June 27, 2023 • 9 mins
Dog Gone
Episode 04: Tribute - Spencer “Boston Marathon” (Golden Retriever)
Jason Connell pays tribute to the passing of Rich Power's dog, Spencer, who was the Official Dog of the Boston Marathon.
Spencer (Golden Retriever)
unknown - February 17th, 2023
(~13 years, 6 months old)
Recorded: 06-27-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/
Listen:
https://DogGone.buzzsprout.com/
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC79bCAKHdtgfu3Yl8TlLbEA/
Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/DogGonePodcast/
https://www.instagram.com/DogGonePodcast/
Host:
https://www.instagram.com/MrJasonConnell/
#justcuriousmedia #doggone #mrjasonconnell #pets #puppies #dogoftheday #doglover #ilovemydog #puppylove #animals #doggy #doglife #lovedogs #animal #adorable #doglove #bestwoof #mansbestfriend #spencer #goldenretriever #bostonmarathondogspencer
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jason Connell (00:01):
Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious
media. This is dog gone. And I'mJason Connell. So for those of
you who are unaware and do notknow what you're listening to or
watching, this is a dog loverspodcast devoted to honoring the
lives and memories of man's bestfriend. And today I do not have
(00:24):
a guest on the show. So I'vesort of invented these tribute
episodes as we build momentumand have more people on to share
their dogs lives to celebratetheir dogs lives. But I've been
reading the headlines even whenthings stand out like this
headline did. I have to get instudio and do an episode on it
for Dog Gone. And here's theheadline. Spencer, beloved
(00:49):
Boston Marathon dog dies afterbattle with cancer. So this hit
me very deeply and profoundly. Iwatched the video I saw photos
and Spencer was very popular.
And I just want to share whatlittle bit I know about his life
and a video. And by the way, Iwill show you a photo of Spencer
(01:11):
right now. Here he is holding aflag in his mouth. And on one
side it shows Boston strong weare Boston Strong. So Spencer,
this golden retriever would goout and stand sit down and watch
runners go by the owners and himlived right where the path some
(01:34):
point in the race of BostonMarathon which is like 26 miles.
And having you know recentlylived in the Boston area, I was
even more touch like oh my gosh,I wish I had seen Spencer, I
wish I had gone to the BostonMarathon. I lived there for two
of them, avoided the areabecause I'm not a runner and
traffic's crazy, but it's sowonderful to see runners come up
(01:56):
during the race pet him. It'sreally beautiful. And for him to
be just honored in lots of wayswhich I'm going to get into. So
I read this and here's theinformation I do have on
Spencer. So he's a goldenretriever who became famous for
cheering on runners each yearduring the Boston Marathon and
he passed away Friday, February17, 2023. So Spencer's owner
(02:20):
rich power's shared thefollowing. We told him, we loved
him. And we thanked him untilhis last breath. He was a gift
given to us that we shared withthe world. And we just gave it
back. Wow, I would love to getrich powers on the show because
(02:41):
he's also in the news clip I'mgoing to show and he's just very
emotional and it's raw and allof us dog lovers that have lost
a dog. We can sympathizecompletely and Rich's actually
sympathizing with others becausehe knows anyone who's had a dog
has probably gone through this.
(03:02):
So Spencer was 13 and a halfyears old, and in October was
diagnosed with untreatable livercancer. It was the second time
Spencer battled cancerpreviously having a tumor
removed in 2020. So you knowwhat, I'm so happy to know that
Spencer got to the age of 13 anda half and then some me that was
(03:24):
approximation on his age, butthat's a beautiful thing. To
lose a dog is very hard to losethem early is even harder. So I
love this. I love that he's acelebrated golden retriever
sidebar to this whole story. Irecently brought a new dog into
my life with Sophia. And he hashe was when we got him a 10 week
(03:48):
old Golden Retriever named Otisfull name Otis Patrick. He's now
like 11 and a half weeks. So I'mgoing through this metamorphosis
and opening up to a new dog inthe family after losing Niko
over a year ago. And then ofcourse, I read about this golden
retriever and it's just like, ohmy gosh, so it's just a lot
(04:10):
happening within me and I reallywanted to get in the studio and
and do more of these tributes aswe line up more guests to come
on the show because it's not aneasy thing to say. Yes, I want
to talk about my dog passing andyes, I want to go on a podcast
and do that. But I believe withmomentum and just tenacity and
just continue to hold our bandare high. We will get more
(04:31):
people. So powers. Spencer'sowner father says the following
as well, throughout all of histreatments. I cannot stress this
enough. This dog handled it likea champ. He gave us his last
gift to not make us wonder forthe rest of our lives. Did we
(04:51):
make the right decision? We knowhe made the right decision. And
I'm assuming they're referringto do we put him down? There's
that whole thing I recently wentthrough this where a year ago, I
was at that point like, Oh, he'sso sick and he was so sick. You
know, if he stays like this, Iwill absolutely have to do this
for his benefit. And the nextday, he passed away. Like the
(05:14):
whole thing was the plan thatnight to have someone come over
and, you know, humanelyeuthanize him. And that decision
alone was killing me. And hejust knew, and expired in the
backyard very peacefully. So I'massuming that's what powers is
referring to. If we have him onthe show, we can obviously
(05:37):
explore that more if he wants toso this past January, artist
unveiled a massive portrait ofSpencer at the Fairmount Copley
Plaza, as he was named thehonorary canine ambassador for
the hotel. And here is thatportrait, right there. How
(05:57):
awesome is that? And that isSpencer looking at his portrait.
