Knowing that even through my overwhelming optimism, I do have a streak of realism thrown in there somewhere. That should count for something. I knew that both with me still recovering from what the aftermath of breast cancer caused and also what Steve's afib issues were that he was dealing with would not allow us to have this second doodle of any size at the time the thought of another doodle came into my mind.
We were patient. We loved on Davis and he was such a wonderful spiritual healer for us. Just cuddling in to us and petting on him, which he is most definitely a touchy, feely kind of dog, reaches deep down to your soul. It is my belief that he has helped to heal us physically and emotionally.
There was a time that our energy levels were so low that there was no way that we could walk him daily as Steve used to. My joints were still weak and I was still recovering from an injury on my left knee from the bad joints.
Before we brought Davis into our lives, we researched and discovered that Goldendoodles are gentle and affectionate dogs with easy going temperaments. They do not like to be outside running around without their owners. In fact, after talking with other doodle owners, they are definitely not dogs to open the door and just let out to romp and run all alone.
They are very social dogs, therefore we have found a wonderful Doggie Day Care where our vet is located called Walnut Grove Animal Clinic. Chris, Jessica and Chaney are the animal care takers and they all exude their love for every dog. Davis loves to go there for a day of play and socialization. We take him weekly, sometimes twice. He loves to go and we usually don't hear a peep out of him after all of his play with his buddies.
Because Goldendoodles are highly intelligent, they are very easy to train in all aspects. We have chosen crate training and he uses this as his safe home to go to freely throughout the day when he chooses. At night, from the very first time he was home with us, he was crate trained and never had an accident in that crate. So this does not scare us with our newest addition. She will have her crate, too. Our vet, Dr. Taylor, told us that you know that you are using the crate training method properly if the door is left open during the day and the dog goes in on his/her own for a nap or to chew a toy.
You may have guessed it by now, our health has continued to get better and stronger. We have much higher energy levels and were able to start with a plan in place to eventually get our second doodle. It was not in the cards for a miniature Goldendoodle, as there were none in our area. Kim posted pictures of her new litters of F2b Goldendoodles and they stole our hearts.
We made an appointment to go with Davis to check them out. We were able to see the parents of these doodles. One little pup seemed to really bond with Davis and Davis did with her. Their tails were wagging and they were Eskimo kissing and cuddling. Yelp! This would be the one. We talked about the fact that there is no stated in stone guarantee that this doodle will remain around the 40 pound range like her momma. It is still the only thing we have to go by. Out of all the puppies, she seemed to look the most like her momma and she was one of the smaller pups. We named her Maggie Mae.
These pups were still too young to take home, so we had some time to prepare ourselves and our home for our new family member. A quote from Stan Smith, "Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it." Being the age that we are, we do count on our experience in life to make our decisions wisely. This does give us the confidence to make it happen when it is the right time; whether it is to get a second dog for a playmate to our current one, purchase a beach home, continuing to review and update our retirement portfolio with our financial planners, and the list goes on. It is called life.
We even set goals for our lifestyle in eating and cooking. There are some good reasons to share goals with some close family and friends and I believe in them:
- it helps in accountability and clarity
- it helps in measuring progress
- it gives us motivation
- it is a connection with like minded people
There is also a reason to be careful in sharing your goals/dreams. If we reach our goal and follow our dreams by setting these goals we can be cheered OR there can be a backlash. There will always be those who don't quite understand. That in and of itself is okay, as long as we can move on past others' thoughts of what is right for us.
I have found that if we break our goals into specific milestones that have purpose and meaning for us, this is what will continue to inspire us.
It is one step at a time, and usually the writing is on the wall when your goal has been reached. For us, it has been months of feeling well and energized. New goals will continue to be set as we see fit.
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