Our Introduction to Ari

The whole family made the trip out to Berkeley Springs today to meet our new puppy Ari.  It was a beautiful drive through the peak of Fall leaves as we made our way to Fox Creek Farm, the home of his breeder.

We were greeted by the excited barks of the 15 adult golden doodles and poodles that live there.  We sat excitedly in the "meeting" room of the kennel while Amy went to get our puppy.  He greeted us enthusiastically and seemed quite content to be passed around.

We spent some quality time with Ari, in the company of two other families who had come to meet their puppies as well.  Ari seemed quite happy to run around in a little enclosure with an older puppy who is destined to be twice his weight.

He was in motion most of his time with us, meaning that he will not be the complacent dog Dylan was. In many ways he reminded us of a very young Jake.

After a while, Ari missed the company of his littermates and went back to join them.  Every one of them was as cute as the next.

In just two weeks we will pick him up and bring him home.  Meanwhile we are making lists and acquiring puppy things.  It is somewhat reminiscent of getting ready for a new baby!

Big Puppy News

Today we learned which of the 7 male puppies will be ours.  Meet Ari, by far the best fetcher of the lot according to Amy, the breeder.  On Saturday our whole family of 4 will head out to Berkeley Springs, WV, to meet him and spend some time playing with him.  The interesting thing is that of all the puppies, he looks the most like Jake did when we first met him.  I'm sure there will be more pictures after Saturday's field trip.

Below is his 4-week photo (puppy on the left).  It's amazing how much they have changed in just 2 weeks.

Puppies at 4 Weeks

We just got the latest photos of Taylor and Levi's puppies at 4 weeks.  We still don't know which one will be ours, but it will be one of these 7, which are all males.  Do you have a favorite?  I still like the little guy on the right in the above photo.  He's the one with the tiny white spot on the top of his head.