They say the best things come to those who wait, even if it takes nearly a decade. Xena is a sassy senior Golden Retriever who has spent years splashing in a tiny inflatable pool. And while she seemed content with the plastic version, her owners had a much bigger surprise in the works.
According to her Instagram profile bio, she is the resident queen of the house, and every queen needs a proper swimming spot. A recent video shows the emotional moment a long-held promise finally turned into a backyard pool reality for this water-loving Golden Retriever.
Owner gives senior Golden Retriever her promised pool
The footage starts with Xena soaking wet in one of those inflatable backyard pools. Her mom laughs and asks, “Xena, is that what you want? You want a real pool?” The answer honestly looks obvious. It took over six months of construction and years of planning and preparing to make it happen, but they finally got down to it.
This breed typically treats water like a second home, so the upgrade was inevitable. “Xena and the pool we promised her all those years ago,” the caption reads. The planning paid off once the heavy machinery finished its work in the backyard.
So, it was only natural that the first swim was stuff dreams are made of. Xena and her brother, Finn, wait by the back door for their first look. As soon as mom shouts, “Pool time,” both the dogs rush to the water. At 9.5 years old, this Golden Retriever still has plenty of athletic spirit left. She hits the shallow end and immediately launches into a frantic round of the zoomies.
She sprints around the tiled edge, making her mom laugh with total delight. The on-screen text noted that seeing her have these bursts of energy is simply the sweetest thing. The video keeps getting sweeter, too. Xena swims around proudly carrying her favorite red toy while Finn follows close behind, sharing the excitement.
As of the time of writing, over 26.7k people have liked the video because the Golden Retriever’s joy at getting her own pool is so contagious. One viewer wrote, “This made me so happy, but not as happy as it made her,” and truly, that sums it up perfectly.
