to food, do you know any golden who wasn’t a food lover?  He had such a taste for fruit, vegetables, anything you had on your plate, even after he ate all of his food. He knew whatever we had, he knew he would love the taste.

Cantaloupe, watermelon, raspberries, clementines, grapefruit, apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries, blue berries, yogurt, frosty paws (doggie ice cream), green and red peppers, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, just to name a few of his favorites. He loved, peppermint puffs, altoids, popcorn, pretzels, cheese puffs and all kinds of cheese.  He would eat just about anything you gave him. He had a pleased pallet.

On some occasions, we would stop at a chicken drive through and we would order chicken dinners for ourselves and chicken tenders for Pumpkin. He even got to lick the container holding the mash potatoes and gravy. And if he wanted more, he would occasionally get some extra white meat from our meals. The same thing would take place if we stopped for fish. Oh, how he loved fish…..

He would have made a great food reviewer. If Pumpkin liked it, so would you. Pumpkin’s seal of approval would be all over his mouth and whiskers.

As Pumpkin came down with Kidney disease, it became tougher for us, because we could no longer give him certain things that would affect his kidneys. We did our best to give him what he could have, per the Doctor. It was never the same then. The joy of food started to fade away; along with that joy in our hearts.

If we could have known how long he had left before he started getting nausea, we would have given him anything he wanted just to see his eyes enjoying it. The inevitable would have come but he would have enjoyed the tastes till as long as he could have.