Its an Annie!

Over the past year or so...  whenever we spoke about the dogs passing, I've always said that it would be nice if we could go dogless for a while.    As great as it is to have the mutts, they do require a commitment, and sacrifice.

I've had had trips to Japan, Australia, & New Zealand on my radar for some time now.   Trips that you can't take if you own a dog unless you can leave them with someone, or put them in a kennel - the latter which is a non-starter for us.

Well....

We're not going to Japan.

Or Australia,

Or New Zealand.

Meet Annie, the newest member of the pack

Annie at 14 weeks

Annie is a 16 week old Australian Cobberdog.   On Feb 2, 2023 while we were hanging out at Quartzsite with the gang, Annie was making her entrance into the world in Barcelona, Spain.    Little did she know the life that she was going to lead.

What's a Cobberdog you ask?  

Well the link above tells you a bit more, but it is a strain of dog, recognized as a Purebred breed in development.   Created by the same people who developed the original Labradoodle line, and descended from the original Australian Labradoodle strains, the line was tweaked a bit, and now has strict limitations on who can breed them, and requires DNA testing before they can be registered.    This is to hopefully prevent the craziness that happened with the Labradoodle line where every knucklehead with a Lab and a Poodle started breeding them and calling them Labradoodles.

A Cobberdog consists of approximately 28 different strains.

We purchased Annie from a breeder in Barcelona whe specializes in Therapy dogs.   I'd been following this breeder for a number of years and was impressed with their program.   Its a decent sized venture that has a training center and vet as part of the practice.   The dogs go thru a fairly rigorous training program to set them on a good path as Therapy dogs before you get them.   That is why Annie was 16 weeks old when we received her today.

So today at 0830, the pet taxi that we took a couple of weeks ago from Calais to London arrived at our cottage here near Canterbury.   He picked me up, and took me on the train, thru the Chunnel, to Calais where I met the driver who transported Annie 13 hours from Barcelona over 2 days.

We arranged the pickup at a nearby McDonalds, and within about 30 min we were heading back to the Chunnel with Annie on my lap.

On the Chunnel Train from France

First impressions is that she is a very chill pup.   Loves lap time and really loves people.   She's already started on house and leash training, and does not try to chew on you - even though she is currently teething.    Time and patience will tell, but so far so good.

Lucy has seemed a bit lost without Gracie.   Previously very independent - she has started to want to be at our side much more.    Now we'll see what the addition of 6 lbs of puppy power will add to that equation.

The veteran and the rookie

Based on her current weight - I'm guessing that Annie with be our smallest Doodle yet.  Yes I'll still call her a doodle - it sounds better than a "Cobber".    I'm guessing perhaps 14-17 lbs.

Finally - where did the name Annie come from?

Well you might know that Gracie was a blonde when born and was Gracie Allen

Lucy was the redhead and was Lucy Ricardo.

Well Annie comes from one of our favorite movies - Overboard with Goldie Hawn

If you've seen the movie then you know about Annie Goolahee Profit.

She's our little cookie cutter.