Goldendoodle munches to the beat of a different drum

Meet Hampden, a mischievous goldendoodle pup living in Texas.

Nationwide member Alex M. had been waiting for the day to bring a dog back into her life when the uncertainty of the 2020 pandemic hit. She remembers, “I said, ‘Well, I don’t want to do the end of the world without a dog.”

One taxi ride later and Alex was adopting her new family member. Hampden was the last of the litter, a tiny pup with a wonky tail, but Alex thought he was perfect. Bringing him home, Alex says, “It was easily one of the happiest days of my life, possibly other than my wedding day.”

Five years later, Hampden has grown from a fuzzy, squirming puppy into an 85-pound big dog—though Alex says, “He still loves being held like a baby.” Having a sizable lapdog comes with some difficulties, especially one with that trademark doodle cleverness. Still, her initial puppy love is still strong, even when it isn’t easy.

“Being Hampden’s mom, I have to say, has always been an adventure,” Alex says. “He’s always getting into stuff or putting me in situations I never thought I’d be in.”

Like many doodles, Hampden has a mischievous streak to match his smarts. “Hampden is the one who gets into everything," Alexandra continues. “Anything that he’s not supposed to have, that’s his priority. You never know with Hampden.”

Years later, Hampden still manages to surprise his mom. It turns out that nothing is safe, as became apparent in this Hambone-nominated snacking surprise.

What happened?

“Thinking back on this incident, I'm wondering if Hampden had a little bit of his passive aggressiveness coming out,” Alex says.

Following a series of trips, Alex and her husband returned home from dinner late one night. She continues, “We were about 30 minutes late coming home, which normally isn't that big of a deal—but on this particular day, I think he decided to kind of show us up.” Hampden’s way of showing off? Call it a drum solo, performed on a vintage Ugandan souvenir.

“He’s walked by this drum every year of his life, then suddenly decided that because we were 30 minutes late to feed him dinner, he ripped it apart and ate the skin off it,” says Alex.

“He has such an expressive face, and you can tell exactly what he’s thinking, when he’s thinking it,” Alex says. “He does this thing where he talks with his eyes and it’s almost like a teenager pouting. He knew that he did something wrong, and he knew he was going to the vet. You could see it on his face that he was annoyed.”

At the vet, Alex’s suspicions were confirmed. She reports, “They immediately were like, ‘Oh yeah, there's like half a drum in his stomach.’” Luckily, his treatment was successful, and a follow-up with the vet the next morning found no drum remaining—and no regrets from Hampden. “Yeah, he ate my drum, and he was not sorry,” Alex says.

How Nationwide helped

Alex previously protected her pets with Nationwide and knew Hampden would be no different. “I always knew I would be immediately signing up for Nationwide when I got a dog again,” she says. “Nationwide had helped me out with a lot of claims with my previous dog. Then we got Hampden—and him being such a ham and constantly having little emergencies—I said, ‘There's no way we can’t insure this dog.’”

So, when the bill arrived for Hampden’s drum incident, Alex was ready. She says, “Anytime I have to take my dog to the vet, whether it's routine care or an emergency, I just know that I have Nationwide in my back pocket. No matter what number I see on that invoice, I don't have to stress as much. It makes me feel better and it makes me a more confident pet parent.”