Human: Amanda
Canine: Goliath
Location: Waukesha, WI
Type: Saint Bernard
Our Story:
We were finally ready for a new dog. After several months of going to different Humane Societies and pouring over the paper and never finding our dog, we gave up. We had met so many hopefuls. This one would like me and the kids but not the hubby, or the hubby and me and not the kids, or even liked all of us but couldn’t stand the cats. We stopped looking.
We knew we wanted a indoor dog or puppy. We knew we would love a big dog but that a medium or small would be best. In the next couple of months we were told my many people about the neighbors or friends or friends of friends that had St. Bernards and they were going to have puppies. My husband and I talked about it and decided that a St.Bernard would have been too big. We both said we would love one but not right now.
Then the ads started to go up. The puppies were adorable, but they were St. Bernards. Strangers heard that we were looking for a dog and told us about the puppies. People from different groups we are all involved in told us about the puppies. We talked about it again. Again we decided no.
My husband saw an ad for a St. Bernard mix that I should check out. I knew it wasn’t a mix but figured I would get the number anyway. I called the number and decided to go see the puppies by myself. I asked a couple questions. Do you have females? Is the runt a female? Both of which we wanted. Yup, there are females. Nope, the only male left is the runt. I was still interested and would be there by myself in a little while. A couple minutes later I was calling back telling the man that the whole family was coming. With a smile in his voice he said he knew they were all coming.
We got to the house and saw 11 St. Bernard puppies running around. The man showed us the females who wanted nothing to do with us. Every time we looked down though there was the littlest of the bunch just staring at us. We kept trying with the females though. Finally my husband sat down and the male came and sat on him. That was it for us. The kids came running over and the puppy went to all of us to say hello and to ask what took us so long. The man just stood there smiling at us. He knew before we did.
It was too early to bring the puppy home with us that day, so we went back two times a week for the next three weeks. We racked our brains for a good name for him and jokingly told him all the names we came up with. He never made any kind of sign that he cared. One day we told him two names. Jake? He just looked at us. Goliath? He nodded his head and made this little noise that only puppies can make.
Goliath entered our lives a little more than a year ago. After three days he was potty trained. He chewed a few things and ate like a small horse but was still ours. I take him to the dog park almost every day and I’m still not sure who loves it more, me or him.
There is another St.Bernard there from the same litter. They love to box each other and chase each other. Goliath is a great companion and really doesn’t take up as much space as we thought he would. He likes the cats when they want to play and loves the children all the time. He welcomes my husband home every night like he has been gone a year and not 10 hours. Goliath was the perfect choice for us, even if he did pick us and not the other way around.
