Our "Lucky" Anniversary

WARNING:  If you are not a dog-lover, read at your own risk ;) !!

     It's hard to believe, but one year ago today was our "Lucky" day!!  It's the day we met our 3- month-old Goldendoodle puppy at Save a Dog rescue and adopted him into our "forever home".  (Awwww...)  It was love at first sight!  The bestest spontaneous thing we had ever done.  I remember it was a stormy summer night (a Thursday) so indoor activities only.  Then, something made me surf www.petfinder.com/...  I had not been actively looking for a dog prior to that night.  I always wanted a Golden Retriever, and wanted a Goldendoodle (a Golden Retriever and Standard Poodle mix) even more.  Every time I would bring it up with "the husband" he would say "I'm not getting any dog with the word "doodle" in it"....how's that for overkill on the masculinity!!??  Although my kids had the experience of having dogs, they never had the experience of having a puppy...and I really wanted that for them.  Plus, they were old enough to help, too! 
     So that Thursday night, I literally searched through each dog within a 100 mile radius.  I thought...even if there's a good mixed breed, I'm fine with that.  My family dog growing up was the cutest little "Benji" mutt from the Humane Society!  Eventually, I was stunned to find a cute little Goldendoodle -- a puppy no less!  Immediately I filled out the online application...  I had never "applied" for a dog before and had no idea if I would even get a response or how the whole thing worked.  I remember also, it was about 1 am when I finally came upon "my puppy" and everyone else was in bed.  Nobody knew what mom was up to all night -- and I also decided that --- dah dah dun.....I no longer cared that my husband didn't want a "doodle"!!  (Yay me!) 
     When I checked my email in the morning the owner had sent me her contact information, etc...  We were "approved".  She indicated she actually had a few Goldendoodles that had been rescued from an out-of-state puppy mill, but had not yet had time to post them all on Petfinder.  By that evening we had bought a new little collar and our old dog leash and were headed for the hour drive to check out the little puppy they called "Sammy".  The kids were delirious with excitement when I told them what we were doing.  They (especially Jacob) had been relentless on beggin' for another dog ever since we lost our "Cocoa" and "Cola" a couple years earlier.  (They were our two English Setters we had bk (before kids) and lived to the ages of 14.)  The kids were in shock and thought that mom had lost her marbles...in a good way!  The truth was, I wanted another dog just as bad as they did...but the timing had to be right, and I felt it was.  I sent an email with a picture of the puppy to my husband and called him back and forth at work and told him I was going to see the puppy and he was welcome to come....or not.  All he said (after seeing the picture I sent him) was....how much money do you need me to bring!!??  LOL!!
     The rest, as they say, is history.  As I said, it was love at first sight!  I think we all knew we were going home with a dog...unless his head was missing or something!?  He was and is the cutest smartest dog ever!  He was bell trained/potty trained in no time and had only a couple of "accidents" the first week we had him home.  We are soooo in love with him and really don't remember what life was like when he was not here.  He is definitely a part of the family and does so many cute things each day that me or one of the kids are always snapping his picture with our cameras and cell phones.  
     The process of naming him was painstakingly done.  We had a family meeting and came up with the hugest list of names ever...  In the end, "Lucky" was the winner with "Friday" (the day we adopted him) as his "middle name".  Many people have said, "you're the lucky ones".  Believe me, we know -- that's why the name fits because...we are the "Lucky" ones to have found him!! 

Mommy loves you!!

XOX