Surprise for Kaye

My Mother in law is possibly one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. On top of that she is a huge animal lover. For 12 wonderful years they had a great addition to their family. Buddy, a red Golden Retriever, was the epitome of the perfect dog. Sadly, Buddy's arthritis, along with other health problems, took him from us sooner than wanted. This past July was 2 years since Buddy passed. My brother in law, sister in law, Kevin, and I thought that for Kaye's September birthday that it was time for a new puppy. I found him in the paper on a Friday and we were all picking him out and taking him home on Sunday.

Because we weren't going to be giving "Duke" to Kevin's mom until Tuesday, Kevin and I said that we would keep him at our house until then. Though they didn't mind having him around, I think our dogs were just hoping that we weren't keeping him.



Before giving him to Kaye, I took him to my vet. I gave him a bath and he was checked out and given a clean bill of health. Finally, Tuesday arrived. We had called Kaye and Tommy the day before to see if we could all get together at their house and have some dinner. They knew we were coming for dinner, but they had NO idea that we were coming with a puppy in tow. We all walked in the door together, with a bow and balloon around Duke's collar. Kaye was floored to say the least! She kept asking, "Is this for real?", "Is this a joke?". My father in law wasn't the happiest of all, but we knew that he would get over it and would fall for those big brown eyes. However, there was a brief period of time when Kevin and I thought that we were about to have a new 4-legged addition to OUR family instead.
We took him outside to let him see his new backyard. He LOVED it! He raced through the bushes, jumped into the monkey grass, sniffed all the trees, and almost jumped into the pond.
Needless to say, he is living a great life with Kaye and Tommy. His new name is "Duke", just like the "Bush's Baked Beans" golden retriever. He is very smart and very spoiled. No one can ever take the place of Buddy, but it is nice to have a new puppy to make memories with. Happy Birthday Kaye!!