A dog reflects the family life.
Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family,
or a sad dog in a happy one?
Snarling people have snarling dogs,
dangerous people have dangerous ones.
Arthur Conan Doyle
This is our Abbey. She's a three year old goldendoodle, otherwise known as a Teddy Bear Goldendoodle. At 60 pounds and tall she's one big goofy ball of personality. Her bark is the best alarm system. Thankfully she doesn't go on and on. She knows to bark and come get us then she stops.
When she first came to us she was a very dark chocolate color. I never thought her fur would change so much. The change started with her beard - it turned a copper color. Then her tail streaked a white feathery plume. After another year the white started to pop throughout her coat, mostly on her head and back. Her legs and chest remain chocolate. She has turned into a muted parti.
Her parents are both first generation (F1) chocolate goldendoodles. Abbey is a 2nd generation or F2 goldendoodle. A first generation goldendoodle is produced by crossing a purebred poodle to a purebred golden retriever. We decided on the second generation as they don't shed which is good for the mister's asthma.
All of this cross pollinationbreeding and back again has caused the changes in her fur color.
Abbey is the gentlest dog we have ever encountered. She's smart. Alert. Loves people more than dogs. She's easy to train — once or twice and she's got it!
Best. Dog. Ever! She is very much a poodle in spirit and a golden retriever in personality.
She can open and close doors. She laughs on command, throwing her head back as if she were cracking up. She knows the names of her toys and will fetch them on command. She has a fairly large understanding of vocabulary. Some experts say the average dog can understand about 165 words, possibly more with training. Abbey is more than average.
Abbey is very affectionate and loves to be with us. She's a great snuggler. She will try to get as close as she can and finally puts her head under my chin and sighs. She calms the noisy barking dogs next door because she is calm. Caesar Milan would be proud!
We can walk her without a leash but only do this on paths, not city sidewalks. She comes when called even if there is something overly interesting for her. I have photographed her over the years and have many pictures but have chosen to show these ones so you can see the way her crazy hair has changed.
