Welcome Our New (Furry) Family Member!
I teased our new addition on The Weekend Dish on Saturday, and here she is… !
Say hello to Judith! She is a 16-month-old Golden Retriever, and officially joined our family on Friday.
If you follow me on Instagram, then you already got a glimpse of her sweet face; be sure to follow along because I’m sure I’ll be sharing tons of pictures and videos on stories!
She is such a sweet, sweet dog and so far she and Duke have gotten along really well. He’s definitely getting a little bit in the way of karma; he nagged and picked on Einstein so much when he was young, and now he’s getting it back! She still has a lot of puppy in her and loves to play, but is super smart and a really good dog. Joseph is a big fan, and loves playing ball with her; he threw it over and over and over again on Saturday. Dominic is still taking some time to warm up to her, but he made some great progress yesterday!
I got a lot of questions on Instagram about whether she’s a rescue… we adopted her! She’s actually a fully trained therapy dog but at the end of training was found to be a bit too high energy for the job. So instead, she gets to live in a house full of kids and with another dog, which we think will serve her well! ❤
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We’re so excited to have her as part of our family… below are a few pictures from over the weekend!
p.s. actually the reason I began an email the first time…….and of course, I got to thinking about her…..and I forgot. I wanted to say, I can’t believe you actually have Duke in a Halti. I tried one on Lucy in her first year, boy was that a MASSIVE disaster. I kept trying for almost a week and we would spend EVERY walk, the entire time, with her trying to get it off with her paw. She HATED it with every fiber of her being. If she hated it THAT badly I just had to move on to plan B and that turned out to be perfect. It was more of a harness. The leash hooked on a ring about the center of her back. The harness was a corduroy (pink of course) material padded and lined with almost like a flannel or something. From the moment I put it on her she was the PERFECT dog when we walked. She never pulled again, she heeled perfectly. It was THE best thing I ever purchased for a pet. She went through two. She outgrew her first one. If I knew where that halti is I’d give it to you. If you think about it, it would be REALLY annoying to have something across your nose the entire time you’re walking. It would drive me buggy. Whereas it going around the chest and the hook in the middle of the back is FAR more comfortable. I had everything in pink, her collar, her harness, her leash, and people STILL asked me, “how old is he?” and “what is his name?” I gave up.
I shouldn’t have looked at the golden pictures. It’s still too hard. I know you went through this with Einstein. That amazing boy was with you before EVERY other thing in your life. I can’t imagine how difficult that was for you. It had to be even worse than Lucy for me and that was almost more than I could bear. I’m JUST slightly beginning to not feel quite so guilty and horrible. I felt physically sick for a week. And yet, I couldn’t bear to see her continue to suffer seizures and suffer through what they said would happen. I believe she really pushed herself the last year, to kept going for me. I had to let her be at peace. But I’ve never felt so horrible about a conscious act in my life. AND….it happened on my birthday AND my parent’s wedding anniversary. Needless no one did ANY celebrating. When my family had my birthday dinner 2 days later I couldn’t have cared less. You were able to do what I wanted desperately to do, to have another furry little one there to help, but, thanks to several selfish, inconsiderate, rude, tenants who caused such damage I had to suffer I didn’t have the funds to purchase another golden. Oh sure, I could have gone and found a poor pup from a puppy mill, but I would never support one. Help shut one down, but never buy from them. So now I’m waiting until spring. But holy cow the time is dragging. It feels like FOREVER. I’m also going to get two if at all possible. I’m glad Duke has a new sister. All animals need at least one animal friend. She’s just perfect for you.
Awww. So cute!
I am SO happy to see you finally got another golden to be with Duke. I don’t see how you lasted so long. I used to write you some about my Lucy back when you only had Einstein (I still think that is a brilliant name for a golden retriever as they ARE so incredibly intelligent.) Well I lost my Lucy about 3 weeks ago. And of all things it was on my birthday. As awful as it was I think it was meant to be. She came on my birthday. I’m still not doing well. How do you adjust? I don’t have another one to help. I had wanted one but life didn’t work out. I think of going somewhere and for an instant my mind thinks, should Lucy go along? I hear a noise and think for an instant, oh its Lucy. I think being there with her through that is THE worst thing I’ve ever had to do. I feel sick inside when I start to think about it. I wish I could have a memory erase done of that evening. But I wish your family MANY happy and wonderful years with Duke and Judith.
Oh Pamela, I am SO sorry to hear about Lucy’s passing. Sending you so many thoughts, prayers, and hugs. It was awful for quite a while, but the blessing was that Dominic was born 3 weeks later, so a distraction from my grief to say the least! And yes, still thinking about that afternoon is absolutely heart wrenching.
