In the spring of 2017, a Facebook friend posted about a litter of puppies her friend was trying to sell. These puppies were the offspring of a full Golden Retriever mama and a Golden Doodle daddy. I threw caution to the wind and clicked through the pictures. The ones who had obviously taken after dad and had floofy, doodly hair were already spoken for, but there were four equally precious pups left. Then I made an even crazier decision. I showed the pictures to my eighteen-year-old daughter.
Was it a good time for a new puppy? No. Did we already have a snarky, high-maintenance, 12-year-old toy poodle who ruled the roost? Yes. Was my daughter about to graduate and leave for college? Yes. Was my husband on board? Absolutely not. Did we team up to relentlessly cajole him? Oh, you betcha.
I can’t just say Jake is a sweet dog. He is the sweetest, most obedient, most loyal dog any of us have ever known. I can’t just say he is smart. He understands what we say to the point that we sometimes find ourselves spelling words around him like you do with a small child. He loves our entire family deeply, including the ones who didn’t live at home when we got him and the ones who have married into the family since.
Two weeks after we got Jake, my husband had a car accident that resulted in a compound ankle fracture. He was non weight-bearing for three months and missed out on most of the work of acclimating Jake into our home. During that time, Jake decided that I am his Alfa. He follows me everywhere I go.
But just guess who his favorite playmate and best friend in the whole wide world is. Yep, it’s the one who was certain that getting a puppy was the worst decision we could make.
Maple Ridge Barndo 
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