Phoenix

Sire: Braeview the Kingmaker
Dam: Honey of Frandale

Whelped:10/1/2002

Phoenix was my first golden and is a beautiful pet. I have dabbled in agility and a tiny bit of obedience with her but really she is mainly a pet who lives with us and enjoys herself, mostly. She does have one or two phobias, e.g. she doesn't like thunder and tends to be a bit claustrophobic. But other than that, she is a lovely pet. She is very gentle and light on her feet and loves nothing more than to have a tug of war with whoever might be around to play, be it human or dog!

About three years ago she was diagnosed with cataracts forming in her eyes. Then a year ago we discovered that she also had retinal degeneration. She is 8 years old now and is partially blind. We may decide to have the cataracts operated on some time this year, but there is no cure for the retinal degeneration which will eventually make her totally blind. So it will be interesting to see how she gets on over the next couple of years. At the moment, even though her eyesight is generally poor, when we go for walks in the bush, even at night, she is far better finding her way along the path than I am. I who have to have a torch and fall off the path if I am not careful. Dogs obviously work on other senses than eyesight to guide them. We will have to help her though and it will be a challenge but one that we will face together. Phoenix was spayed when she was young so we will not be passing this particular problem on to others.

To find out more about how Phoenix came into our lives, go to the My Life with Animals page.