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We adopted Fergus on August 3, 2007. We changed his name to Chance, in part because it was chance that brought him into our lives after he was initially adopted by someone else. He has been the most wonderful addition to our family - more than we could ever have imagined. Chance has a wonderful calm disposition. That much was apparent as soon as we met him. He's a golden doodle (poodle/golden retriever cross), which gives him a combination of brains and loyalty. It also gives him a bit of the poodle independent streak. His first days with us were not totally without challenges. He lacked self-confidence, he didn't like being on the leash, he didn't know how to go up or down stairs, and he was not just un-housetrained, he actually thought he was supposed to go into the house to go to the bathroom. All these difficulties were worked through together. We worked hard to be calm, consistent and patient, and it paid off.
He was freshly
clipped when we got him and kind of long and lanky. He has since
put on about 12 pounds and a lot of curly fur. He doesn't
even look like the same dog.
Chance
loves children, other dogs and people - in that order. He
is great with kids. When he hears a child's voice he is
immediately attracted. When he meets a child he is very calm and
gentle and children love to touch his soft curly fur.
He gets to
play (off-leash) with a group of 8 - 12 other dogs every morning in a
fenced area close to home. This is his favourite thing and it
has been so good for him. He adjusts his play style to the dog
he's playing with. He can be gentle or rambunctious, bouncy or
sedate, whatever works best for the other dog. He gets tons of
exercise, both from his play sessions and from his other pleasure
walks with us. We are able to have him off-leash most of the
time and he listens very well most days -- unless he is having a
"poodle day" and needs
to think about everything we want him to do. On poodle days, if
we call him he stops and thinks about whether he wants to come or not.
Sometimes the decision is not. We went to obedience class
(basics) and he did great. I think we learned more than he did. He loved the summer, and started to learn to swim. We got him a wading pool to cool off in. Every day we walked down to the beaver pond and he got to see geese and bunnies and frogs and once in awhile a beaver. He also loves the winter and especially the snow. It sticks to him like crazy and he ends up looking like a snowball, but it doesn't bother him a bit. He brings so much joy to our lives and we can't imagine life without him. Thank you for being the ones who brought us together.
Update January '09 ... We just wanted to give you a brief update on Fergus (golden doodle - adopted in August 2007 and renamed Chance) and Lucie (grey domestic longhair - adopted in March 2008 and renamed Diamond). They have become very good friends and it is hard to believe that they haven't been together their whole lives. I am sending a picture of the two of them doing what they do all day long (I'm jealous).
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I'm
also sending a picture of Chance at the pond where he likes to chase
frogs - Diamond doesn't get to go there with him.