Golden retriever Charlie is in his terrible teen stage of life — and is absolutely thriving.
Charlie’s owner, Alysha Bathman, got him when he was 10 weeks old at the end of July 2023. He’s now 10 months old and fits his golden retriever stereotype of being energetic, friendly and food-loving.
“He’s always been super jumpy and very playful,” Ms Bathman said.
“He just always wants to be with everybody, in true golden retriever style.”
He has a special appreciation for nature.
“He loves sticks. He’ll pick one up every time we go for a walk,” Ms Bathman said.
“It’s gotten to the point where we don’t even go very far because he picks a stick up but can’t quite get it to stay in his mouth, and he drops it, and then he’s got to go back and pick it up.”
Especially animals.
“He likes crickets at the moment because there’s so many around — he likes to chase them.”
Although he’s good-natured, Charlie can be a bit of a menace.
“When he was a puppy, he would jump up and grab on to things,” Ms Bathman said.
“He likes to destroy things if he gets bored, so he has to be stimulated a lot of the time.
“He’s destroyed a shirt, and my pyjamas have a massive hole in them.
“I’m hoping this winter when I wear my dressing gown that he doesn’t try to hold on to it and drag along.”
Even when Ms Bathman tried to toilet-train him, he wasn’t having it.
“At the start, I tried to use the pee pads, but he would destroy them,” she said.
“He would pull and rip them and wouldn’t even use them.”
But Charlie’s pretty lucky — he can go in and outside as he pleases.
“It wasn’t the intention to have an inside dog, it kind of just happened,” Ms Bathman said.
“He was meant to be outside at night, but that just didn’t happen.
“I think I felt really guilty (leaving him outside) because it was winter when I got him.”
Ms Bathman said when he was running, Charlie resembled a particular movie character.
“When he’s running along, his ears fold back a certain way and he’ll look like Dobby out of Harry Potter,” she said.
Charlie loves his feline housemate, especially her toys and food, but she’s not too sure about him.
“He loves the cat; the cat doesn’t love him,” Ms Bathman said.
“Occasionally, you might see them getting close. If I’m holding her, he’ll come up and lick her.
“When it’s time to come inside for the night, he’ll go outside and round up Tilly (the cat) like a sheepdog.
“But she tends to run away from him when he chases her.