St. Patrick

St. Patrick (formerly Theo) was the first non-Golden Retriever to join the squad. Since he was found as a stray, his date of birth and breed were unknown. The prevailing hypothesis was that his ancestry was half Golden and half Irish Wolfhound, but DNA tests later revealed that he was actually a Labradoodle, a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle. Perhaps he wasn't 100% golden, but he was 100% good boy. He came to the GR household very underweight and sick, as well as being somewhat blind and deaf. As a result, he was given a special diet of whatever he wanted. Due to stomach issues, he couldn't have a full carrot but often got a small bit of roastie "for the taste" so he could join in with his siblings.

St. Patrick liked looking at his reflection in mirrors. He also ran in his sleep. Despite being named after famed snake-banisher St. Patrick, he never expressed any decisive feelings about snake toys. He was, however, a big fan of spaghetti, fries and cheeseburgers. On his diet of fast food and canned dogfood, he managed to gain some weight during his time in the GR household.

His honorary birthday was on St. Patrick's Day, but as an older doggo, he also got a celebration on his half birthday with a cake of his own. Unfortunately he followed his sister Swizzle's lead and ate his cake with the lit candle still in it. He was fine, but between this and his Parkour down the stairs, he was known to cause GR Mom a lot of stress! GR Dad frequently compared St. Patrick to Secretariat on account of both having "back legs that work like hand grinders."

After battling health issues including cancer inside one eye, as well as dementia and arthritis, St. Patrick crossed the Rainbow Bridge on January 21, 2021. For many, his passing brought to mind a story written by a Friend Of The Squad who imagined him being guided to the Golden Ratio household by a squad of "there-but-not-there" friends - the angel dogs who'd passed before him. A new sequel, written by a second fan, now depicts the same friends (plus the more recently departed Swizzle) arriving to guide him to the next life.

Fan Accounts: A St. Patrick account was created solely for zoomed-in shots of his paws! Their @ on Twitter is @st_paws.

Personal Twitter

If you should decide to call him by a nickname, please note that the nickname for St. Patrick is Paddy, not Patty! https://paddynotpatty.com

Chant:

His name's St. Patrick

Shaggy, fluffy, fantastic.