After living in our crammed townhome for 10 years, we finally upgraded to a single family home with a nice sized yard last year, and got a dog to go along with it. It's been a pretty big transition for all of us to become "dog people" and we're still getting there, but Puffles has been awesome and the perfect dog for us. Puffles was born on October 10th, 2017, and we picked him up and brought him home on December 5th.
Our son, William, actually has terrible dog allergies, so we specifically bought a multi-gen Goldendoodle from Fox Creek Farm in West Virginia. A Goldendoodle is a Golden Retriever and Poodle mix, and Fox Creek Farm breeds multi-gen Goldendoodles, which are 100% hypoallergenic. We went to check out the dogs in the Fall of 2017 and had William pet them, and then had him rub his face and eyes and he had no issues at all, so we felt safe buying a dog from them. You have to be careful with some goldendoodle breeders. F1 breeds (first crossing of a Golden Retriever and a Poodle) only have a 50/50 chance of being hypoallergenic, but F1b (bred back to a Poodle, so 75% poodle), or F2/F2b, or multigens like what Fox Creek Farm breeds, are all pretty safe for those with allergies. Puffles does not shed at all! You can get Goldendoodles in all sizes, but we went for a Mini (15-30 lbs) as we thought it'd be a good and manageable size for us, and it looks like Puffles is going to top out at right around 20 lbs.
Puffles is the perfect little doggy. He's exceptionally smart and can easily figure most things out on his own, and is very easy to train, and took to his crate very well. He's also very well behaved in that he doesn't get scared or have any anxiety, even when he's left at home for awhile. We just happened to start a major kitchen renovation (a complete gutting) in the spring after we got Puffles, and he was not even the least bit skittish or alarmed with all of the noise, and does just fine with vacuum cleaners too. He's also very cuddly and playful, and he has a great temperament and personality overall. It was definitely tough picking up a new dog in December, but we've all gotten to know him, he's all gotten to know us, and he's a great addition to our family.
I'm lucky enough to work about 5 minutes from home, so we never had to leave him in his crate for too long even when he was a puppy. He's never had an accident in his crate at all, and to date, we can probably count on our two hands the number of times he's had an accident in our house, and most all of the time it's because he wasn't managed properly by his humans (we don't count the times he pees on the floor a little because he's so excited to see us! LOL) Now that he's just about full-sized, we fence off a small area around his crate for him to play in so that he doesn't have to be stuck in his crate all day, and leave some classical music running on the TV and he does just fine. If I can't make it home to let him out over lunch or if I'm away on a business trip, Debbie's brother, who is disabled and lives with us full time, can let him out and take him for a walk too. So Puffles is pretty spoiled in that he never has to be crated or left in his fenced off area for more than about 3-4 hours at a time.
There's nothing cuter than this little fur ball coming at you at full speed! :)
I'll be completely honest. Debbie and I have had one too many crazy, neurotic, abusive, self-destructive, or otherwise toxic people in our lives, and I think we're just plain burned out from other human beings to the point that we've become almost totally anti-social, and hardly want anything to do with anyone else these days. It feels sad to even be saying anything like that, but if you know you know and you'll totally get it, and if you don't know, don't ask!! The simple and uncomplicated love of a dog has really been a breathe of fresh air for us, and we've all fallen in love with Puffles. Coming home from our day and seeing this little fur ball charge at us at full speed so that he can jump on us and give us all sloppy wet kisses while wagging his tail is the highlight of our day. He's such a sweet and perfect little dog. He's a blessing in our lives, and we're so glad he's ours because we really needed him. :)
Don't let all of the pictures of him with our daughter, Katie, fool you. He's totally a mama's boy!!!!!! He follows Debbie all around the house, and has to be close to her all the time. He can't get enough of her, despite the fact that she has zero responsibility for his care! Go figure!!! And smart boy!!! Lol! Of course Debbie secretly loves it, even if she's annoyed that he's constantly following her and stalking her at all times. She loves the attention too, and Puffles will never grow up or talk back to her either! He'll be her baby forever! LOL!
I needed to pick Puffles up a minute after this so that Debbie could get off of her hammock, and he actually growled at me! Doesn't want to leave his mama! LOL!
Although I do have a doggy Instagram setup for Puffles (@PrincePuffles), I just don't have the time, patience, or the energy for social media these days, so the very best place to keep up with Puffles is on his dedicated web pages! I have a main page that indexes all of his photo albums, and then a "Latest" page which is like a highlight reel. As his Latest page is now, you can see highlights from his entire first year with us from the time he was a little puppy until now. It's really cute. You can also navigate there from my home page menu at StevePake.com > Fun Stuff > Puffles. Be sure to check it out! :)
If you're a Goldendoodle owner and happen to be in the Washington, DC area, or better yet in Montgomery County, MD (we live in Rockville) and would like to get in touch or meet up for a doggy play date, you can get in touch with us at the button below. :)
