PHOTOS BY JEFFREY LIM
JENNIFER BAÑARES’ LIFE WITH GOLDEN RETRIEVERS
Animal Scene interviewed Jennifer Bañares of Jabudits Kennel recently about her Golden family. She gave us a personal look into life with Golden Retrievers.
Animal Scene: What are your Goldens’ names? Why were they named as such?
Jennifer Bañares: The biggest one in the photo is Bubbles. She was actually named after our previous beloved Golden who died almost 15 years ago. Her name was Tiny, and as a form of endearment, we used to refer to her as Tiny Bubbles. She was a bubbly, kind, smart baby whom we loved so much. We named her Bubbles in the hopes that she would take after her namesake.
Venus is Bubbles’ mom. She was named after the Roman Goddess of Beauty, the counterpart of Aphrodite. We fell in love with her at first sight due to her beauty, so we named her as such.
King is Bubbles’ father. He was named King because even as a puppy he looked so regal and handsome.
Counting the Goldens that we had the honor to bring here, we have in total 28 more Golden Retrievers. All of them are well taken care of and loved.
Hera, our other Golden, was named after the Greek goddess Hera, the protector of women. We named her as such because when we saw her, she looked so beautiful and strong, very much like the Greek Goddess she was named after.
AS: Do you have other animal companions? How does your Golden Retriever interact with them?
JB: We have 28 Golden Retrievers in total. They are like children — each one differs in personality and temperament. No two of them are exactly the same. Some are well-behaved, some are
very clingy, and some are very feisty. Nevertheless, they are one big, happy, and playful pack.
AS: How do they handle interaction with humans?
JB: Bubbles and our other Golden Retrievers are very friendly to others. We would often joke around that if
we were robbed, our Goldens would welcome the robber. However, as each and every dog is different in their own way, some of our Golden Retrievers may tend to go with strangers. Others, however, like Bubbles and Hera, will interact with strangers but will not go anywhere with them and will always look for us.
AS: What quirks do your Goldens have?
JB: I don’t know if you would call it a quirk, but Bubbles prefers to stay under the bed. She is also very easily trained. We were quite surprised when we looked at old photos and videos of Bubbles because we learned that we trained her at a very young age to
sit and wait for her food. We attribute this to the possibility that Bubbles may have learned obedience from watching our older trained Goldens.
Venus is very clingy and is an attention-seeker. She will continuously nudge you until you give her attention. Hera, on the other hand, really loves playing with bottles and can stand on two feet without support — oh, and she hates stairs for some reason.
It would take me a whole day to enumerate each and every quirk our Goldens have.
AS: How do you keep them physically active?
JB: We keep our dogs physically active by playing with them. Playing catch and fetch are the most common methods. Our Goldens always play with each other, and they do “zoomies” around the house.
AS: How often do you groom them?
JB: We groom our Goldens twice a month.
AS: What kind of diet do you give them?
JB: We give them a mixture of wet and dry food. Daily vitamins and occasionally milk, chicken liver, and ground pork. Each of our dogs has a different diet. We also portion their food carefully since we know that obesity and overfeeding are very common in Golden Retrievers.
AS: Are there any interesting anecdotes or stories you want to share?
JB: I fell in love with the breed because of our first Golden, Ace. He came to my life through a dear friend, Roderick Lapizar. Ace was well-behaved, always proud, and loud. He was a huge and handsome boy who gave me so much love and adventure.
Ace also gave me Chelsea, my first-ever home-bred Golden. Just like his dad Ace, she was well-behaved, well-mannered, and so loving.
They were the reason why I fell head over heels in love with Golden Retrievers. Right now, we have 28 Golden retrievers, which is 28 more bundles of unconditional love, joy, and laughter.
Golden Retrievers are just so irresistible. You can’t get enough of them. That’s how much I fell in love with them. We can’t thank them enough for they are indeed the ones who gave us light during our most difficult times and gave us so much unconditional love.
AS: If you could talk to Ace and Chelsea now, what would you say?
JB: Rest in peace, Ace and Chelsea, you are always wowa’s best babies. Know that you are loved and never forgotten. Wowa misses you so much. I can’t thank you enough for the life and legacy you left for me. I love you so much.
AS: Any final words and people you’d like to thank?
JB: Never underestimate the power of a female pack leader. Many pamper their dogs by hand. I do it with heart.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mister Richard Lim of Golden Utopia Kennel, and Donn Christian Seguerra of Oakley Kennel for sharing the line; our trusted veterinarians, Dr. Jeremiah Arevalo and Dra. Sunshine Magbuhos Arevalo of Happy Paws Animal Care; Dr. Norbert John Robles and Dra. Amanda Khristina Paredes of Petlink Vet; Dra. Lilibeth Cheng, Dra. Kathleen Lomongo, Dr. Renedave Tacba, and Dr. Jun Chua Espinosa of Real Good Fellas Veterinary Clinic. Thank you for all the guidance, learning, and assistance.
