I have been dealing with chronic health issues for a while now and it all recently come to a head after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and a new gastroenterologist confirming my gut issues stem from IBS. Since medicine won't help me, I have begun searching for other ways to manage my pain. One approach I have been looking into is getting a dog to provide comfort.

Meet orange collar! Orange collar is a F1b Goldendoodle.

I know a lot of people on HEE disaprove of goldendoodles, but please keep your negative opinions to yourself. The breeder showed me she was responsible, caring, and knowledgeable. The puppies she offered were well bred and met my needs for a dog.

Orange collar was born into a litter of 10 puppies. His Mom is a therapy dog. Orange collar was the first puppy in the litter to come up to me and lick my hand. He was gentle, mellow, and wasn't mouthy like some of his littermates. I am glad I got to choose the first puppy out of the entire litter.

Orange collar is coming home on March 16 and I'm looking forward to having a dog in the house again. Now I just need to come up with a name! Stick around to see us on our journey!

He is so very cute! Congrats <3

Adorable!

At this moment I am unsure if I will train Orange Collar to be a therapy dog. It sounds fun and I would love to offer other people the comfort of a dog, but I don't know if I have the time or strength to train him to the extent a therapy dog requires. Only time will tell.

That being said, I do have some experience training dogs. In 2017 I was a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind. I raised a black labrador retriever named Ogden.

Training him was a lot of work because Guide Dogs was very specific and strict about how you should train your dog. Your dog could not pee on grass and had to go to bathroom on command. If you are blind, you cannot have your dog relieving itself in an establishment. Grass is also not readily available if the dog is with a blind handler in the city. Also, your puppy could only be given specific toys; many of which Ogden didn't like.

Ultimately, Ogden did not become a guide dog, and was adopted into a loving family.

If I were to train Orange Collar I think it would be easier than Ogden because I could take an indivivdualized approach that works for us.

he's a cutey!

Ooo congrats Sil!
I personally love goldendoos