We’ve been talking about rescuing a puppy for a few years now, but when Graham started residency in a new city, we finally knew it was time! We finally had a home of our own with an actual yard – perfect for a puppy. I also knew I would be spending a lot of time home alone during Graham’s long shifts, so I wanted a furry companion to keep me company.
We followed every doodle rescue facebook group, and set many Petfinder alerts, but we finally found our sweet pup through an Ohio rescue called Heaven 2 Earth. We checked their site multiple times per day, and when we saw a golden doodle named “vanilla” come in, we reached out. My mom is allergic to pet fur, so we were looking for a hypoallergenic breed.
We drove to the rescue and decided to take her home within 15 minutes. We renamed her Pomona (Mona for short) in honor of our former home in California. We adopted her when she was 3.5 months old, and she just turned 5 months this week!
She is sleepy, sweet, playful, energetic and shy all at the same time. Because she’s a rescue, she suffers from separation anxiety, so I haven’t been able to spend much time away from her yet. I’m thankful to work from home so that I can be there for her while we work up to alone time. And when I travel, I’m thankful that she has been able to stay with my parents, my sister and their sweet rescue doodle, Holly. Those two are friends already!
We’ve been working with a local trainer to help manage her anxiety and we just started a basic obedience class last week. As much as I’m in love with her, I will be the first to tell you that training a puppy has been incredibly difficult. Progress isn’t always linear and I have learned SO MUCH along the way. I’ve felt frustrated and definitely very tired (lots of middle of the night potty breaks) but I finally feel like we’re getting into a groove!
I know she will be growing fast (she’s already 40lbs!) so I’m trying to embrace all of her cute puppy antics and snuggles while I can. If you think she is as cute as I do, you can follow her on Instagram @missmonadoodle. I had to create an account for her because I take dozens of photos of her per day! I can’t resist that sweet face!