And here's a photo of Spencer,by the way. And that's him being
honored. And of course, Spencerwill always be remembered as the
official dog of the BostonMarathon. So this guy is a
celebrity. And he had an amazingrun, no pun intended to all the
(06:20):
marathon runners who met Spencerover the years. But I now want
to show this news clip whichjust really touched me. And I
wanted to save it to the endbecause it's a little tough to
get through. So bear with me,just over a minute. So here we
go. It was
Media (06:38):
meant the world to me, my wife, and a lot of people and
and people just inspired so manypeople, but dogs since 2015.
Spencer was a fixture along themarathon route. giving a boost
(07:04):
to exhausted runners as theystared down a grueling race. We
recognized immediately from thestart what a special boy he was.
He was very in tune. He was veryit was almost like a visiting
Angel. Spencer's cancer returnedlast fall and he was doing so
well. His owners hoped he couldmake this year's marathon. Just
(07:24):
last month with his signatureBoston Strong flag. Spencer was
on hand at the Fairmont CopleyPlaza as a massive portrait was
unveiled. He had an unbelievablelife right to the very last
minute, it now hangs in hisowners home honoring a special
dog who inspired countless livesand Spencer was easy to relate
to, because everybody's got tospend your story. You know,
(07:48):
everybody can relate to him, hebeat the odds and gives hope to
a lot of people in the same waywe could really use.
Jason Connell (07:54):
Wow, that is very touching. Everybody has a
Spencer. Such true rich,everybody does. But this was one
special dog, I mean, honorshowing up so well trained, he
looks like an angel. He sittingthere with this stick in his
mouth with flags on both sides,and was just not even on a leash
(08:18):
just chilling, knowing he'sthere to inspire others. Whoo..
that's a tough one and abeautiful one. And I was just
honored to talk about Spencerhere. I wish that I had met him
in person. But this is our wayof honoring him. So anybody out
(08:39):
there that wants to come on ourshow, like I just talked about
earlier, and is experiencing apassing or has a fond memory of
a dog from the past. We'd loveto have you on the podcast. And
if not that, then getting yourinformation and doing a tribute
episode just like this. So thankyou so much for listening, and
please be sure to subscribe tothe Dog Gone podcast and the Dog
(09:03):
Gone YouTube Live Channel. Youcan also really help us by
giving the show a five starrating on Apple podcast. And for
all your listeners that enjoysharing your thoughts. You can
leave us a review on Applepodcast send us a direct message
or post a comment on any DogGone social media platform. We
also highly recommend checkingout our other podcast and
(09:23):
visiting justcuriousmedia.com
Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious
media. This is dog gone. And I'mJason Connell. So for those of
you who are unaware and do notknow what you're listening to or
watching, this is a dog loverspodcast devoted to honoring the
lives and memories of man's bestfriend. And today I do not have
(00:24):
a guest on the show. So I'vesort of invented these tribute
episodes as we build momentumand have more people on to share
their dogs lives to celebratetheir dogs lives. But I've been
reading the headlines even whenthings stand out like this
headline did. I have to get instudio and do an episode on it
for Dog Gone. And here's theheadline. Spencer, beloved
(00:49):
Boston Marathon dog dies afterbattle with cancer. So this hit
me very deeply and profoundly. Iwatched the video I saw photos
and Spencer was very popular.
And I just want to share whatlittle bit I know about his life
and a video. And by the way, Iwill show you a photo of Spencer
(01:11):
right now. Here he is holding aflag in his mouth. And on one
side it shows Boston strong weare Boston Strong. So Spencer,
this golden retriever would goout and stand sit down and watch
runners go by the owners and himlived right where the path some
(01:34):
point in the race of BostonMarathon which is like 26 miles.
And having you know recentlylived in the Boston area, I was
even more touch like oh my gosh,I wish I had seen Spencer, I
wish I had gone to the BostonMarathon. I lived there for two
of them, avoided the areabecause I'm not a runner and
traffic's crazy, but it's sowonderful to see runners come up
(01:56):
during the race pet him. It'sreally beautiful. And for him to
be just honored in lots of wayswhich I'm going to get into. So
I read this and here's theinformation I do have on
Spencer. So he's a goldenretriever who became famous for
cheering on runners each yearduring the Boston Marathon and
he passed away Friday, February17, 2023. So Spencer's owner
(02:20):
rich power's shared thefollowing. We told him, we loved
him. And we thanked him untilhis last breath. He was a gift
given to us that we shared withthe world. And we just gave it
back. Wow, I would love to getrich powers on the show because
(02:41):
he's also in the news clip I'mgoing to show and he's just very
emotional and it's raw and allof us dog lovers that have lost
a dog. We can sympathizecompletely and Rich's actually
sympathizing with others becausehe knows anyone who's had a dog
has probably gone through this.