What a beautiful little sister for two adorable “big” brothers to love! So glad you’re doing well. I enjoy your site and recipes. And love your GOLDENS! We are also a “Golden” family – 13 yr old Sophie and 14 yr old Golden mix Elwood.
Congratulations on the latest additions to your lovely family! The boys are getting so big! Isabelle is gorgeous and Judith is awesome. Sending hugs and best wishes to you and yours!
The dogs are adorable but my question is which do has the leash around their mouth & why? You did a wonderful thing by adopting Judith when she didn’t quite make the grade for therapy. She is so sweet & Judith will thank you 10 times over for the rescue. I bet Einstein is happy his buddy has a new friend. You have a kind heart. If we lived closer I would gladly volunteer as dog walker for you. I also know that baby makes five. She is beautiful but she will have two brothers that will look out for her always, I speak from experience. Well God has surely blessed your family with some blessed events I add my congratulations & may God continue to bless you always.
Hi Jan, Duke has on a gentle leader… it’s not a muzzle, but incredibly helpful for dog walking when the dog gets excited or pulls ahead. Just a simple little tug of redirection is all that’s needed, and no pulling on collars, etc. Such a huge difference!
Congratulations on Judith! Duke seems overjoyed.
Hate to be a kill joy but please be careful with her wearing a collar and playing with Duke. It can be dangerous for both of them. Sorry to be a bummer.
I can’t believe I missed this announcement about Judith. So exciting! Love the muzzle to muzzle sleep pic. Awwwww.
So glad to see Judith..I am sure Duke must be super excited along with your cute boys..
He’s loving having a friend again! And the boys adore her (especially Joseph!).
Such an awesome feeling..I remember when you posted about losing Einstein, I was shedding bucketful of tears reading your post along..Felt so happy when you got a buddy for Duke :-) Great work Michelle..I love your blog and every bit you post!
That new pup is BEAUTIFUL!!!““““Can you share with me the name of the organization you got her from?
Judy(Judith)!!!
Thank you so much Judy! The organization actually asked for anonymity because they typically do not adopt out dogs and this was a pretty rare circumstance.
Congratulation on your newly beautiful addition. Thank you for sharing these fanstatic pictures.
Thank you, Ivory, and you’re welcome of course! :)
They are both so sweet!
Thank you Gina!
Hi Michelle,
Congrats on Judith!! Shes so beautiful.I just have one question, does she need to wear a prong collar? Aren’t those cruel?
Thank you so much Katie! As for the prong collar, it’s actually a misconception that they’re cruel. It doesn’t hurt them and you just need a small amount of pressure to correct. It replicates the sensation of the mother tugging at their neck to correct them when they’re puppies. It’s just used for short corrections, and is the collar that was used during her training, so we’re keeping things consistent here!
Congrats on Judith! She is beautiful! You are a very lucky family – it sounds like she was in training to be a service dog, not a therapy animal. Service dogs are working dogs, highly trained to perform specific duties for a person with disabilities. A therapy dog is a family pet who’s been evaluated for temperament and training to visit in the community such as hospitals , etc. and bring comfort. If your dog has had a “career change” from training for service to becoming a pet, Your family has gained a dog with lots of time and training invested in her already so she is going to be amazing.
Thank you Gwen! And yes, she’s been in training since she was about 8 weeks old I believe, so there was a lot of time invested in her and she is SO smart and knows so many commands (more than we ever used with our dogs, so Duke is learning!).
Congratulations on the newest member of your family!!! I am so happy for all of you…especially Duke. He must be so thrilled to have a new playmate. It is SO wonderful that you adopted and gave her a loving new home. Einstein is definitely looking down and is truly happy.
Thank you Jana! We were so thrilled to give her a home, and Duke has been doing so much playing this week, I think he’s enjoying having a buddy again!
Congrats, Judith is beautiful! Golden’s are the best, and the only dogs we have had in 24 years. I bet she is a very smart girl!
My daughter has a male that she got from a service organization, he too didn’t quite make the cut. He is the best family dog though! It won’t be long before you will be adding another little girl to your family. It is a very exciting time for you, enjoy!
Thank you Marcia! We are total Golden lovers here, too!
so glad you got judith. . . although i don’t know about the name… because duke always looked so lonesome when einstein was gone. congratulations and good luck. you are gonna have one very large happy family. :)
Thank you Elizabeth! We have a busy house, that’s for sure!
Judith is a beautiful dog and a great addition to your home. How could anyone not love those two dogs. Your children will enjoy them so much. Love your blog and recipes.
Thank you Cecilia! We absolutely seeing our boys love on the dogs!
Judith is beautiful! Congratulations!
Thank you Sandy!