Meet our new family memeber - Fizz!

[LauraT7]

As some of you may know, four weeks ago, we lost our much loved, golden/chessie mix, Tristan, to lymphoma. Tristan was the best dog anyone could ever ask for, the heart of our family, and we loved him tremendously.

As much as we loved Tristan, and as much love as he gave back to us, we knew we HAD to have another dog to love. Tristan would not mind - His attitude always was "the more, the merrier!" he always welcomed new friends - human or fur! I also know, that if he were a 'people' and could speak, he would have encouraged us to share our home and hearts with another dog. Tristan belived in sharing love as much as possible!

so today Jon and I visited a breeder we have been talking to that I found on the internet, who had 3 adult dogs available to be placed in homes as family pets, instead of being show dogs. She had a 5 yr old male Chesapeke Bay retreiver, and two beautiful 2 yr old Golden Retreiver girls that were being either retired or removed form their breeding line. It was a VERY hard choice, as all three dogs were wonderful, very sweet personalities, and I could see all of them fitting in with us very easily.

I was very tempted by the chessie - Mojo, who, as Diane had told us, WAS very sweet and very much a 'lover'. He also had the most beautiful amber eyes! I could see alot of Tristan's personality traits came from his 'chessie' half - and Mojo was quite a gentle charmer, with the calm, yet playful demeanor Tristan always had. Tristan obviously got the 'social butterfly' part of his personality from his golden half, though! In the end, we decided that an outgoing Golden was a better fit to our lifestyle.

"Fizz" ( Bonacres Ridin shotgun) was just a little more friendly and outgoing than Grace, though both were wonderful girls - so she was our final choice.

Fizz will be 2 yrs old on March 31, and she is a lovely medium gold color. She is very outgoing, loves her toys, especially Tennis Balls, and has a mile-a-minute wiggle butt. She's a kisser and very affectionate. She rode home in the car very nicely ( in a crate, as she is crate trained) and though she will need to be formally 'trained' , she has nice manners, comes when called and knows basic commands. She's already tried out the doggie door, though the flaps startle her a bit, I think she will get over that quickly.

I'm sending the first pictures of her - taken at the Breeders this afternoon - of course, we hope there will be many more to follow!

Laura & Jon
& Fizz!

[LauraT7]

hmmm - why when I post more than one photo, only the second one shows up?

anyway - the photo above, I think, is the breeders with my son and Fizz,

and this one is Me and Jon and Fizz.

( I hope!)

laura

[PJ's Mom]

What a pretty girl! Congrats on the new addition! :D

[Oggyflute]

She's a beautiful girl laura, congrats. :)

[GoldenRetrLuver]

What a precious girl!! She's beautiful! :D

Congratulations!

[jazzcat]

She's beautiful. Congrats on your new addition.:)

[shais_mom]

what a GORGEOUS girl!!!!
can't wait for more pics!
I think the reason you are only getting one pic posted is b/c you are attaching them and I think you can only attach one pic at a time?

[kt_luvs_kitties]

Beautiful new addition! Congrats on the new arrival:D:D:D

[lute]

CONGRATS on the new pupper! she is really pretty!:D

[KYS]

Welcome Fizz!

Congratulations on your new family addition.

[Dixieland Dancer]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Of course you know I'm happy you picked the Golden girl. :D I wish you, Jon and Fizz many happy fun filled years together. Are you going to keep her name Fizz or name her something different? Now you need to sign her up for formal obedience classes. That's the trainer in me speaking! LOL Again.... CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Candy

[Rachel]

Congratulations on finding another dog with whom to share your life. It seems that Fizz will do her best to fill the hole in your hearts that was left by Tristan's passing.

The fact that she *comes when called* has to be one of the best ways to start out with a dog. I am so happy for you and Jon. Do let us know how she and the kitty get along.

Almost forgot to say, as the others have already mentioned, Fizz is beautiful!

[LauraT7]

Fizz is settling in, though she was a little 'nervous' in her new surroundings last night. It was ALOT to 'take in' but she is doing VERY well. she rode home in the car like an angel.

She has:
*Tried the doggie door ( not sure she likes those double flaps, though!) She'll go thru if we hold one or both flaps open for her. she prefers the Garage doggie door - which is just a hole in the wall, with no flaps/ door.
*Investigated the backyard (like Tristan, with the snow on the ground, she can't tell the difference between the cement patio and the grass, so she's not quite sure where to 'go' - but that's ok - she's made it 'outside' each time, that's the important part!)
*Wanted to "investigate" Teal'c, the kitty, but was 'discouraged' by the kittys' spitting and hissing ( we kept them separate, but allowed them to see and smell each other - kitty is very annoyed with us right now, and is hiding under the bed! LOL!) I think he's having a hard time deciding which is worse - putting up with that big hairy dog, or having to spend the day outside in the wet snow! Poor, poor kitty! LOL!
* met 'Bear', the chow who lives next door, and 'Angus' the black lab who lives behind us (both thru the fence)
* discovered a treasure trove of toys - an entire laundry basket full! and is happily making a 'nest' of them, one by one, in her crate! (Tristan had a LOT of toys, and was very proud of his 'collection')

Fizz is funny - she'll go to the toy bin, root around and pick one out, then she'll bring it to me. we'll play with it a few minutes, then she'll take it to her crate, and lay down with it. But only for a second - then she goes to get another toy. she's very 'choosy' - picking up the toys and putting them back down until she finds the 'right' one, bringing it to me - and then when she puts it in her crate, she has to sniff over and 'arrange' the ones there. Good thing it's a big crate, or there may not be room for Fizz, soon! She was especially delighted to find a 'big' tennis ball, and lots of regular ones, at the bottom of the bin. She wiggled all over!
I'll probably take some of the toys and put them away, to be brought out later, so they seem new. We used to rotate and wash Tristan's toys quite often, and except for a few particular favorites which were always out, he always thought he was getting new toys. Right now, she's having loads of fun with the whole pile!, though!