(03:02):
So Spencer was 13 and a halfyears old, and in October was
diagnosed with untreatable livercancer. It was the second time
Spencer battled cancerpreviously having a tumor
removed in 2020. So you knowwhat, I'm so happy to know that
Spencer got to the age of 13 anda half and then some me that was
(03:24):
approximation on his age, butthat's a beautiful thing. To
lose a dog is very hard to losethem early is even harder. So I
love this. I love that he's acelebrated golden retriever
sidebar to this whole story. Irecently brought a new dog into
my life with Sophia. And he hashe was when we got him a 10 week
(03:48):
old Golden Retriever named Otisfull name Otis Patrick. He's now
like 11 and a half weeks. So I'mgoing through this metamorphosis
and opening up to a new dog inthe family after losing Niko
over a year ago. And then ofcourse, I read about this golden
retriever and it's just like, ohmy gosh, so it's just a lot
(04:10):
happening within me and I reallywanted to get in the studio and
and do more of these tributes aswe line up more guests to come
on the show because it's not aneasy thing to say. Yes, I want
to talk about my dog passing andyes, I want to go on a podcast
and do that. But I believe withmomentum and just tenacity and
just continue to hold our bandare high. We will get more
(04:31):
people. So powers. Spencer'sowner father says the following
as well, throughout all of histreatments. I cannot stress this
enough. This dog handled it likea champ. He gave us his last
gift to not make us wonder forthe rest of our lives. Did we
(04:51):
make the right decision? We knowhe made the right decision. And
I'm assuming they're referringto do we put him down? There's
that whole thing I recently wentthrough this where a year ago, I
was at that point like, Oh, he'sso sick and he was so sick. You
know, if he stays like this, Iwill absolutely have to do this
for his benefit. And the nextday, he passed away. Like the
(05:14):
whole thing was the plan thatnight to have someone come over
and, you know, humanelyeuthanize him. And that decision
alone was killing me. And hejust knew, and expired in the
backyard very peacefully. So I'massuming that's what powers is
referring to. If we have him onthe show, we can obviously
(05:37):
explore that more if he wants toso this past January, artist
unveiled a massive portrait ofSpencer at the Fairmount Copley
Plaza, as he was named thehonorary canine ambassador for
the hotel. And here is thatportrait, right there. How
(05:57):
awesome is that? And that isSpencer looking at his portrait.
And here's a photo of Spencer,by the way. And that's him being
honored. And of course, Spencerwill always be remembered as the
official dog of the BostonMarathon. So this guy is a
celebrity. And he had an amazingrun, no pun intended to all the
(06:20):
marathon runners who met Spencerover the years. But I now want
to show this news clip whichjust really touched me. And I
wanted to save it to the endbecause it's a little tough to
get through. So bear with me,just over a minute. So here we
go. It was
Media (06:38):
meant the world to me, my wife, and a lot of people and
and people just inspired so manypeople, but dogs since 2015.
Spencer was a fixture along themarathon route. giving a boost
(07:04):
to exhausted runners as theystared down a grueling race. We
recognized immediately from thestart what a special boy he was.
He was very in tune. He was veryit was almost like a visiting
Angel. Spencer's cancer returnedlast fall and he was doing so
well. His owners hoped he couldmake this year's marathon. Just
(07:24):
last month with his signatureBoston Strong flag. Spencer was
on hand at the Fairmont CopleyPlaza as a massive portrait was
unveiled. He had an unbelievablelife right to the very last
minute, it now hangs in hisowners home honoring a special
dog who inspired countless livesand Spencer was easy to relate
to, because everybody's got tospend your story. You know,
(07:48):
everybody can relate to him, hebeat the odds and gives hope to
a lot of people in the same waywe could really use.
Jason Connell (07:54):
Wow, that is very touching. Everybody has a
Spencer. Such true rich,everybody does. But this was one
special dog, I mean, honorshowing up so well trained, he
looks like an angel. He sittingthere with this stick in his
mouth with flags on both sides,and was just not even on a leash
(08:18):
just chilling, knowing he'sthere to inspire others. Whoo..
that's a tough one and abeautiful one. And I was just
honored to talk about Spencerhere. I wish that I had met him
in person. But this is our wayof honoring him. So anybody out
(08:39):
there that wants to come on ourshow, like I just talked about
earlier, and is experiencing apassing or has a fond memory of
a dog from the past. We'd loveto have you on the podcast. And
if not that, then getting yourinformation and doing a tribute
episode just like this. So thankyou so much for listening, and
please be sure to subscribe tothe Dog Gone podcast and the Dog
(09:03):
Gone YouTube Live Channel. Youcan also really help us by
giving the show a five starrating on Apple podcast. And for
all your listeners that enjoysharing your thoughts. You can
leave us a review on Applepodcast send us a direct message
or post a comment on any DogGone social media platform. We
also highly recommend checkingout our other podcast and
(09:23):
visiting justcuriousmedia.com
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com