Zoey & Champ

Megan and Rob are expecting their first human child and wanted to capture memories with their two senior dogs before their family grows.

Zoey
Crazy, Sassy, Center Of Attention
11 years old
Black Labrador Retrievers

Champ
Stoic, Calm, Protector, Loving
13 years old
Black Labrador Retrievers

How did you choose their names?
“Rob chose Champ’s name.” Megan started.
“Yeah, I got him as ‘Marty’ and was going to change it to ‘Rocky’, but that was Megan’s childhood dogs name. Then the name Champ came up and I liked it. And Megan chose Zoey’s name.”
Megan explained, “When I was a kid I had a friend who had a black lab named Zoey, so that came to mind and I started calling her Zoey while trying to decide and it stuck.”

What your favourite thing to do with your dogs?
“We really like to hike with them. We go up to Blue Mountain pretty often and to walk around.”

Do they have any funny quirks or habits?
“Zoey is smart. She’s figured out that when she wants something that Champ has, all she has to do is start barking. That makes Champ curious because he acts like a guard dog, so he’ll leave whatever he’s doing to check what the barking is about and then Zoey will steal whatever it was she wanted from him.” Megan explained.
“Champ was funny as a puppy because he didn’t like going for walks and I’d have to carry him home. He’s also doesn’t like playing fetch or going swimming. He’s always been an old man.” Rob added.

How did you become a family?
“We’ve know each other since highschool and when we got together later in life Rob already had Champ. A year later when we moved in together we realized Champ hadn’t been home by himself a lot and now he would be, so we wanted to get him a friend. We looked for a similar breed and found Zoey on a farm in Niagara. We drove up - unsure if we were going to take home a dog that day - but when we saw her we just couldn’t leave her. Despite our plans for Champ to have a friend, he didn’t really like her at first. He was grown up and didn’t enjoy her puppy energy. However, as she grew Champ began to show signs of warming up; he started to leave her a little bit of his dinner. He’d eat up and then leave a little left for her in his bowl, or drop it on the floor for her. Since then they’ve been bonded and truly love each other.”

What’s one of your funniest memories with them?
“The first time I went over to Rob’s house and met Champ we were watching a movie on the bed and Champ jumped up with us and would not get off. It was a small bed and he’s a big dog so we were all squished and that made us laugh! And, one time we were at a friends cottage and there was a river near by. Zoey decided she’d try to swim from one side to the other but the current was really strong. She’d make it about half way before being carried downstream. At first we were worried, but Zoey managed to get herself to the shoreline and swim back upstream. Then, she did it again! And again and again. She was having a great time and it was funny watching her go in circles. She probably did it for an hour! It was a crazy long time considering how much energy it takes to swim back upstream each time.”