Teddy Bear Wilson

The house has been silent for days... no more fluffy tumbleweeds dancing across the floor. No more wagging tails, panting smiles, and the sound of a squeaking toy. The strangest of things serve as reminders... the ice cube machine for one. 3 beloved family dogs & 3 tearful goodbyes. Teddy Bear Wilson, 6 months & 22 days, of Springfield, crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday, August 18, 2022. Teddy was born January 27, 2022 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was brought to what was to be his forever home in April. He was a little English Cream Golden Retriever whose stuffed animal like appearance was supposed to help heal our hearts and raise the spirits of our family after losing our dog, Molly. His older brother, Beau, never seemed to share the same love for him as the rest of our family but we were thankful that we had Teddy when Beau left us in June. Teddy was very observant, LOVED water and the outdoors, cuddling with his snuggle puppy and enjoyed playing with each of his plethora of toys. He loved to meet new people and other dogs. He was an avid fetch player, a member of the come-chase-me club, was very fond of chest rubs and had acquired a taste for grass, perhaps a health food junky… also loving bananas, cantaloupe, mangos, apples, carrots and ice cubes. In the early weeks of Teddy's time as a Wilson extreme resource guarding became an evident issue, starting with his food and then overtime it expanded to include everything that he placed value in at that specific time. Adjustments were made in every interaction that was had with him to prevent or redirect this issue. We consulted several trainers in and outside of the Springfield area, golden breeders, a number of vets and read thru many articles, all stating the same things… "not the dog for you"… "dead shark eyes"... "development issue"... "euthanasia"... "birth issue"... "never be the dog you thought you were getting", and "contact the breeder for a refund"…. All things we didn’t want to hear and it ripped any ounce of hope that we had from us. We tried everything that we possibly could. After speaking with the breeder over several weeks we heard more about how he was the smallest of his litter… half the size of his siblings… the last born... this likely was the reason for his behavior, issues that began even before his born. Underdeveloped. We decided to just give things some time for us and for him. We began to see some progress only in how loving he was with us but even with our growing love, the bond we shared with him and the adjustments in how we interacted with him, his aggressive behaviors with his resource guarding became unpredictable and after some unfortunate events over the last coupe of weeks the decision had to be made that we couldn't take any more time. Rehoming was not an option, we couldn't bare the thought of having him in a home that would choose violence or neglect as a response for a behavior that he simply couldn't turn off, his brain wasn't equipped to do so. On the evening of Monday August 15, 2022, as we were spending what we knew would be the last of our evenings with our Teddy Bear, our thoughts were confirmed that there was something wrong with his brain function and he had a seizure. We cuddled and calmed him and over the next couple of days we played longer and later, fed him all of his favorite foods, and let him open the last of his bark boxes. On Thursday August 18, 2022, we said our goodbyes. He leaves behind his family, Zack, Katie & Lily. As our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing that we did all that we possibly could to be able to keep him, gave him all the love and toys that he wanted, and that as we peel away the layers of his issues that we are also giving him peace. We would like to thank our dog expert friends for their advice, the trainers who were straight with us, our team of vets that we confided in and have shared in our year of losses. Once again, thank you also to our Butler Family serving in our Pet Services department for caring for Teddy and allowing it possible for us to have him back home with us so quickly complete with some memorial keepsakes.

Teddy Bear Wilson

January 27, 2022 - August 18, 2022