u/thebattleangel99

I don’t own an original 2017 English Cream Retriever, so I grabbed a few screenshots from the unboxing video of the OG from the official Webkinz YouTube.

I’ll start off by saying I absolutely prefer and love the new design of the 2026 English Cream Retriever. Why… is very simply.

The new generation much more closely represents the real dog it’s based off of. Big head, large long-ish snout, the mane on the chest and underbelly, the fluff on the legs, and the fluff on the underside of the tail. All of this really screams “Golden Retriever, without a doubt.” It makes it very obvious what dog breed this plush pet is based on. I’m absolutely drawn to the much more realistic design of the new generation English Cream Retriever. It’s better over all, a huge improvement.

That said, the original English Cream Retriever is not “bad.” It’s simply different. If I was able to get my hands on one, I would still get one! But I won’t lie about how I genuinely feel; the original design definitely gives more of a Goldendoodle vibe. With the original being fluffy everywhere, even the snout, it does look more like a Goldendoodle. You might question what breed of dog it’s actually based off of. It doesn’t immediately scream “that, without a doubt, is a Golden Retriever.” At least not to me.

I made a post about my blackberry bush in my backyard about a week ago and it blew up — I definitely didn’t expect the post to get so much attention, nor do I expect this one to… but, I had a LOT of FAQs on my other post about my blackberries, so I am going to try answering some that I can remember being asked the most…

1. Who is your pet: in my last post, the photo featured my Golden Retriever… she is 4 years old and her name is Alita. But here features my cat. He’s 13 and his name is Koi. No he does not eat the blackberries nor do my dogs! They don’t like them.

2. What variety are they: unfortunately I don’t know what “type” or “variety” these blackberries are. They just randomly started growing in my backyard one year and have been flourishing and thriving since (it’s been a few years now).

3. How do you keep the birds / squirrels away: I don’t do anything to keep away squirrels or birds. They just don’t bother the blackberries. My guess is because the bush is growing right around the AC unit, and the AC unit produces a lot of “wind” and noise, which could be the reason why they don’t bother the bush.

4. Where are you: I live in Ontario Canada.

5. What fertilizer do you use: I don’t water them or use any kind of fertilizer. I don’t do anything at all to this bush, never have, never will. They grow all on their own. I do absolutely nothing but observe, watch and then pick the berries when they’re ready.

6. Why did you plant them there: I did not plant these. A baby cane suddenly showed up one year a few years ago, growing up from beneath the concrete gap between the house and the cement in the backyard behind our shed, and it has been growing ever-larger and thriving since. I did not plant these. None of my neighbors to my knowledge of living here the past 16 years have planted blackberries. I have no idea how it got there. After the canes are done fruiting this year, I’ll have to trim them way back because it’s crowing the AC unit now.

The last photo is where they began a few years ago, the main stocks, smushed and squished between the concrete where they grew up from!

I washed them using 10 cups water and 1/4 cup white vinegar for roughly 3-5 minutes, straining and then rinsing again in cool water.

I’m getting ready for sleep and I go to turn the light off and I turn around and he’s just looking at me with those big huge eyes like 🥺 and I just….

I love this plushie so much. He’s just a lil’ guy. He’s the sweetest lil’ guy. He’s so cute. I’m so lucky to have him, because he was in fact the last spider in the bin and I do believe it was fate that he was meant to come home with me.

His name is Kaiju and he is a good spooder.

I went on August 6th and only got the Mini Beans Jumping Spider…. Then I went back on August 7th, and I brought home the Werewolf.

Then I spent the next several days thinking about the regular side Jumping Spider… I figured because we would be near the mall (BAB is in the mall) on Wednesday (today), I would go check and if they still had them, I’d buy one.

Well… we went today, waited outside the BAB entrance in the mall until they opened up, and I got my boy. The LAST one. And I’m lucky I got it, because the employees got a phone call a few minutes after opening and after I had already grabbed him with someone asking for a Jumping Spider!!

But I wanted to ask — my store had about, gosh, 5?? 6?? Jumping Spiders on display around the store. Will they sell those?? Because if they aren’t allowed to sell display bears, then why put so many of them on display?

Anyways. I’m very happy with my spidey boy!! It was absolutely meant to be. I was meant to have him! 🤗❤️

First to last;
Webkinz Lava Dragon, I named him Volcarion.
Webkinz Emperor Dragon, I named him Stormcloud.
TY Beanie Baby “Magic,” but I named her Silverwing.
Last is TY Beanie Baby “Scorch,” but I named him Caraxes.

We WILL have to trim it way back though, as it’s certainly grown super out of control this summer. But it’s given me so many incredible blackberries, I’m very thankful to this bush.

Buying blackberries is crazy expensive, and in such a small container. I just got 3.5 pounds of blackberries for free! Didn’t even buy the seeds — this bush just came out of nowhere one year and has been flourishing ever since!

I love my wild berry bush 🤗❤️

And while I was there I was really really thinking about the werewolf… but I ended up not getting one. And now I’m at home, kinda wishing I did get one. It’s a really nice plush and for some reason I really love the eyes and overall design.

I don’t remember what image I last posted of him but from what I do remember:

Made his wings more orange, removed some horn-decor on his head / face, made his claws white, and I added the yellow trim underneath the tail as I hadn’t previously realized I could even do that lol

It’s the early access Dragon Creator build from the Dragontwin game! The game itself is still a few years away from actually being ready to release, but there are early access builds!