Celebrating A Remarkable Year With A Cute Little Dood

What has four long legs, curly apricot-colored hair, a brown nose, gold eyes, floppy ears and a tail that waves like some sort of fluffy banner? Not really what, but who? It’s Boone, our Australian Labradoodle.

Happy Booneiversary

Today is a special day for us and for Boone. It is the one year anniversary of this fluffy ball of fur coming to live in our home. One year ago, our empty nest became a little bit fuller. He helped fill a void left by the loss of our beloved Corgi, Higgins exactly one year before.

It could not have happened at a better time. About a month into the pandemic of COVID-19, we brought our ten-week old puppy home. At that point, we had no idea how long the pandemic would last, that our lives would still be affected by it over a year later.

We applied to get a puppy from Lakewood Labradoodles in October of 2019. We decided on a litter that was due to be born in early 2020. The puppies were born on February 6. On March 4, we were able to meet all of the puppies along with the other prospective puppy parents. A couple of weeks later, we learned we were going to get a cute little male puppy, apricot, with a white spot on his forehead. Unfortunately, the typical celebratory pick-up day was changed by the stay-at-home order due to COVID. My husband and I drove to the trainer’s house on a quiet Friday afternoon and picked up our boy.

Then the fun began.

Why Boone’s So Special

Boone has brought so much joy to our home this past year. He has brought to me a sense of normalcy, a sense of order, a job to do. He has been a bright spot during this year of fear and uncertainty. Of course, the first couple of months were a little trying. There were a few nights of interrupted sleep and way-too-early mornings but, we eventually became accustomed to each other. Believe it or not, classical music helped — we played it for him when we put him to bed at night.

He has also helped us to get outdoors and exercise more. He loves to be outside, either going for a walk, chasing a ball or his favorite pastime, hunting sticks. Sometimes, he likes to just sit outside in the grass under a shade tree and watch the neighbors go by. He especially likes it when someone stops to say hello or give him a scratch behind the ears. He also enjoys seeing one of his many canine friends. He’s definitely a friendly “dood”.