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Well, we brought home a four month old female Aussie Doodle. I should have seen that coming! We met three females and the first was very high energy, the second very timid and shy and the third came right up to us and got in our laps and came whenever we called. It was an easy choice. She is a delight and I forgot how much fun puppies are! She is very bright, curious and very attached to us already, bouncing between us both and concerned when one of us is out of sight. No worries with bonding. So far, total success with potty training too. Of course she is crazy cute.

Interesting that many breeders near us are not able to move litters like they expected so close to Christmas. This litter was less than half the normal price, and I wish I had homes for them all. I actually considered getting two until common sense prevailed! We had a second breeder lined up to visit, but we both agreed there was no reason to keep looking as this precious girl picked us already.

There is already so much love and life in the house that I’m glad we didn’t wait. We are bonding with each other and the pup together so I guess the time was right. Thanks again to all who commented and offered support and encouragement. I don’t know why I was so reluctant or worried in the first place. My heart is already full again.

Superesse, please let us know what happened at the shelter, if there was a connection or if you are still looking. Our adoption fees at the rescues ranged from $300-600 and the litters we looked at were priced $500-650. It looks like a buyers market for new puppies right now. Good luck with the search.

Jeaniegirl, we too had a great last road trip with our big golden doodle, we drove him to the beach to be with our kids one last time. He could no longer get in and out of the car without being lifted, and could not go up stairs without a sling and us doing most of the lifting. He had a great last week too, and despite the stress of the mobility problems it was the best trip we could have hoped for, and I’m so glad he stayed with us long enough to make the journey. What a gift.

Tushnurse, I lived a similar experience with our dog failing with arthritis, balance and bladder problems and knew he would not last much longer past 14, but we were not expecting the autoimmune disorder that caused his soft tissue and skin to erupt in bloody sores that antibiotics and steroids could not slow down. His last months were full of many labors of love and the steroids made him ravenous and thirsty non stop, but he could not stop losing weight. I saw all the writing on the wall, and thought I was mentally prepared for the end, but I was not emotionally prepared for what losing him felt like. Thanks for encouraging me to jump back in and seeing it as a way to honor that sweet boy. I hope your sweet lab has more good days left to share with you and that her end is peaceful.

When we lost our last furry angel last year we were so heart-broken. I wanted to wait for awhile, but fWH was just beside himself without his shadow. She had been the most marvelous large breed mix you could imagine, very sweet and gentle. I never worried about her getting into any trouble, she was just that good.

Then came this......

Turned out that the new rescue pup after she'd grown a little to reveal her features is an obvious mix of labrador retriever and doberman. So yeah, she's smart and funny and brings us things, but she's also BIG ENERGY and paranoid about people she hasn't met. We love her to bits of course, but in retrospect, we might have been a wee bit hasty. lol

CT, thanks for the big laugh. I’m just seeing glimpses of the velociraptor phase. And such sharp teeth! We have a small jumping problem and a wee bit of ADD right now but so far no complaints. The day is young though…..

Whatisloveanyway, sounds like love is a new puppy!

A tip from our experience with our girl pup, she was one of 12, and we chose from among the remaining litter of 5 identical looking little black GSDs. One of the others that came twice up to me as I sat on the puppy cottage floor had needle teeth she had no hesitation using on my wrist. As this breed is a serious guarding dog, I had some reservations whether I was up for the job of raising her! Then her slightly smaller sister crawled up in my lap like a kitten, didn't offer to bite, and like you, I was charmed! Her breeder held her up and asked me if I wanted "This puppy?" (I felt it was her pet of the litter). I broke down crying as I felt I was making a huge life decision I didn't 100% feel certain about...until puppy girl, in her breeder's arms, let out one of those puppy grunts as she looked down at me and I found my mouth saying "Yeeeeessssss" through my tears. So she picked me, I felt.

Fast forward through our raising the little girl dog: we knew she was the smallest pup in the litter, one of 12, but I never realized bitches can only nurse 10 pups at a time, so the breeder must have been bottle feeding her from birth - no wonder she had a bond like that with the baby! Raising a dog who started life as a Bottle Baby has been...interesting. She is very baby-like, even now at age 9. Plays puppy games to get our attention, etc. That is what we got.

Now the shelter pup I saw this morning did NOT look much like a Labrador Border Collie mix, even at 8 months. Bones too delicate, tail curled right up over his back, I think more like a Jack Russell terrier cross. The lady told me it came from a puppy store in a nearby town, supposedly bred locally by Mennonite farmers, but she herself didn't think it looked like any Border Collie mix. Plus she warned me he plays rough, bites the other dogs, etc. But he did calm down as he noticed we stood there for a few minutes, and finally did a "sit." They're all so precious, it's a sad thing to see.

The lady we adopted our old boy from in 2010 now manages the shelter. She said we gave him a great life and never gave up on him. And just while I was there, somebody brought in a pit bull with the excuse "no time for him, any more..." The lady asked if it had bitten anyone. "Not sure..." Still, I felt sorry for the poor dog, he'll just be another whose people gave up on him.