We Got a Red Golden Retriever Puppy named Lucy Cove Raborn!!!!
Cody and I are SO thrilled and have been looking forward to this time for YEARS. Everyone always asks us since we have our house now, when will the kids come? Well, we are ready for dogs, is always our response lol! Strictly sticking to our 10 year plan, we always wanted to get a dog 1 year after the house was complete, and with the house being 1.5 years late and out of our control, we are still sticking with our plan and getting a dog when we originally planned. We were/are very very ready. So now we will have a little dog after being in our house for 5.5 months and after having everything live-able in the house, 3 months. We planned to save up a little after the house and we wanted the puppy to be 2 years old before we started trying for kids. No one wants two "babies" at one time when you don't have to.
So Cody and I have been furiously searching for breeders since the day we moved into our new house. We stumbled across a highly recommended dog breeder in Erin TN called Early's Ragtime Golden Retrievers, and they have been nothing but perfect. After talking to Sheri for the first time, we never looked back. The care alone she takes of her puppies and dogs, is astronomical going above and beyond. She and her husband David love them as much as if they were their actual kids! They pray over each puppy, play classical music, change their bedding constantly, and watch them nearly 24/7 during their first 7 weeks of life until you pick them up! They allow you to of course meet the mama and daddy dog and at the 4 week mark, visit and claim your puppy! Sheri takes a lot of time out of her day to record and update you about the dog and puppies and gives detailed information. So naturally when we heard all of this and how sweet sweet sweet Sheri and David are and professional, we immediately got on a wait list for 3 litters to be sure to get our little doggie.
We ended up choosing a little girl doggie that we named Lucy Cove Raborn from a liter from their dogs Parker and Daizi. They are red golden retrievers and absolutely GORGEOUS. This is Daizi's second litter ever and she is about 2.5-3 years old. The daddy, Parker, is ~6 years old. Parker is full of energy and the star of the show. He likes to make you happy and is so smart and loyal. Daizi is the alpha, and likes things a certain way but so dearly dearly loves her puppies. For this litter she had 4 boys and 4 girls! We originally were 5th in line for a girl (which obviously didn't exist) so we were so panicked but two people dropped out because of financial strain from the coronavirus. We are heartbroken for them but overjoyed at this blessing for us. We would have had to wait for December otherwise. Daizi's last litter (Parker was the dad then also), she had 5 boys and 1 girl.
Daizi went into heat on February 14th and Parker and Daizi tied multiple times (February 18th-22nd) after Daizi was artificially inseminated on February 18th. Daizi was confirmed to be pregnant with an ultrasound on April Fools day and gave birth to her litter on April 20th 2020. I feel very technical with all of this lol. Lucy will come home to us on June 7th 2020 and we are preparing like crazy!! We finished the fence, got a dog door installed, and finished out Lucy's corner under the stairs!
Lucy's hiding spot under the stairs just for her! Cody built the door for her! He is so talented!
We set up a baby gate so she can't get up the stairs.
We set up her pen for sleeping inside. Cody had to put caging on the top because she figured out she could knock it over. We also set up an automatic water dispenser in the garage so she always has access to water!
Daizi and her puppies!!!
On May 24th when the puppies were 4 weeks old, Cody and I were able to drive to pick Lucy out between two puppies, Mrs. Pink and Mrs. White (collar colors).
We had an absolute blast and knew immediately which dog was our Lucy, Mrs White. It's more like she chose us to be honest. When we arrived they plopped Mrs. Pink in my arms and Mrs. White in Cody's arms. Mrs. White kept looking up at Cody and cuddling into him, not afraid at all. When we got on the ground she kept trying to show off for us (which Sheri said was not typical for her) so she was wanting us to see her. She kept exploring, not afraid of anything, and LOVED the toy we brought her. The moment she saw it, she decided it was hers forever and pranced around with it in her mouth during the next hour. She had such a unique personality. We were so sad to still leave her there but knew the next 14 days would fly by! *We brought her that little blue toy in the corner of the picture to rub on her litter mates and mom over the next 2 weeks before we picked her up so when we got home, she could snuggle it and not miss them as much. It worked like a charm. She still loves it!*
We have been feverishly finishing the fence and getting Lucy's toys and food and such ready!
........................................
June 7th 2020
We got Lucy!!
Picking her up at the breeders! She was ready for adventure!
Car ride!!! (4 hours!)
First car ride! She did great! She only got sick once and slept on me the rest of the way!
Once we got home and explored, Lucy curled right up with her little friend! My mom got her this little puppy and it has an artificial beating heart in it to simulate her littermates!
She is such a ham! :):)
So precious!
I filled her pool with ice so she could chase it around and play!
Cody and Lucy on their daily walks/obedient walks!
My mom drove down to meet Lucy and take these precious pictures of her!
Photocreds to Cody! I couldn't get her to sit still, hence the picture below 😁
We loved introducing Lucy to our home and family. We have dreamed about the day we get to bring home our baby for Lucy to meet and the long walks and runs I will have with her and them. I'm just so excited for a buddy with my level of energy. I have never had a pet in my entire life so I am so grateful for this opportunity and blessing for hopefully the next 12+ years of our lives.
We hope to follow Sheri (breeder) for many years to come as we feel invested and part of her family!
We've had Lucy for a week now and let me tell you, she is the smartest dog I have ever seen. Especially at 7 weeks! She slept through the night immediately with classical music playing in the background. She wasn't scared of anything either! And within 1-3 days we taught her to sit, stay, shake, drop, come, down, and to climb our porch stairs! She is incredible. She comforts me when I am sad and snuggles Cody and I when she is tired. She has truly been the sunshine for us. We love her so much and can't imagine never have making the decision for her to join our family. I so look forward to this next year with our love and the fun that entails it. Be ready for a family Christmas card in the mail and her first birthday party in April!!!
Welcome home Lucy!!!
*Please follow the constantly updated page on the toolbar to see Lucy's weekly, then monthly growth and updates!*
P.S.- For the significance of her name, we chose Lucy because we love the show I Love Lucy and when we get home we can say, LUCY, WE'RE HOME!! Or of course, I love Lucy ;). We have loved that name since before we were even engaged to be married but not enough to name a daughter, so a fur baby name is PERFECT!
We chose Cove as her middle name because we live in a big neighborhood with Cove in it and our street name has the word Cove in it and we want the dog to be really active and love the water (and I learned how to ski and wake board in a special cove in Knoxville).
Love,
Kayla Raborn
6/14/20
