The beginning of my quest!

At 17, only two years after receiving my first service dog, if you had asked me what my dream service dog breed was, I would have exclaimed a poodle or a pit bull! I know they couldn't be further apart on the breed spectrum, but I have always felt that Poodles were an incredible, hard working breed that, like the Pit bull, was very misjudged. In saying that, I never actually felt I would have a poodle of my own for one reason or another.

After Gretel, my second service dog was diagnosed with Arthritis in April of 2011 I began my quest.  This consisted of a ton of research and soul searching for the specifics of what I wanted in my 3rd service dog. I was lucky enough to work with a Labradoodle, who taught me that what I loved from afar in the Poodle, I loved in real life.

They are truly gentle dogs, who love to retrieve. They are noble, yet silly characters and above all else, they are smart.  This helped me narrow my search down to:

• Labrador Retrievers
• Golden Retrievers
• Poodles
• Any cross of those three
• Pit Bulls

I began emailing rescues and breeders to ask if they'd all me to evaluate puppies and began testing any litters available.  One by one I was learning more about what I wanted (for myself) and saying "the puppies are nice but unfortunately not matches for me.".  Whether or not they were too small, too fearful or too wild - they were undoubtably not the dog for me.