A Four Legged Addition to Our Family

I apologize to my readers for not posting in a while.  Life has been very busy and I am about to tell you one of the reasons why.

A couple of weeks ago, Brendan and I brought home our new yellow labrador retriever.  We are happy to introduce Bailey as the newest member of our family!

Brendan and I have known for a long time we wanted a dog, and most likely a lab.  It took us quite some time to find the right fit, but we are so happy we did our research and found the perfect dog for us.

Upon looking up breeders, rescue networks and humane societies we realized a breeder would be our best option. That way we could have a puppy that we could train right from the start, rather than getting an older dog that may be trained, but have other behaviour problems that could be difficult to correct.  We knew a puppy would be a lot of work, but of efforts would be well reward by having a loving, caring and obedient four-legged friend.

Cooperslane Kennel in Arthur, Ontario appeared to be a very reputable labrador retriever breeder in the area, so we went for an initial visit early in the fall of 2014.  We wanted to see first -hand the condition the dogs live in, ask questions about their breeding program and of course meet some of the dogs.  The owners (Val and Brian) answered our questions and provided lots of information.

We particularly liked their responsible attitude towards breeding where each mother only has one litter per year from ages 2-5 years.  We also appreciated that they would not sell a puppy on any first visit, nor during Christmas holidays.

We made another visit a couple of months later to meet the mothers (and some of the fathers) that would be having litters that would go home in the spring.  We knew we were ready to make the commitment, but also wanted to make sure we were selecting the best litter for us and that it would be the right timing.  I have a large event at work at the end of March, so it wouldn’t be fair to bring a new puppy home right in the middle of that.

Val mentioned that her daughter-in law, Katie has a breeding program (Atkinsday) under theirs and she would have two litters going home late March.  We realized this would be ideal timing.  When we got home that afternoon we contacted Katie and made the reservation for our puppy.

Katie provided us with information along the way and answered any questions we had.  Shortly after the puppies were born on January 12th, she provided us with a schedule of what would occur during the eight weeks before we took the puppy home (vaccinations, socialization, selection of puppy).  A couple weeks before brining the puppy home she provided an excellent puppy package, which included lots of valuable information on house and crate training, biting/chewing; feeding, training suggestions and much more.

When the puppies were one month old, we were allowed to visit.  On Valentine’s Day, Brendan and I spent time at the breeders‘ meeting the puppies.  What a wonderful experience.  One of the puppies seemed to pick us, as she kept coming up to us.  In the end, we are pretty sure that is the dog we have today.

As previously mentioned, Bailey has been with us in our home for a little over two weeks and is adjusting to her new environment very well.  She seems to be a quick learner and wants to please us.  We look forward to the many adventures we will share together with our new best friend.  Stay tuned!