A Meet Up 8 Years In the Making

[BG and Gavin]

Q: What do doodles from Florida, New Hampshire and Ontario, Canada all have in common?

A: Their mommas all met on DK and in real life!

It all started a little over 8 years ago. I was exhilarated and slightly overwhelmed searching for information to help me raise my golden doodle pup. Google spit out Doodlekisses.com and so it began.

Carol (and Banjo) - My first thought was “what a great name for a dog.” As I began to follow Carol I learned that she was warm and supportive and a great photographer. I enjoyed her photo essays detailing Banjo’s adventures in the snow and in the sand. He stole my heart when he developed a friendship with a real live lamb! I was honoured to be able to pass on the HDA award to Carol many years ago.http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/the-hopeless-doodle-award-...

Elizabeth (Bailey and Bruin) - Elizabeth was always a caring contributor to DK however one event took place and I just knew she was my type of gal! Elizabeth had brokered a deal with her husband that if his beloved Boston hockey team won the Stanley Cup, she could add a second doodle to their family. I was rooting like crazy for them. Boston lost in the finals…but Elizabeth still got her pup and named him Bruin!

Lori (Daphne, Lucy and Pippa) - I could tell Lori was a fun-loving girl. Her beautiful pictures of her pack, perfectly lined up and dressed in seasonal garb always brought a smile to my face. It is also no secret that I am obsessed with her sweet open-faced doodle Pippa. However, Lori and Elizabeth rose to Doodle Super Star status when they embarked on a mission to rescue a messy, matted, malnourished street doodle named Ace. For nearly six moths I followed their efforts. They did everything including hiding in bushes and camping out overnight to save this dog. It was a real-life drama that finally ended in success. And from there they rescued sweet Annie from the street. Amazing!

All three women were just as warm and lovely in person as I imagined. And the dogs...well they were sweet and sassy and comical and just how I knew they would be.

Special thanks to my DH who did not bat an eyelash when I said we were going on a road trip to meet a group of strangers and their dogs that I met on line.

(Photo credit: Lori)

 

Front row: Lucy, Pippa, Daphne, Banjo, Gavin, Bailey and Bruin
2nd row: Lori, Carol, Linda (aka BG) and Elizabeth

 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

We like to say they are "Doodle snobs". They really do play together differently than other breeds of dogs. Ive seen Golden Retrievers do the same thing so they are also snobs but they will play nicely with Doodles too.

[Stella]

How wonderful!

[BG and Gavin]

It was Stella.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am so glad you all got to meet. Lovely tribute!! It is hard for other people (not on DK) to understand that you can form real friendships with so many amazing people who you met online. I feel it every time we vacation with the Doodle group. 

[BG and Gavin]

I know. I tried to explain the meet up to some people but I was over explaining because I thought they were thinking that I was crazy lol.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Im thinking that the Doodle travel group needs to come down here so we can have a really good romp! Or at least a great meetup with friends if you cant bring your dog.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I wish that this forum had a "like" button... or more accurately "love" in this case! 

I LOVE how dogs bring people together! 

[BG and Gavin]

Thanks Lori!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

It is pretty awesome when you thin about it. I have met so many people from far away that I never would have met otherwise. Even if I had gone to Canada, its unlikely I would have just happened to meet Linda and her wonderful fur baby. 

[BG and Gavin]

And to really blow your mind, Lucy and Daphne’s Breeder is 20 minutes from my house. You were in my general neighbourhood and did not even know it when you picked up Lucy!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Awww, we could have met you way back then. That was 5 years ago! As it turned out, Carol and Elizabeth were the first ones to meet her, the first time we got together at the beach. Lucy had so much fun running down the beach chasing birds! She had so many firsts that day.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

It's so wonderful that you all got together!! Thanks for sharing. Every DK member I've been lucky enough to meet in person has been like an old friend almost immediately.  Strange how that works. Really interesting, fun, and caring people. And the doodles are as wonderful as their people!