Semi-sort of chronological order of Minnie the Goldendoodle. I’ll be adding/updating this gallery as Minnie starts to grow up.
Minnie is short for Minifred Pupsodent (a very strange name, I suppose).
- When I was a kid, there was a TV show (black & white!) on Captain Kangaroo (remember when? No? You’re under 40!) called “Tom Terrific & His Might Dog Manfred”. Minnie is a girl, so I used “Minifred” as a suitable female name, and “Minnie”, I think, is just a pretty name and distinctive to get a dog’s attention.
- Pupsodent, or “Pups” or “Pupsy” was my first very own dog — a Standard Poodle I “rescued” from the veterinarian I worked for. I got her free on the agreement I’d take her through 3 levels of obedience training. I did that, and ended up with an incredibly smart dog that would hunt anything you could think of. The vet had small kids (I was 14 — all grown up!), and Pups got her name from them from the old commercial “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with … ” — you guessed it — Pupsodent. Pups’ registered name was High Hope of Hapi Hart.
Anyway, I’ve had Old English Sheepdogs for the last 25 years before Minnie. Sheepdogs are great for the family, wonderful protectors, don’t stray, etc.
BUT, all my kids are grown up and I’ve got grandkids. Sheepdogs largely take to the family they’re raised with, and frequently don’t even like strangers (read: grandkids). Since my personal favorite breed is the Standard Poodle, followed closely by the Golden Retriever, a Goldendoodle is a no-brainer.
FINDING a good breeder is a bit more difficult. But I managed to do it. (Heartland Classics: see this page)
Picking up Minnie (Cha-Cha until she left the kennel) was also one of those “Bucket List” trips. My oldest granddaughter (19 at the time) rode shotgun, and we left Louisville (Boulder), Colorado just after our “flood of Biblical Proportions”. There was one way out of the area, we followed the South Platte River all the way across Nebraska, picked up Minnie, stayed in Iowa overnight (Salix), and then drove all the way across Nebraska again to attend a wedding out in the middle of a ranch in Lisco, Nebraska.
Minnie’s first week of “new ownership” included everything a pup needs to know to get started in life properly. That includes meeting cows, cats, kids, and the country. Minnie did well, and is shaping up to be the ideal dog.