Mickey – The Golden that Started it All

This page is dedicated to my buddy Mickey. The Golden Retriever who started Allday Golden Retrievers. He was my founding partner and CEO of Allday Golden Retrievers with a heart of gold.

Mickey was every bit as caring and nurturing for his puppies as their mother was. He just couldn’t give them milk, but he could carry them around and give them baths and love on them.

Mickey hated lightening! If the sound of thunder clapped nearby and you went to open the door to let him in, you had best be standing to the side or else he would run over you. This is a trait you sometimes see in goldens but it isn’t a negative trait. It simply shows they are smart enough to know that lightening isn’t something to be messed with.

Despite this, Mickey loved black faced bumble bees. You know – the kind with a massive stinger that hurts worse than any wasp or bee. They would find Mickey and tease him and his favorite thing to do was tease them back by jumping up and clamping down on them with his mouth. Guess what happened next? Certainly, he would yelp from the sting but there was never a bumblebee that survived. To this day, I do not know why he did this, but I can only assume that either it gave him a slight buzz, or some adrenaline, or perhaps, he just didn’t like them mocking him by getting so close.

I’ll never forget this story. We had an underground electric fence and collar back in those days. There was a chocolates lab female that would come to visit Mickey when she came in heat. She had several Golden/lab sets of puppies from her adventures in our yard. I thought to myself, “That Mickey really is a study. He doesn’t even have to roam. The girls come to him!” Those memories make me laugh. Mickey was a good boy. I have no doubt that old lab knew there was something extra special about him.

I didn’t even OFA screen Mickey’s hips until he was around six years of age. The test came back “Excellent.” In those days, I had a Chevy Silverado and Mickey could clear the side of it to go for a ride up until he was around eight years old.

Mickey was my buddy, and I will never forget him or the times we all shared together as a family.