August the golden retriever celebrated her 20th birthday surrounded by her loved ones and with a dog-friendly, beautiful cake back in 2020. Little did Augie know that as she licked off the frosting from her cake, she was actually making history.
Although she crossed the rainbow bridge in 2021 when she was 20 years and 11 months, she will never be forgotten.
Augie turned 20 in 2020 and became the oldest living golden retriever.
Accounts show that there were goldens that lived to 17 or 18 and there are also some stories about 19-year-old golden retrievers; however, Augie is the first official dog to reach this rare age of 20.
This info was shared by Golden Hearts, a blog that shared Augie’s story first.
Augie: The Oldest Living Golden Retriever Made History
The news of Augie being the oldest golden retriever was confirmed by Maryland’s GoldHeart Golden Retrievers Rescue.
They wrote in a post on Facebook that Augie is indeed the oldest known, oldest living golden retriever.
Augie’s birthday was on the 24th of April and she celebrated it with her humans Jennifer and Steve Hetterscheidt, but also with her three furry siblings in their home in Oakland, Tennessee.
Initially, the family planned a 100-person party, but the pandemic canceled their original plan, but they made sure Augie feels loved.
They made carrot cake and decorated the home beautifully. She also got treated with her favorites like bread, pasta, and blueberries, all in moderation.
The Beautiful Story of the Oldest Living Golden & the 19th Oldest Dog ever
Augie’s humans adopted her when she was 14 after she was rehomed twice. Jennifer worked at a golden retriever rescue organization in Nevada and as soon as she spotted Augie, she liked her right away.
Jennifer says she was a loving and darling dog that didn’t have one thing not to love about her. She was a dog happy doing something, but also happy when she did nothing. It was hard when they lost her and living without her was unimaginable.
Despite being a senior dog when her humans adopted her, she and her humans took a lot of road trips through the country and spent countless summers near the pool.
At the age of 20, Augie was slower and wobbly and she was an easy dog to care for, but they paid so much attention to her because of her age and because they loved her so much.
The family lost Augie on 31st March in 2021 and in dog years, she had more than 100! In a goodbye post, Jennifer wrote an emotional message to their followers:
“It’s with profound sadness that I tell you Miss Augie passed away. Augie, in her own way, told me her little body just couldn’t go on anymore, that she was so very, very tired and, it was okay to let her go.”
The family has cared for several aging golden retrievers throughout the years, but Augie left the deepest trace and lived to the fullest.
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