Last night, we set the crate up in the living room in place of one of the couch end tables. (the only place big enough to fit it comfortably) and she was quite happy with that. She was right in the middle of where we always are, and close enough to the kitchen to see everything and not get stepped on. Except for the 1 1/2 hrs when we left her here ( in the crate) and went to Jon's scout meeting, we left the crate open, so she could come and go as she pleased. She was up quite a few times in the night to 'check' on us, but then she went right back to her crate. I think she'd prefer the crate in one of our bedrooms at night, but there just isn't enough room in Jon's, and I have too many doors that open in the way in my room. since the crate seems to be a 'safe' place to her, and she so obviously likes it - it will stay upstairs, with the door open, as long as she needs it to.

this morning, she has stuck right by me - rode with me as i took jon to school ( he missed the bus - too busy playing with Fizz!) she helped me clean and oil the hinges on the doggie door ( nose right in the middle) and had to 'help' me with laundry by stealing Jon's mitten and a sock out of the basket! We got a fresh sprinkling of snow last night, so we had to go out and chase a ball in it this morning. Yup - she's gonna fit right in with us!

I called the vet this morning, too - she's scheduled to go in next Tues AM, March 1, to be spayed, she'll stay overnight and we'll have her back on Wed. ( it's a small family vet practice, so they only do surgeries once a week) I have to substitute teach this afternoon ( 1/2 day only) so when Jon and I both get home from school, we'll take her down to PetsMart and get her a tag and make her 'officially' a Tobin. ( Right now she is wearing Tristan's collar, and his tag - at least it has our contact info on it - she looks very pretty in his purple collar! )

I had a thought that I might schedule our stray kitty to be 'fixed' at the same time - maybe if they are both 'out of it' at the same time, it might be a good time for them to get used to each other. I dunno. - having never had a cat before, I'll have to think about that one. Teal'c - (the kitty) had made enough of a truce with Tristan (before he died) that while they weren't 'friends' - they could actually share the same couch. But Tristan was not as active in that last month - nothing like our bouncy Fizz!

So we are all settling in pretty well together.
It was very hard to decide, yesterday - I could easily see all three dogs fitting in with us. I was very, very tempted by Mojo - he is quite a loving charmer, and if it were just me, I probably would have chosen him. I think that somewhere, years down the road, I will have to have a chessie someday. I could see that alot of the traits that I so loved in Tristan were part of his 'chessie' half. Genetically, Tristan didn't get the best 'health' genes from his parents - but he obviously got the best of the Chessie personality along with the best of the Golden personality. But with Jon still at home, and all the activities that we do, I think an 'outgoing' Golden better suits our lifestyle right now. Grace was lovely, as well, a little larger and calmer than Fizz, but just as beautiful in looks and temperment. I'm kind of glad that Jon had a preference, because it would have been really hard for me to pick between Grace and Fiz. (years ago - that's how I ended up with TWO golden littermates in the first place - i could not decide between Toby and Tara as puppies, so I took BOTH home!)

It's funny too - how Grief works, I've had a few quiet tears yesterday and this morning. while Fizz is NOTHING like Tristan, having her here makes me think of him, and I miss my buddy. But Fizz is here to kiss away my tears, and make us laugh again - and so the circle of golden love rolls on.....

Laura

[Rachel]

Oh, Laura, that part about the toys is so sweet. It seems that this little girl couldn't be any sweeter. Oh, I like the part about her getting up in the night to check on you too. I think you picked a real gem. Please give us many more updates.

[tatsxxx11]

Oh Laura...I'm SO happy for you and Jon:) Fizz is beautiful!!! And what a smooth transistion she's making all things considered! She sounds like such a well mannered girl and so sweet and gentle; a true Golden:) Hopefully Teal'c will come around soon:) Most of all I'm happy that once again you are enjoying the love and companionship of a pup! I know it's hard in the beginning, welcoming a new dog into the home after the passing of a dog so loved as was your Tristan. But you're right, Fizz is there to bring joy back into your life and lick away your tears on those sad days. You did a great job finding the perfect pup and I'm so happy for you and Jon!:) Now...more pictures:D

[RobiLee]

I am sooo happy for you and your son. Happy for Fizz also! For some reason I'm all teary eyed. I'm just so happy and your sweet words about Tristan really touch me.

Your new girl is beautiful! I love goldens!

Robin :)

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Congratulations!!! Fizz is beautiful.:)

[cyber-sibes]

Congratulations - she looks like a real love in her pictures - and sounds like she's fitting right into your hearts & home! What a pretty girl - I hope you enjoy many many happy years together!