Candace Rogers and John Celata of Reading, Massachusetts just came to discover the Land of PureGold website in November 2004. They wondered if I had room for a story somewhere where I talk about senior dogs. Little did they know lol. Here is their tale of their Misty the Wonder Dog:

Recently our dog had an appointment for a health check-up. This time it happened to be with a vet other than her usual one who said, “tell me about your dog”. I replied, “this is Misty, the Wonder Dog, our 15 year old golden retriever”. He said “that certainly is a wonder”. She is now one month from turning 16 and continues to amaze us. Her life has been full and we have been blessed to have had such a “once in a lifetime dog”.

As a puppy she had a huge pen with tons of room to run and a beautiful custom built dog house. This did not satisfy her to the point she dug and dug to get out. As an alternative, she began going to work each day with her human “father” and has been bringing joy to a small business ever since. All the employees spoil her and treat her as one of the gang. Of course she always sleeps right where everyone needs to walk.

She would swim in the Lake Winnipesaukee following a duck forever unless someone stopped her. At this age, she now still enjoys the swimming but with her life jacket. She doesn’t even stop when she is at the point of exhaustion but it is good exercise for her arthritis which of course has set in.

At age 9 she began to gain weight and we thought there was a problem. It appeared as if she had pancreatic cancer given the high insulin level she had. We prepared ourselves for the worst but did everything in our power to love her even more and take care of her. People talk about healing power…..well this dog was “cured” through love. The vet was amazed and said, “whatever you are doing, keep doing it” and “I can’t explain it”. That was 7 years ago and her insulin level remains normal.

She is still with us and going strong but has slowed down. Her arthritis is quite severe in her hind legs but she tends to ignore it. We give her a lot of help. Although not for all dogs, we have found that medication has really played a positive role in helping with her arthritis. As you can see from the picture, we have even have made her “skid proof booties” to help with walking on floors.

Currently, we have to assist her into the car by picking her up and putting her in. Needless to say….no more jumping. Imagine how embarrassed two police officers were when they stopped the car and thought they were catching a dog nabber! Someone had called the police…..thinking she was being stolen. Once they saw her sweet face, name on her collar, bandana and comforter….they rapidly concluded she was not stolen. It was good to know that someone cared enough to call on a possible dog theft though.

Misty has indeed aged gracefully. She does sleep a lot but she continues to lead a wonderful life. What is fun to see is how she reacts to her new friend, a 19 month old Golden who just wants to play. It took a lot of barking but now they are best of friends and he protects her. He senses her “elder” state.

We know that every day is a gift and so needless to say, we are planning quite a 16th birthday party!