Family

Two momentous things going on today. Okay, one kind of cool thing and one momentous thing.

1) Jenny’s got posting privileges on OwensDomain.com! Expect to see a lot more vaguely-related lists of things and rambling. Also maybe some more pictures of cupcakes, because who doesn’t love cupcakes?

2) We are, as of Monday morning, officially very proud, very excited puppy parents. We had planned to get a puppy in the early fall, but the breeder/golden retriever rescue farm we chose to work with had a litter earlier with one of the dad dogs we absolutely loved. So we decided that earlier was better than later, and are planning to go out and visit the new pups this Saturday.

Here is the dad, Kirby:

Our puppy's dad, Kirby

Here is his mom, Nicole:

Our puppy's mom, Nicole

And here are the babies. One of these little guys is ours!:

Fuzzy sausages.

We’ve known for a while that we wanted a dog soon.  Both Brad and I are moving to new places with fenced-in yards, and now seemed like a good time to go ahead.  My family has always had golden retrievers, and it is my firm, informed, completely unbiased opinion that they are the best dogs in the entire world.  They’re intelligent (third most intelligent breed, following Border Collies and Poodles), loving, loyal, and big.  When it came time to seriously consider what kind of dog we wanted, I didn’t think twice.  Brad took a little convincing, but after a trip to the breeder’s, he was swayed.

I felt very strongly about wanting to get a puppy as a first dog–I want to be able to control my dog’s circumstances in the home from day one.  We looked at a number of different breeders, but eliminated many due to price.  Many others only bred show dogs with excellent pedigrees but said nothing about the dogs’ temperament.

Gap View Kennel and Ranch is not your typical breeder.  When you pull up, the first thing you notice is the chickens.  There are also three peacocks, several cats, and at least one very friendly bull.  Oh yeah, and forty one golden retrievers.  Dave and Anne, the people who run the kennel, treat every one of the dogs like their own children.  They know each dog by name, and have trained them extremely well.  After a quick orientation, they left us to roam around the farm with the only rule being to please close any gates behind us.  We played with puppies and bonded with parents.  The ranch also serves as  a rescue for goldens that, for whatever reason, were not a good fit with their families.

Finally, I feel compelled to give Brad some major points here.  I have a rule about things that need names–when in doubt, name things after a DC comics character.  This is how I ended up with a computer named Lex Luthor, for example, an iPod named Oliver Queen.  You get the picture.  Brad has graciously allowed me to name our puppy Bruce Wayne Kalb Owens, under the condition that we call him B-dubs normally.

Welcome to the family, little B-dubs.  We’re so excited to have you.