Introducing....Baloo!

Losing our angel, Jeffrey on our trip back in May was really, really tough. Even though he was over 16, and had his health issues, you are just never ready to say goodbye.

Dean and I had talked about getting another dog while Jeffrey was still around. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of having a golden retriever. My Uncle Scott and Aunt Claire always had 2 goldens at a time. I always looked forward to going to their house and seeing them. I always said when I was old enough to get my own dog, I would get one of my own.

When I started living on my own at 18, it was just a 1 bedroom apartment with no yard. I didn't think getting a big dog would be fair. So I got my next favorite, a pug. Dean never had dogs growing up, but one of his roommates had a golden that he really liked, and he knew he wanted a big dog.

As Jeffrey was getting older I started researching golden retriever breeders. I even had my name on the wait list over year before Jeffrey passed. Each time they had an available liter, I just said we weren't ready yet. We knew we wanted to wait until after he was gone so we could give him 100 percent of our attention. When we got back from your trip we knew it was time. 5 months was the longest time I have gone without having a dog my entire life, and it was WAY too long.

As our luck would have it, the momma that was supposed to be due for October babies that we were on the waitlist for, had a failed pregnancy. Seriously? it is our luck. We decided we didn't want to wait months again, so I contact another breeder. We found out they had a recent liter, and had 2 pups still available. However, they also had a liter that were still a little too young and would be ready to go home in a month. We decided to take a ride up to meet the mom and dad and see the pups. We were instantly in love.

Two weeks later the puppies were old enough for us to interact with and pick out our boy. We took up our nieces to help pick out, and they brought the pups to us a little at a time so we can meet them. We quickly narrowed the 7 boys down to 3, and one just kept coming over to me crawling on my lap and was a lot more chill than his brother and sisters. I knew that was our boy. 💙

When he was 8 weeks old, we were able take Baloo home. Our beautiful English Cream Golden Retriever. Why 'Baloo' you ask? Maybe you didn't ask, but I'll still tell you! 😆 I always loved the movie Jungle Book. My first pug was named Mowgli. I had every intention to name Jeffrey "Baloo," but we had adopted him from a pug rescue and they had already named him Jeffrey. At first I thought that was such a weird name for a dog, and planned to change it. But, when I met Jeffrey... I knew I couldn't change it. So, our boy Baloo is named after our angel, Jeffrey in a way.

Since he has been home with us he has brought us SO much joy. Our nieces are having a lot of fun with him. Baloo loves everyone and is learning so fast. He knew how to sit, lay, give paw, and stay within the first couple weeks at home. He is about 95% potty trained now. We have been super lucky that over all, he has such a chill personality and a pretty good listener overall. He IS a puppy and has his puppy moments, but we definitely got a good one. He loves sticks, golf cart rides, food, and hanging out with his cousins and daddy. We cannot wait to bring him on all our adventures with us. He really is growing before our eyes. Our boy is now 15 weeks old! We still miss Jeffrey every day, but Baloo sure is mending our broken heart in a way. He's filling our home with some extra love we sure missed. Our boy, Baloo: You are loved more than you will ever know. ♡

Below see some pictures and video from the past couple months. Yes, there are a lot. Do you really expect anything less from me? 😂