It's hard to believe that our little four-legged son turns one year old today. On December 2nd of 2014, we had to put our beloved golden retriever Hutch down due to complications from cancer. He was 9 years old.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Neither Chris or I wanted another dog right away as we were dealing with the heartbreak of losing him. As time went on, I started pushing to get another dog. We wanted another golden retriever because they are just such great dogs. I was telling Chris that I wanted a red golden retriever because that way I would be able to easily identify which dog was which in photos. I told her if we got a red golden we could name it Hagar after Sammy Hagar The Red Rocker, and after the cartoon character Hagar The Horrible.

I kept talking about getting a dog for years and Chris just kept saying no. This past Christmas Eve, after Chris, Ian, and I exchanged Christmas presents, Chris told me that there was another present on the side of the love-seat. When I reached down and grabbed the present, I noticed it was for me. When I opened up the gift, I noticed there was a dog collar inside with the name tag Hagar. I started looking back and forth across the room waiting to see a puppy come running in. But that didn't happen.

It turned out that Chris and Ian picked Hagar out of a litter of eight puppies and we had to wait until he was 8 weeks old before we could bring him home. Hagar was born in Rome Pennsylvania on Veterans Day November 11th 2019. We picked him up in early January and brought him home to our house in Endicott.

Over the past year, Hagar has provided us with a lot of love and great memories, as well as moments of anxiety. There was the time where he found an empty ink cartridge in a wastepaper basket in our den. He proceeded to on chew that while we were at golf one night and we came home to a blue puppy. A couple of times he ripped apart decorative pin cushion pillows and left the sawdust like stuffing from them on the cream colored carpeting in our house. And then there was the time where he unzipped his bed and threw the stuffing all over our kitchen.

But all in all, It has been a great first year. He is a friendly, sweet dog that has filled a void in our hearts and home since we lost Hutch. Below are month by month photos of Hagar starting from when he was 3 weeks old, up to a picture we took last night of him.

Happy birthday, Hagar! Mommy, daddy, and your brother Ian love you.

Hagar's First Year of Life

 

KEEP LOOKING: See What 50 of America's Most 'Pupular' Dog Breeds Look Like as Puppies

 

Check out these 50 fascinating facts about dogs:

More From 99.1 The Whale