G'day from down under!

[Avalon LD]

We are the proud owners of our Charlie, 10 month old, female F2. (Is F2 the same in the U.S? eg; pup resulting from two F1 LD's.)

We live on 100 acres in Nth NSW with our two daughters. I homeschool, so we are pretty much always home with Charlie. And when we go out, she comes most of the time -- lucky doggie!

We originally wanted a LD because I am allergic to most dogs and our daughter has mild Tourette Syndrome, ADHD/Anxiety and Learning Difficulties and we had heard that LD can have good Therapy Dog qualities.

Of course we knew there was no guarantee that either of these attributes would come through, but we took the chance and it has been life changing.

I cannot over express my gratitude for our Charlie. She literally knows when someone is upset and will go and sit next to them. She will place her head gently on peoples laps and just hold it there. Everyone is completely surprised when she first does this to them!

I recently had to travel to the U.S for a week and I was really worried about how my daughter would handle me not being at home. She did have trouble that week, but apparently every night (completely unlike any other night of Charlie's life with us) when our daughter went to sleep, Charlie would take herself in and sit next to the bed until DD was asleep. Then she would walk back out and lounge with DH for the rest of the night. She just knew that DD needed support. Just amazing!

Also, our other DD is with us through foster care. It's been 6 years, but she still gets very anxious the day before she visits her birth family. But again, our Charlie does her thing. She'll just follow DD around, happily wagging her tail. Even if DD is just sitting on the lounge, Charlie will just sit there patiently. ONLY on those days is she so vigilant!

We have fallen head over heel with Labradoodles and will be getting another one soon. Looking into litters now

We are also considering breeding. Having had a small amount of experience with this many years ago, we understand what is involved.

So, that's us. Hope to join with many fun and supportive conversations!

Zoe and Dave

[lindamarie]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM ZOE, DAVE & CHARLIE!!
What a BEAUTIFUL story! You have a natural there for sensing things and being compassionate! CONGRATULATIONS!
Stories like this bring tears to my eyes. Bogart is a Service Dog for me and also a therapy dog at a local hospital and works with autistic and Downe Syndrome children at a church...and soon sone schools.

These dogs communicate well....they look you right in the eye and it's like they are talking to you!
I often walk with my now 8 year old neighbor who has juvenile diabetes. On a walk one day, Bogart sensed something and I called her mother. Her blood sugar was 450!!

You and your DD's have so much love and joy coming your way in Charlie!
Enjoy!!
Pictures pleeeeease!

[Bill C]

Welcome to the forum (from Eastern Pennsylvania). I'm fairly new here as well. We've had several dogs over the years, and have a wonderful 4 year old Golden Retriever - Jai Mahasi (AKA "Moose"). In early October we expanded our family with the addition of Murphy, a now 14 week old Labradoodle. She continues to make me laugh, and yes she is a bit mischeiveious. I should have called her 'Shadow' as she like to follow me around (of course, she knows that I will probably pull out a treat for her if she does one of her puppy tricks )
Please post pics, and I look forward to your participation.
Bill

[Avalon LD]

Hi guys, nice to hear from you .

Bill, there are some pics of Charlie at the end of page 4 in the "That's a nosy", thread.

Wow Murphy is only 14 weeks! That's a very doodle-ish age! I remember Charlie running like a cyclone around the lounge room before bed time. We couldn't walk her as much then because of her still growing, so we started with lots of basic obedience -- sit, drop, stay, come, roll over. She loved all these and it took some of her energy out..

Lindamarie, your Murphy sounds beautiful! We had thought of using Charlie as a therapy dog, she would certainly enjoy the interaction . She doesn't like it when big loud people come right up to her face and start talking in babytalk or big booming voices though, so I think she might be not quite as trusting of everyone as she would need to be.

She's still our therapy girl .

[Rubyrose]

I'm also new to this forum and from Queensland, Australia (also known as water-world )

We have just adopted an 11 month old red standard labradoodle called Ruby. She is just starting to get naughty after being very polite and quiet for the first few weeks in her new home.

We have spent the last couple of months dealing with floods here, now the big cyclone up north, thankfully nobody died, and our poor old ruby has not been able to get out and go for walks because of all the rain.

We know nothing about doodles, but she seems to be very gentle and intuitive with people. Our two cats aren't as impressed with her since she is so much bigger than them, but even they are coming around.

Hope to visit here now and again and maybe ask some questions from veteran doodle owners.

kind thoughts..

[lindamarie]

WELCOME RUBYROSE!!

Stay safe and I'm glad to hear you're okay in that rain and floods!