NellieNo no....it's not a baby. Put that thought away, please.
Three means another dog. When you have two, what's three. We got an email from our dear friend Patty a few weeks ago, she runs a non-profit called Northstar Foundation. They raise and place golden retrievers with children who have autism, asperger's syndrome, muscular dystrophy, loss of a loved one, illness, etc.... It's an amazing foundation and we have volunteered as "puppy raisers" a few times. Our golden Dashell is from Northstar and we also raised Bingo who went to a little boy here in Los Angeles. It's very rewarding. Patty told us she had a 4 month old golden named Nellie. Nellie was not going to go to a family, she will be a PR dog for the foundation here in Los Angeles and will also be bred since her lineage and temperament are excellent. Patty was raising a few other pups for some families and needed a home to raise Nellie. Three pups was a bit too much for her to handle and since she is in Connecticut and most of her placements are in Los Angeles she wanted her out here.
She asked if we would be interested in co-owning Nellie. She'd be raised by us, live with us, but would be inseminated here in Los Angeles and then go back to Connecticut to have and whelp her pups (for 3 months). It was a very easy decision to help raise her, but we didn't think we'd be interest in co-owning her. We have 2 dogs already and a third is just too much. Patty took us up on our offer to help raise her for 3 months and 2 weeks ago Patty flew her out here and she came home with us.
All I can say is "it was love at first sight". She's the most calm, relaxed, sweet pup I have ever been around. When Dashell was her age he was crazy. He's 5 1/2 and he's still a bit of a punk. But Nellie is a dream puppy. She's just amazing, does everything she is told, lays at my feet, sleeps next to my bed, follows me to every room and has already learned sit, down, stay and we are working on "turn around". Right now she's still here for only 4 months. Did I say 4, I meant 3. See, already I'm putting on another month. If she was difficult it would be easy to say only 3 months. But she's so wonderful I could see us keeping her (did I just type that?). Dashell is her Uncle, his sister Rosie is her Mom. We'll see what happens in a few months. Right now she's at the studio with us everyday and all the kids love her and she's having fun with her Uncle and I just love having her around. Stella on the other hand has her skirt in a bit of a bundle, she's a female and the alpha...so having another girl around makes her a bit pissed. She's been giving her the stink eye since she arrived, but she's coming around.
I'll keep you posted. She might stay or she might leave. We'll see.
