So normally when I post something to GRM, it's about another 4-wheeled project of one sort or another. That's what my life is filled with, one vehicle after another. Now, it's just the 2 of us here at home, myself and my beautiful fiancée of 23 years enjoying all that life has to offer. Life is good, we can do what we want when we want as there are no kids for either of us, just us. Many years go, 20 or so, we rescued our first golden retriever and a few years later a second. Life was different back then as we had a motorcycle dealership and the both dogs went to work with us every day. They got to play with employees, wander around the dealership, play with customers and had interactions with people all day long. They were never alone which was pretty cool. We ended up losing both of them to cancer and have been without a dog in the house for 10+ years. Her dad lives close by and he has an AWESOME golderndoodle that we see quite often and have talked about getting one of our own. About a year ago we almost pulled the trigger with the same breeder as her fathers dog, but for one reason or another it didn't work out.
Well, I guess all of the planets were aligned a few weeks ago when the breeder contacted us to say they had an expected litter that were going to be the color she has been waiting for. After very little debate, we committed to one of the males in the litter and have been waiting anxiously ever since. Our plan was to travel to FL last Sunday, spend a week with family and friends down around The Villages and pick up the little guy on this past Saturday. All our travel plans were in place until I screwed everything up getting a 72 hour stomach thing. I'll spare you the details, but it killed our plans and now had to figure out how to get the puppy home to PA. The breeder was FANTASTIC(Moss Creek Goldendoodles) and offered to have one of their trainers fly up to PA from Orlando and deliver the puppy to us. Arrangements were made and we just returned back home from picking up our new family member. Bodhi, short for Bodhisattva, is home and resting after his first airplane ride. I'm not sure what we're getting ourselves into since we've never had a puppy before. Our last 2 were 4 & 7 years old, so no drama. I'm pretty sure is going to be an adventure. Everyone says it's just like having a kid, but neither of us has any experience in that regard. Wish us luck........
10.5 week old F1 standard GoldenDoodle. Should be 55-65 pounds when full grown.
1988RedT2 said:
Wait, you made a puppy?
Amazing what you can do with a 3d printer these days, isn't it?
3D printing would have been way less expensive!
Duke
MegaDork
4/3/23 4:45 p.m.
He looks like a cutie! Congratulations!
Your dog is a sweetheart- enjoy. Just taught my dog to "shake hands" (paws?).
What a good looking guy! I love the color!
I see way less time in the shop for the next few weeks/months.
Doodles are fantastic dogs, really good for first time dog owners. You are going to fall in love hard.
They are smart as a whip or dumb as a rock and nothing in between though, at least the ones I have been around. Have yet to meet a nasty one yet.
There is nothing like spending time with a puppy, training one and socializing one. You are introducing the little dog to a wider world. They will really bond with you.
Here is Mist, the puppy I am spending all my time with...
wearymicrobe said:
Doodles are fantastic dogs, really good for first time dog owners. You are going to fall in love hard.
They are smart as a whip or dumb as a rock and nothing in between though, at least the ones I have been around. Have yet to meet a nasty one yet.
100% what he said. Great dogs.
We have 2 in the family from Moss Creek and they are total opposites. Sully, her fathers dog is smart, easy going and content to just lay near you all day long. He's a lump. Her brothers dog, D'ar, is hyper 24/7/365 but he's still a puppy. What a difference a few years can make along with good training.
First day update:
Picked him up and was home by 2:00pm yesterday. He walked around the house, smelled everything and was introduced to a bunch of toys, a small bed, a small playpen, his bowls and a part of the yard where we can easily walk him to go potty. Potty breaks went well as did negotiating the 3 steps to get outside to the driveway. He did decent on his afternoon nap with only barking for 5-6 minutes when put into his crate. Now, I'm not a believer in crate training, but his breeder and trainers do it, so Jen wants to continue him on a schedule that he knows. I guess I'll give in on this one for a few months to give him a structure in his daily routine. Meal times went well and LOTS of potty breaks! Even though he hasn't been given much water(IMO), he goes out every 1/2 hour to do his business. Forward to bed time and he wasn't a happy camper being put down for the night. 15 minutes of barking/crying/whining or whatever you call it until he figured out that I wasn't giving in and it was time to go to sleep. He was quiet from 11:00pm until 2:45am when I heard him heaving/throwing up in the cage. I got him out, cleaned the cage and walked him outside. Back to bed and he did it again at 4:15am, this time on his little blanket. Again, clean up and walk him outside and return to the crate. He slept until 6:45am when we went outside and his did all his business. At first he just pee'd and I began walking him back toward the house when he turned around, went back to the "spot" and make a poop. Just as the trainers said, he does pretty well on potty breaks and that's a huge relief moving forward. Neither of us would be thrilled if he was going to the bathroom in our new house, but I explained to her that it's his house too now and it can all be cleaned if/when it happens.
So far, other than lack of sleep the first night for us, he's been really good. Playful, knows some basic commands, listens to his name, has explored most of the house, can sort-of do a few steps and is just pretty chill to this point. I see lots of walking in or futures which will help everyone involved.
On to day #2..........
10 days in and "most" seems to be going well. Sleeps from 10:30-m to 6am all but 2 nights. If only food motivated and a piece of his kibble goes a long way to get him to do just about anything. He is definitely used to us, his new house and most of the yard that we've explored with him. He is getting a bit too comfortable because when he doesn't want to walk or go potty, he just sits. Oh well, he is just a baby still and we all have lots of training to do. We will train him and he will certainly train us. Luckily for him he's the cutest damn fuzzy thing!!! Now I know how cute girls get away with everything. I wish I had him back in my single days as he would be the ultimate wingman!
