We had talked for months as a family about adding a new dog to our family after losing our beloved Lily in March of 2018. She was an almost 12 year old yellow lab - and we loved her an insane amount, but she was becoming increasingly ill and less mobile and we knew it was time to end her suffering. Within a few months the topic of a puppy or a new dog kept creeping in to our family conversations. It was no secret to anyone that knew us that we are a dog family. We absolutely love dogs. It's a good thing, too - since the neighbour's dog Brody had increasingly started to spend more and more time here. We like to joke that he was our "Not our dog". Brody played a large part in our decision to add a new family member to our family. First off, it wasn't like we didn't already have an insane amount of fur everywhere, and secondly - who wouldn't fall in love with that big red ball of fluff?
One chilly November night when Brody was over at our house soaking up the love and attention - we had a little chat and decided that it was time to finally fill out the adoption papers. I jokingly asked Brody some of the questions from Golden Adoption and laughed when he wagged his tail at certain questions (do we want a boy or a girl puppy?). I had spoken to a few people that had been on the adoption list for almost a year, so I certainly did not think that we would be hearing anything within a few weeks.
Much to my surprise, I was contacted by one of the amazing volunteers at Golden Rescue not even two weeks later. Turns out they had what they had termed a "Rescue Mission of Love" and were bringing 24 Golden Retrievers from Cairo, Egypt to the Toronto Airport. They asked if we were still interested in rescuing, and when I said yes (although admittedly a little hesitantly - were we really ready for a puppy??) they immediately sent me some photos and information on the 9 month old puppy they had named "Mario.". I immediately forwarded the e-mail to my husband and called to say we had been chosen to adopt a Golden. It was all happening so quickly!
Over the next few weeks - I did a lot of panicking and even more shopping - we hadn't had a puppy in 12 years, so we had a lot to buy and get ready for! Plus, we knew virtually nothing about the puppy that we were receiving, which added to my new mom anxiety.
Fast forward to a few weeks later and I think we were *almost* ready for our new addition. Sadly, because of work schedules that included my husband being gone for our entire first week with Tucker, we were unable to attend the arrival at the airport. I was able to see videos, however, and am 1000% sure that it was one of the most moving introductions to new families ever.
My daughter and I drove to a spot just outside of Toronto to meet up with another volunteer who was able to bring "Mario" home from the airport. We were so excited to meet him.
He was a little timid upon first meeting us, but he had also just had a 15 hour flight and a lot of commotion at the airport - so we weren't too surprised he was shy. He slept most of the way home (almost 2 hours) - but was super excited when he finally arrived home.
My daughter was absolutely over the moon excited to finally get her wish of a new addition to our family. I have to say I think Tucker was just as happy to have found a loving (and very attentive) home.
That's not to say that adopting a dog (especially one from another country) was not difficult. We had many accidents in the house, we had to train a 9 month old puppy an entirely new language and we had to set hard boundaries inside and outside the house (when realistically all we wanted to do was snuggle our new baby). I know they tell you that it isn't the language as much as the tone of voice, but it's really hard to go from a fully trained 12 year old dog to a 9 month old with little to no training.
The good news? We saw his potential on his very first day home with us.. which just happened to be a snow day - I'm not sure who was more excited - Tucker or Aubrey! A new sister and a fresh new snow to play in, it was like winning the jackpot - for both of them!
Over the next few days he learned to sit and lay down - and although when he first came to us he was not at all food motivated - he quickly learned the art of the treat! His first few days were spent doing a lot of snuggling and getting used to his surroundings. His personality started to come through as each day passed. Insert typical 9 month old puppy behaviours here - the puppy spasms, trying to eat or steal everything in sight. It's safe to say we had to do just as much learning as he did!
It was a long few weeks to say the least, but I think we've finally started to get the hang of this training thing (or maybe he has us trained? It's hard to tell).
We had talked for months as a family about adding a new dog to our family after losing our beloved Lily in March of 2018. She was an almost 12 year old yellow lab - and we loved her an insane amount, but she was becoming increasingly ill and less mobile and we knew it was time to end her suffering. Within a few months the topic of a puppy or a new dog kept creeping in to our family conversations. It was no secret to anyone that knew us that we are a dog family. We absolutely love dogs. It's a good thing, too - since the neighbour's dog Brody had increasingly started to spend more and more time here. We like to joke that he was our "Not our dog". Brody played a large part in our decision to add a new family member to our family. First off, it wasn't like we didn't already have an insane amount of fur everywhere, and secondly - who wouldn't fall in love with that big red ball of fluff?
One chilly November night when Brody was over at our house soaking up the love and attention - we had a little chat and decided that it was time to finally fill out the adoption papers. I jokingly asked Brody some of the questions from Golden Adoption and laughed when he wagged his tail at certain questions (do we want a boy or a girl puppy?). I had spoken to a few people that had been on the adoption list for almost a year, so I certainly did not think that we would be hearing anything within a few weeks.
Much to my surprise, I was contacted by one of the amazing volunteers at Golden Rescue not even two weeks later. Turns out they had what they had termed a "Rescue Mission of Love" and were bringing 24 Golden Retrievers from Cairo, Egypt to the Toronto Airport. They asked if we were still interested in rescuing, and when I said yes (although admittedly a little hesitantly - were we really ready for a puppy??) they immediately sent me some photos and information on the 9 month old puppy they had named "Mario.". I immediately forwarded the e-mail to my husband and called to say we had been chosen to adopt a Golden. It was all happening so quickly!
Over the next few weeks - I did a lot of panicking and even more shopping - we hadn't had a puppy in 12 years, so we had a lot to buy and get ready for! Plus, we knew virtually nothing about the puppy that we were receiving, which added to my new mom anxiety.
Fast forward to a few weeks later and I think we were *almost* ready for our new addition. Sadly, because of work schedules that included my husband being gone for our entire first week with Tucker, we were unable to attend the arrival at the airport. I was able to see videos, however, and am 1000% sure that it was one of the most moving introductions to new families ever.
My daughter and I drove to a spot just outside of Toronto to meet up with another volunteer who was able to bring "Mario" home from the airport. We were so excited to meet him.
He was a little timid upon first meeting us, but he had also just had a 15 hour flight and a lot of commotion at the airport - so we weren't too surprised he was shy. He slept most of the way home (almost 2 hours) - but was super excited when he finally arrived home.
My daughter was absolutely over the moon excited to finally get her wish of a new addition to our family. I have to say I think Tucker was just as happy to have found a loving (and very attentive) home.
That's not to say that adopting a dog (especially one from another country) was not difficult. We had many accidents in the house, we had to train a 9 month old puppy an entirely new language and we had to set hard boundaries inside and outside the house (when realistically all we wanted to do was snuggle our new baby). I know they tell you that it isn't the language as much as the tone of voice, but it's really hard to go from a fully trained 12 year old dog to a 9 month old with little to no training.
The good news? We saw his potential on his very first day home with us.. which just happened to be a snow day - I'm not sure who was more excited - Tucker or Aubrey! A new sister and a fresh new snow to play in, it was like winning the jackpot - for both of them!
Over the next few days he learned to sit and lay down - and although when he first came to us he was not at all food motivated - he quickly learned the art of the treat! His first few days were spent doing a lot of snuggling and getting used to his surroundings. His personality started to come through as each day passed. Insert typical 9 month old puppy behaviours here - the puppy spasms, trying to eat or steal everything in sight. It's safe to say we had to do just as much learning as he did!
It was a long few weeks to say the least, but I think we've finally started to get the hang of this training thing (or maybe he has us trained? It's hard to tell).
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