Hey there!
It's Morgan.
I'm back to share a story about when we got our puppy!
Andy and I both grew up with dogs. We knew it was just a matter of time before we brought one into our family. We waited 6 months into our marriage and then I relentlessly hinted (not so subtly) until Andy agreed.
We searched for the best breed. There are a lot of options. We wanted a dog that didn't shed hardly at all and would be great with kids. We agreed on temperament, trainability, personality, shedding, and timing. The only thing we couldn't agree on was size.
Now, I'm going to let you take a guess at what size dog I, a 5' 7" solid, but skinny woman, wanted and what size Andy, a 6' 7" tall man, wanted. Yeah, you would assume that he would want a big dog and I would want a small, but it's just the opposite.
Andy grew up with short dogs. Given, they weigh about 30 pounds, but the top of their head barely reaches a foot. Meanwhile, I grew up with big dogs - about the size of a Golden Retriever.
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| Roscoe: My Family's Dog, Winston: Our Puppy Mac & Harm: Andy's Family's Dogs |
Like many times when you first get married, we were shocked at our difference in opinions of things we just assumed the other person would want.
"What do you mean you want a small-horse sized dog? They eat more, poop more, and you can't snuggle with them comfortably."
"What do you mean you want a tiny dog that you could trip over? You're a tall man! You need a tall dog. I don't want a yippy chihuahua."
"My dogs growing up had deep barks. They did not 'yip'."
"You can totally snuggle with a big dog! What are you talking about? They still think they're lap dogs."
"Yeah and they're the size of mountains."
We finally agreed on a compromise: a middle-sized dog. Now to find a breed that would fulfill everything we hoped for. We searched lots of websites for lots of hours and landed on deciding between Labradoodle and Goldendoodle. They were very similar, but the Goldendoodle seemed to be a little more evenly tempered and trainable.
And so the hunt started! Wow! Can I tell you how many websites you have to search through? The pricing varies depending on the breeder, but it's hard to find anyone except the highest rated. I love great ratings, but with that comes higher pricing. I told Andy, "There has got to be a better way."
A few days later, I was on Facebook and got the idea to join some Goldendoodle Breeder Groups. Once accepted into the groups, I posted all of our desires and where we were located, then waited for the comments and messages to come in.
I didn't have to wait long! Over the next 24 hours, we searched through many pictures, details, prices, and locations. There were breeders from all over the country who responded to my post! Some even said they would fly the puppy to us.
We narrowed it down to a few and decided on a breeder in Missouri -
King George's Goldendoodles. We were headed up to visit my family for Thanksgiving anyway, so it wouldn't be too out of the way to pick him up and we would be able to meet the breeders in person.
Less than a month later, we met Winston BARKtholomew Deane for the first time. Our vet was impressed with the breeder and said he was one of the most healthy puppies she'd seen.
Now, he's 10 months old and weighs 37 pounds. He's just the sweetest, smartest pup. He lives for treats and praise. He's high energy, but also has a very good temperament! We couldn't ask for a better dog.
When he's full grown, he'll probably weigh around 45 pounds. We're both happy with his size. Andy might like him a little smaller and I might like him a little bigger, but now that we have him, we wouldn't trade him for anything!
Do you, as a tall person, have a dog? What size is it? Have you had the same arguments with your partner? Let us know in the comments.
Go Do Great Things!
~M
