I began to fall in love with the idea of having a doodle when I realized these pups basically look like a teddy bear forever. I became even more attached when I met my friend’s Goldendoodle, Bella and realized how truly amazing this breed really is.

The transition of moving from Iowa out to the East Coast ended up being much more challenging that I had even imagined. My boyfriend JP and I were living in Philly not knowing anyone. He also travels a lot for his job, which is when I noticed the feeling of loneliness start to settle in. I am the type of person that thrives on connectedness and community but I found myself feeling intimidated in such a big city to take the leap and make friends. I decided to bring the idea to JP about getting a dog together, and it didn’t take much convincing. After months of research, I found an amazing breeder that in my heart felt like the perfect fit. Before we knew it, we put our deposit down with Copper Canyon Doodles and the wait began.

In the meantime, we moved to Scranton for JP’s job. With him originally being from NEPA, we found ourselves a lot closer to family and friends and one step closer to Ellie. We immediately fell in love with her picture when Copper Canyon called us and knew she was ours.

As preparations began, I decided to make Ellie an Instagram account as a fun way to document her life. I had been following quite a few doodles on my personal account and I loved the idea of having this as a creative outlet to show Ellie’s amazing personality and giving people a reason to smile, just as other dogs had done for me. No more than a week later, I connected with Nikki. We started out talking about what supplies we had gotten/needed to get for Ellie and Pax and in no time we found out how much we really had in common outside of the pups. We now talk almost every day even though we live across the country and that all started because of these pups. I think having her and the entire IG community was so helpful from the beginning and I have formed so many amazing friendships because of it.

Outside of IG, Ellie has totally changed my world. I never knew how attached to her I would become. I have battled with anxiety my entire life and it’s amazing how intuitive these dogs really are. I can just look at her and instantly feel better. One of my favorite things about her is the looks she gives us, both sincere and sarcastic. For When we sneeze she will stop in her tracks and run to us to make sure we are okay! Yes, there are times she has tested our patience, but I have learned so much about myself through those challenging moments… it helps that she is so smart and eager to please!

Since having Ellie, that feeling of loneliness has completely subsided. She’s extremely social and doesn’t want to miss any moment. (Yes, she has major fomo) We make new friends everywhere we go, and because of Ellie, I feel like myself again. I am able to immerse myself in the community and have a more positive outlook on everything.