Pup! Pup! Pup!

What’s better than having one dog? Having two dogs! My wife and I happily added a new member to our family. Meet Navi, who is now an 11 week old Golden Retriever. Our neighbors told us their friends had a pregnant Golden. I saw how exited my wife got. She said “don’t tell them we are interested, but we’re interested.”

It is extremely hard to get a Golden Retriever. People are put on wait lists and have to travel to breeders in other cities and in Hawai’i’s case other islands, the mainland US and even New Zealand and Australia. As it turns out, the female who was giving birth lived about 10 minutes away.

Our neighbors gave us updates of the pregnant Golden. They were on the fence about adopting one of the new pups. They have a Husky/Golden mix who keeps them busy along with their three children. They decided that one dog is enough. At that point we sheepishly said that if the breeder had trouble finding owners, we have a nice home. Plus our dog is lonely during the day when we are working.

Gopi is the pregnant dog’s name. She gave birth to 10 pups. They were all spoken for even before birth. The breeder wanted to donate the pups to Fi-Do, an organization that trains and provides service dogs for the disabled. Our neighbor told us to contact the breeder just to introduce ourselves anyway. We felt awkward giving them a call, seeing that there was no chance to get a pup.

We called and they asked us to come see the litter. Nothing is cuter than 10 Golden Retriever pups. When we arrived, the Gopi the litter’s mom greeted us with a wagging tail. One little pup came up to us and peered her head over the barrier. Our hearts just melted.

As it turned out Fi-Do only selected one dog of the ten after a home assessment. The owner said all the dogs had back up owners interested, but would consider us if someone backed out.

A few weeks went by and I got a text. “Would you still be interested in one of the puppies,  a couple who wanted one back out because the house they were going to buy fell through and their landlord does not allow pets.” This was a week before Valentine’s Day. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t call him back fast enough. He said that one of his other friends was interested, but because Gopi didn’t like him, he passed and considered us.

Sparing a lot of details, Kinako now has a little sister to play with and my wife had a wonderful surprise. My mother-in-law is also on board with the new pup. Aside from being on constant pee and poop patrol, my life feels even more enhanced. Having two Golden Retrievers licking your face when you get home is worth more than gold itself.