Jasper is our Little Man. He is a two-year-old Golden Boy. He is the only male tailwagger we have ever had. He loves nothing better than to eat found objects, play with other dogs or cuddle with one of his humans. Nothing upsets him – well, not for long anyway. Jasper has few objectives in life: food, fun, torment Boo, and nap – preferably in that order. He is gentle and inquisitive and has a confident boy-dog swagger; he holds his chest out and bounces from side to side almost as if he might have springs in his paws. When one of his sisters takes his bone, he simply gets up and gets another – not much bothers Jasper.
Jaspy is without a doubt the cutest Golden Retriever ever – period.
We got Jasper when he was 7 weeks old. He is roughly 5 months younger than Boo, our other Golden, and 4 years younger than Schatz, our English springer spaniel. We knew shortly after getting Jasper that there was something wrong with him. On an average day, we would take Jasper outside to urinate up to 40 times and he would still have accidents in the house. He seemed to understand he was supposed to ‘go’ outside, but he still had frequent accidents in the house. Other than that he acted like a normal puppy – playing, dancing, crying when he didn’t get his way and begging for treats. He immediately took to Boo, although she was not so sure about him in the beginning.
It was about two weeks after getting Jasper that he was diagnosed with his first UTI. The first of a long series of UTI diagnoses, followed by a period of antibiotics and a short period of time after getting off the antibiotics before he was diagnosed with another UTI. This was a circular pattern that repeated itself for months and months. Jasper’s Vets were at a loss as to what the problem was and the UTIs were always odd strains that were highly resistant to antibiotics. His Vets finally decided that it was best that we take Jasper to Michigan State University Small Animal Clinic. After Jasper’s second visit, his MSU Vets finally discovered the problem. He had a fistula in his urethra that created an abnormal channel to his rectum. It was a two-way street in which fecal matter and urine went places they shouldn’t be going.
Jasper had surgery July of 2015 to fix his birth defect and he has been doing awesome since. Throughout the months of on and off UTIs, Jasper never acted sick – he was always the playful, energetic Golden Retriever pup constantly in trouble. After his surgery – yeah, well…he just got into even more trouble at that point.
When we first got Jasper we thought the little guy was the fattest puppy we ever saw. But then the Vet told us he wasn’t fat; he was simply 50% fur. We were completely surprised when we gave him his first bath. He didn’t even look like the same dog! Half of him just disappeared – the furry puff-ball half. It didn’t take very long before his puppy fluff dissipated, but he is still on the puffball side compared to Boo.
When Jasper was a puppy he wouldn’t bark. All of the Goldens we have ever had were not barkers and generally speaking I don’t think Goldens are big barkers. If the doorbell rang, they would let out a bark or two in greeting while giving a frenzied butt-wag of a welcome. But Jasper wouldn’t even bark when the doorbell rang or someone knocked on the door. He would get excited and wanted to know who was at the door, but he would not bark – ever.
One morning, when Jasper was a little over a year old, he was playing with Boo when Boo decided she had enough and sat down. Jasper tried to get her to play some more but she wouldn’t get up. He eventually lay down in front of her and in frustration started to whine. Next thing we knew the room was filled with this deep, loud rumble of a bark. Boo jumped up and ran to the door to look for the dog that was obviously outside. Jasper’s humans looked at each other in disbelief that the Little Man had finally found his barker and Jasper stood behind Boo trying to figure out what she was looking at and where all the noise came from. To this day, Jasper still looks a little confused when a bark escapes his Golden mouth.
Jasper had to wear a muzzle until he was about a year and a half old. We would get the strangest looks when we took him to the park or for a walk. People would comment that they had never met an aggressive Golden Retriever before. We responded by asking if they had ever met a Golden Retriever that ate EVERYTHING before? They usually responded with a knowing nod of the head and a smile. Anyone who has ever owned a Golden knows that they will eat anything – edible or not – it does not matter.
Jasper’s official title of Habitual Thief and Master Counter-Surfer is a title the Little Man takes seriously. If Jasper is not sleeping or eating he is more than likely in trouble. And that trouble most likely revolves around the thievery of any object that smells like one of his humans or food. Some of his favorite personal items are socks, shoes, sweatshirts and t-shirts – but any old thing will do – including iPhones, moisturizing cream and a mouth guard to name a few. Jasper’s absolute favorite items to steal are pillows. Part of the pillow thievery revolves around playing chase. He knows if he walks by one of his humans with a pillow dangling from his mouth, he will more than likely be chased by that human. According to Jasper there is nothing better than a game of ‘keep away’ with one or both of his humans. But Jasper also just likes pillows. He likes to sleep with his head elevated. If Jaspy wants to take a nap in the living room, he will go into one of the bedrooms and grab a pillow and take it into the living room, set it down and lie next to it, put his head on it and go to sleep.
Jasper is continually checking out what is on the kitchen counter or table. He loves to steal kitchen towels or potholders, if he can reach them, and to check out what is in the kitchen sink that he might be able to grab. His humans keep the kitchen counter and table clean of items Jasper might take, but he has still managed to score a few items. His biggest booty was 5 homemade oat bran muffins that he and Schatz (his partner in crime) split. The Little Man pulled them off the counter, because Schatzi is too short, and they ate them together while Boo watched. He has also managed the occasional banana and bread crust as well. It doesn’t pay to leave anything near the edge of the counter in our house.
It is hard to go anywhere without the Little Man at our heels. He follows us everywhere and if we are not going anywhere he will lay under the desk one of his humans is working at or at the feet of the other. He is a typical Golden and it is hard to move without stepping on or backing into the Little Man. Sometimes – if we stop too quickly – he runs into the back of us because he was following us that close.
Life with Jasper is interesting. He knows how to keep us busy. Even though the Little Man can be a bit annoying – especially when you are trying to wipe off his wet paws and he grabs the towel and runs out into the rain with it – it is hard not to just be swept up in his carefree, fun-loving attitude. He is such a Golden Boy – always under foot, always wagging his tail and always looking for ways to have fun. We are incredibly grateful that his birth defect was fixable. It is hard to imagine what our day would be like without our Little Man in our home and hearts.