THE MINTENKOS

A basket of golden retriever puppies on the cover of the Burnaby Now in January 1999 caught Bob’s eye. PADS was looking for puppy raisers for their newest litter (the S litter) – Sarge, Seymour, Strider, Sully, Sadie, Sage, and Sydney. So, we decided to become involved and in late March we got the call that our “baby” had arrived, a chocolate lab named Milhouse. I remember asking as in Richard Milhouse Nixon? No, Ann said, as in the Simpsons TV show – Ron, being a big fan, had named this pup.

We spent the next six months taking that boy to work, attending puppy class and socializing him. In October, he was neutered and then we did a puppy swap. Those two events seemed to do him in and his anxiety and lack of confidence became very evident. Milhouse chose his career as a family pet. So, we adopted him and, because he did not like to be left alone for any length of time, Bob took him to work at Transport Canada for 12 years. He had the title of Supervisor of Aircraft and Hangar Security and his picture was on the wall with all the other staff. He even had his own parking stall for a while!

When Milhouse was 4, our family grew to include our son and Milhouse was the best fur brother ever, though at times could be a bit over protective. He loved that boy and the feeling was mutual. What fun we all had camping and swimming and travelling. Many wonderful adventures.

Milhouse attended doggy daycare for the last 2 years of his life, and he loved it and they loved him. He really didn’t slow down until he turned 14. We said goodbye just 3 days shy of his 15th birthday.

Over those years we did what we could to support PADS through donations and keeping track of the organization. In 2015, we decided we were ready to have pups back in our lives and became PADS sitters. Since then we have sat 15 PADS puppies, some once and some one weekend or more a month. We have met some wonderful people, reconnected with others, and have thoroughly enjoyed our experiences. What a wonderful organization and such a pleasure to support the great work they do. Here’s to 30 more years!! Congratulations.