The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) - Two Hundred Golden Retrievers Say "I Do"

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

This year's annual Golden Rescue Picnic, in Peterborough Ontario, is competing for two Guiness World Book Records: The Most Golden Retrievers Married and The Biggest Dog Cake. Find out if they win and why the heck a cuddly Golden Retriever needs a rescue organization in the first place. And wait... is that Lloyd Robertson in a gold robe officiating the wedding? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, it was a long time ago, over 20 years, and we saw a booth for Golden Rescue at the Sportsman Show. They had Goldens outside the booth, so of course we went to say hello because we already had a Golden. And we just assumed that they were training dogs to rescue. It never occurred to us that Goldens needed a rescue organization. I mean not these lovable goofballs. I mean you can understand it for different breeds and for you know grey hounds who are finished their racing careers but not Goldens. I mean, who would ever give up a Golden?

One of the reasons why Goldens need to be rescued is because there are tens of thousands of Golden Retrievers in Ontario. And so what sometimes happens is somebody moves out of the country, somebody has a family change. I got one rescue that the kids became allergic or one of the kids became allergic to dogs and it just wasn't kind to the dog, eat the dog in the basement.

So they had to give him up. So there's all kinds of reasons. At the end of the day, with Golden Rescue, the one thing you know is that they go into a foster home, they get vet check, they get exposed to kids and other dogs. So you get a full assessment. So you're not just walking into a blind. Oh, well we've rescued almost 4800 goldens, so every story is different. But sometimes we get a veterinary office call us and they say that someone brought their golden in

who had a broken leg and they didn't have the money to fix them, so they ask them to euthanize them. So then the vet office would call us and ask us if we would take the golden and of course we would pay to get their leg fixed and we'd enter the program. There was a car driving down highway 7 and the car in front of them rolled their window down and threw 10 year old Asher out the window of a moving car. I mean it's just it's just unbelievable. Then there was at Casino Rama called this once and they said a golden had

been let loose in their parking lot and the words free were sprayed on either side of her. Another notable one for me is we found a pair Thelma and Louise north of Montreal. We named them Thelma and Louise, north of Montreal. We named them Thelma and Louise. They were 11 and 12 years old and somebody had dumped them in the forest far, far away from anything. And before they dumped them,

they even cut their microchips out. So, you know, we have heartbreaking stories after heartbreaking stories. There are so many goldens that had we not rescued them, they would not be alive today. Keely would not be alive today had Golden Rescue not saved her from Cairo. Golden Rescue has brought almost 1500 goldens from Turkey and Egypt, and Keeley was one of them. We are truly one world, and we need to help these beautiful creatures

who don't have a voice. So we want to introduce you today to some of these lovely pups. Kaelin from Istanbul. Next is Dane's Bond. Kyra. From Kyra. Ling.

And Ophira. And Ophira from Kyra. Jewel From Istanbul. Hi Dule. I remember bringing you. Yep. Yes, it was a good day. We got Dule, she's a rescue from Turkey.

We have her about two and a half years. She's a sweetheart. Seniors are just, they have a special place in my heart really. You know puppies are a huge amount of work. I know lots of people, friends and family who have gotten puppies and it's always one of those things where it turns into you know we have to let them out 15 times in the night some days and it's a lot of training. Anytime you get an older dog there's some bad habits baked in but you you also just get a calm, gentle dog.

If you have children in the house, as long as it's a dog that's good with kids, it's just so much easier to just get them settled in, and they don't need as much walking, they don't need as much energy in general. Older dogs are the best. The Golden Rescue Picnic is a really spectacular day. It kind of started off as a, you know, 30 years ago, it started off as a thank you to the volunteers and it was very small. And now it's gotten very big over the years, so in a normal year we'll have 200 dogs here, which is a lot. I'm here today with my two rescues Lemmy and Cobalt.

I own a small resort and so Golden Rescue kind of provides us with resort dogs, which is super fun. So every once in a while I get a phone call saying, you know, we've got the absolute perfect dog for you. He's well behaved with kids and other dogs and cats and squirrels and everything else. And so both Cobalt and Lemmy came to me that way. They're both just the perfect golden retriever. We're gonna get ready with three, two, one, go! Lemmy's not sure.

Slow and steady wins the race, ladies and gentlemen, with a few quick snips along the way. Come here, Lemmy. Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Lemmy! Welcome everyone. We're about to have the wedding ceremony. Well, you know what that's about. Get me to the church on time. As you all know, this afternoon we'll be attempting two Guinness World Records. One for the largest dog cake ever baked, which is gonna be close to 400 pounds,

and will be moved by forklift. Months in advance, we had to submit a recipe and everything. So this one is a lot of peanut butter, dog safe peanut butter specifically. It's got flour, it's got carrots, it's got some eggs, it's got some honey, and the icing is pumpkin and cream cheese. So it's, it's, you know, dogs can eat this without issue, but even humans could try a piece of it. And we're also doing the largest ever dog wedding, so we're hoping to wed about 200 or probably about 180 pairs of dogs to each other. No, you've got a tension span of a goldfish right now.

Representing Church Street, love is love. So it's my great honour, I'd like to introduce you to the legendary news anchor and golden lover, Lloyd Robertson, to perform the wedding ceremony. Hi everybody. Great to be here with you today. I have been asked when I came up here, had you ever done this before? That is officiate at a dog ceremony, a dog wedding. And I said no. But I have a very legitimate reason for being here. This is the book of vows by the way I have a very legitimate reason for being here because I'm the grandfather of JB James Bond from Cairo

Right over there We are gathered here to witness a very special union between these committed canines who want to announce their love for one another. Now, I have talked to each one of them, and one thing has become very clear. They want to share their lives together. All that entails. But with one tiny caveat. They don't want to share their food.

Oh, one more thing. Most of them wanted treats excluded as well. Can you imagine? So please join me while these beautiful couples hold their paws and share their vows. I promise to love and honor but not obey you. Share my life with you and all my worldly possessions except for food, toys, and treats. I promise this in front of all of my friends, family, and loved ones gathered here today. Yes, you may bark to consent.

Let's hear another one. Any more? More! That's the idea. Bark it, bark it. Barking to consent. Well done. I now pronounce you companions in marriage.

Congratulations. You may lick your partner. And now, let them eat cake! If the cake splatters all over the road, we'll have quite a feast on the way out. It's coming right in front of here. Oh, like we're literally going to have this record title title today but for the largest cake for dogs the record to beat is 141.03 kilos And for Golden Rescue, your final result is... ...188. Congratulations! Thank you so much!

I think what brings me the greatest joy is matching families with Goldens who are sometimes not only getting a second chance, but they are getting their only chance. you