My puppy is a Goldendoodle-part goledn retriever, part poodle. His mom was a goldendoodle, and his dad was a standard poodle. You can see his pic as my avatar.
We have had 4 golden retrievers over 35 years. My last one, Sanford, passed away last Nov. 18th at the ripe old age of 12...I hadn't been alone in the house without kids or a dog since 1975, so I was very lonely.
I'd seen a photo of my pup online at a breeder's website and fell in love with him.
I showed my inlaws a YouTube video of him that the breeder had posted, and started crying, because I was so lonely without a dog. After I left them, he got on phone and called his son (DH), and demanded he get that dog for me. "If you don't get that dog for her, I will!"
So I secretly emailed the breeder a few days later asking about the pup. The breeder emailed me back and told me he was already taken...
On Christmas Eve night, all of my kids and their significant others were home. DH said, "I'm going to go get Mom and Dad." "Fine," I said, not very happy because i didn't want to have to watch over them...so when they came in, I wasn't paying attention. All of a sudden I heard a commotion, and this cute little pup ran in and started jumping up and down so happy to see everyone. I was stunned! It was the puppy! The breeder was in on the surprise-that's why she told me he was sold...the kids all contributed to the cost of the pup.

He's a smart little guy...he is easy to train, and so empathetic...when I get the weepies, he comes over and kisses me over and over...he loves to follow me around and lie beside my chair. I am so blessed to have family that love me so much, esp my hubby...I forgot to add...on Christmas Eve morning, some friends came over to wish us a happy holiday. DH said, "We aren't getting a dog. Period." I told our friends I was going to divorce him, move to Copenhagen and get my own darn dog...