For those of you who have followed our puppy saga here, here and here I finally mustered up the ability to make plans with her new family for a visit. Ya know, without being hysterically crying. I went over Friday morning to see her (bringing coffee and muffins for her new mom) and while I was wondering how much of a good idea it was to visit (would I just be too sad?) it turned out to be great! I’m pretty sure she remembered me and we had a very playful, lap sitting, bitey, cuddly visit.

So now since I’m feeling much better about the whole thing and not in total meltdown mode anymore (make no mistake, if she could still be here I would have her here in a second. I still really miss my puppy girl who I loved even before I met.) I can share the great news of who her new family is. Wrigley now belongs to the “Powe” family. Mrs. P was Patrick & Timmy’s first grade teacher and they have been our friends (and bsquared clients!) for a long time now. Wrigley now has a biglittle Westie brother (big because he’s older, little because she’s going to WAY outweigh him really soon), two little girls and a great mom & dad to grow up with. She doing fantastically and getting so much bigger already- in just one week.

She’s beautiful and sweet and crazy puppy. And now I’m told that she sleeps thru the night (you’re welcome!) from 10:30 or 11pm until around 7-8am. Mrs. P and family invited the boys over to visit tomorrow so more pictures will be coming. I’m not taking Timmy with us, he’s finally better from all his horrible allergies and really don’t want that to start up again.

So a big thank you to the “powe” family for taking in our girl when we couldn’t keep her, and giving her such a happy, loving home where we can watch her grow up into a big beautiful dog. And especially for the open invitation to visit Wrigley.

If you have been following me on Facebook, you know that we had to give up our puppy Wrigley. Timmy was SO allergic that even after 2 benadryl, a nebulizer treatment and 5 hours away from her while at school he still couldn’t breathe, and was a runny, sneezy, hivey, itchy, rashy, wheezy mess. This was NOT was supposed to happen. We had him allergy tested when the whole food allergy thing happened about 2 years ago and he turned up negative for dogs. That, plus the fact that he easily spends 6-8 hours every week with his BFF Jack’s dog Holly at their house. She’s a golden retriever too. And before I put the deposit down on the puppy I made him literally rub his face all over her coat and nothing happened. Not a sneeze, not an itch, nothing. I figured we were home free. We were not. It could be the puppy dander (which is different than adult dog dander), but whatever the cause I couldn’t put Timmy thru that daily and I couldn’t feel good about pumping him full of meds to try to control his symptoms. So she had to go. The breeder even offered to take her back for 6 months to see if his allergies got better when she was bigger, but I couldn’t do it. What if he was still allergic and we had to give her up again? And I couldn’t do it to Wrigley either. She needs a forever home.

I know we only had her for 3 days, but I fell totally completely in love with her (how could you not) and I am totally heartbroken. It’s not just not having her here anymore- although the house seems so different without her already- it’s all the time and love I put into researching, shopping, reading golden retriever forums, signing her up for training, coordinating with the breeder and transport, surprising the boys at Christmas, finally getting her and imagining all the years of fun and love with her in our family. All gone. I just miss my puppy girl so much.

She is the best puppy- she only had one accident in the house, was on a great schedule making it 5hrs during the night, sweet, smart (she already learned “sit” on command either hand signals or verbal command, and knew to sit right away after coming inside from a walk), and so cuddly. The boys are all doing better today. They’re adjusting way better than I am.

She has a new family with two little girls and a great mom & dad to take care of her, and even a big brother dog. She really hates being left alone so I’m hoping that the other dog will help with that while mom & dad are at work. They’re local and were so wonderful telling us we can visit whenever we want. So it’s good and bad that we’ll see her grow up. Good because I’m sure at some point I’ll stop crying when I think about her and will want to see her (and the boys are so excited that they will be able to visit!) and bad because I really want her to be in OUR house. So watching her grow up someplace else is so hard.

I’m trying really hard to get back to work today to keep my mind off of her (not really working). And trying to think of all the “negatives” about having a dog- the messes, hair everywhere, taking her out for walks in the rain/snow/freezing, traveling issues when we go away, barking, nipping, worrying about her getting sick, etc. But that’s not really working so much either. Who really would’ve thought I would be so attached after just a few days of her here. I couldn’t even stay outside and say goodbye as they drove away. And on top of everything else, I’m now sick. Great timing.

A big thank you goes out to everyone who called, texted, facebooked, emailed or messaged me yesterday. I just can’t talk about her without crying so I didn’t answer many of those calls, emails, etc. but I really appreciate everyone’s support and love. I’m sure I’ll be better soon.

After a way long day yesterday, which included a flat tire on the way to the airport to get the puppy, she’s finally home with us and seems to be settling in. The story so far..

I was supposed to meet Becky (who is the woman who flies all over the world to pick up and delivery animals to their new homes. When I first spoke to her on the phone, she asked if she could call me back soon as she was on her way to pick up a cat in Germany. So not a conversation I’d ever have in my lifetime!) at LaGuardia at 11:45am to get Wrigley. But on my way I got a big fat flat tire right on the GCP. So not good. Thank goodness for On Star- they sent a tow truck (because you aren’t legally allowed to change a tire on the parkway) and took me over to RedLine Tires where they took excellent care of me and got me on my way super quick with a brand new tire. Even made a nice new friend, Luz the receptionist there who was fantastic and super helpful.

Finally made it to the airport, met Becky, got Wrigley who was more than slightly freaked out. Sat and slept in the carrier on the way back home. And has been loved up by the boys (and me) ever since. No accidents in the house so far (so hoping it keeps up) and she slept from about 11:30pm until around 4:30am when I took her out. And then back to sleep until almost 8am. It would be fantastic if this all lasted! The trainer is coming tonight to get us set up and her first vet appointment is on Friday.

A few pictures from our first day.

So you get an idea of her size. And ignore all the wet soppy towels. That’s from our washing machine breaking/flooding the kitchen earlier this week. A new one was installed today. I’d say it lasting for at least 17 years was a really good run but as ridiculous as it is I’m a little sad about it dying. It always did a great job, saw us thru 3 babies and probably literally TONS of laundry.

Between the washing machine, the flat tire, the puppy and all of her assorted costs- I’m hemorrhaging money this week.

She looooooves chasing Timmy around. He couldn’t be happier with that either!

Ok, gotta go take her out again. Working on client pictures this week so expect to see a few new blog posts.