There once was a dog named Eire

Eire was born at a small kennel in Candia NH that breeds, shows and trains Labrador Retrievers.. On the other side of the world was an Irish man talking to a friend/Veterinarian who was working at the farm the Irish man manages for the Prince of Sultan in Saudi Arabia. Mike, The Vet from NY was telling Eammon, the Irish man, that he is getting a Labrador Retriever puppy for his son soon. Eammon was very interested as he had been looking for a Lab pup. Mike warned him that he didn't know if the breeder in NH would ever let her puppy go that far away.

So, Mike called Vickie and told her all about the breeding farm in Saudi. How magnificent the grounds are with golf courses and lakes and lots and lots of thoroughbred race horses. What a wonderful man Eammon is and how he would make a great lab dad. Soon Eammon called and they emailed, and emailed, and chatted and finally convinced Vickie that it would be okay for this little puppy to go so far away. They planned to ship her with a plane full of horses so she would not be alone.

With the decision finally made, Vickie knew she had some work to do. All of her puppies get introduced to new things together and with their Mom so they won't be so terribly frightening. Eire did all of that with her littermates. That group went on extra trips so that Eire could explore as much as possible without being overwhelmed or stressed because her brother and sisters were there!

They went to Cher's (Griffinbrook) with Mom to buy puppy food. They loved running around the tack shop and exploring all the new scents. They especially loved the dog food aisle and the LEATHER!!! "Leave it - no chewing" was heard a lot during those visits! They were showered with attention from Cher, Pat and Dot. Mom had to count each time we left and make sure one of them didn't get stuffed in one of their shirts!

They visited the convenience store across the street and had lots of attention from Denise. Whenever anyone needed to go to the Vets, Eire would tag along for the experience. She visited all of the family and spent lots of time with the Gosselin family. Paul, Joanne, Emma, Samantha, Graham, Chip and Maddy (their dogs) and even the cats all loved Eire. The experience with older children was great because Vickie's grandchildren were only 2 & 4.

Eire went for short visits with her sister, Margo, to Pet Agree - a wonderful doggie place that does training, grooming, daycare, etc. Vickie and Karen have been working together for years so this was a must do on the list. On her first few visits she just got held and loved, got used to ALL the doggie noises and smells. We carried her on walks thru the barn to get her used to horse smells and noises.

We never knew exactly how much time we had to do all of the prep work with Eire so we just kept going until we got the call there was a shipment of horses ready to go. Of course we also had to wait for permission for her to be imported into Saudi. That was no small task, so Eammon told us.

She spent more short visits without Vickie or Margo at PetAgree and in the barn. She walked among the stalls and was never frightened. We made a couple of trips to the Manchester Airport so she could hear planes, even though we weren't close.

Finally, Eammon got tired of waiting for his puppy. She was growing up quickly - without him! He booked her on a commercial flight from NY to Saudi. Vickie was NOT happy. This is not how she does things. Unfortunately, Eire was too big to go under a seat in the plane so we had no choice other than cargo or wait some more for another shipment of horses. That wouldn't be fair to Eammon or Eire.

The date was fast approaching and Eire had built a huge fan club. She was to fly out on a Saturday so all day Friday was spent saying goodbye to friends. We went to all of Eire's favorite places, PetAgree, Griffinbrook, Cornerstone Vet Hospital, The Gosselins, all the neighbors, etc.

~~ UPDATED PHOTOS OF EIRE ~~ Posted on February 10, 2010

Attached are some recent pictures of Eire. We love her to bits and she is truly part of our family now. We are expecting a baby in June and are really looking forward to seeing how Eire will react to the new baby. We are sure she will be really protective. She is such a great dog and so well behaved. Thank you so much for bringing her into our lives.

Eire had a busy day all planned out before she left the country. We visited our friends to say goodbye.

This is her "teacher" Karen, from Pet Agree, who nearly cried saying goodbye to Eire.

Then we went "shopping" - not really, more for her to say goodbye to more friends that she visited regularly. It's a grain and tack shop. Dogs are always welcome and it's a good place for socialization. Plus, the owner is one of my closest friends for 20+ yrs :-)

Ohhh, just love the dog food aisle

and those leather saddles smell yummy, too

"Our" friend Cher who gives her lots of treats and lovings and the owner of Griffinbrook.

Our friend Pat who works at Griffinbrook also loves her. She's getting cookies here.

Pat's showing her the big stuffed horsie

back to the dog food aisle - this aisle smells the best

Pat's showing her a stuffed Lab puppy toy

These baskets smell really good because there are doggie treats in them!

When Saturday morning arrived Eire kissed her doggy Mom, Marsha and Dad, Mikey for the last time. We jumped in the car before the sun was even up to get her to NY with plenty of time for to get exercise, do her business, play, and be closer to the planes. What a trooper... the 4 hour trip to NY was uneventful. When we got there and met the shipper, Paul, we found some grass and played, walked and walked and walked. Finally TSA wanted her to go thru security and make her way to the plane. Needless to say her Mom was VERY attached to her at this point due to all the extra attention and socializing. The tears started rolling...

At the airport, waiting very patiently for them to call her into security

Mom, don't cry, I'll be fine, really. I'm a big girl now.

Bye, Mommy, I'll be a good girl

Mom worried that she would be too hot, would they remember to pressurize the cargo area, it was a 14 hour flight - that's a long time for a puppy to be in a crate - even an exceptional puppy like Eire. It was too late to back out, she was in her crate with her food taped to the top, her papers, her toys - it was like sending a child off to camp! Only this child was not coming home. She was on the other side of security so we had to let her go. Eammon was to call the minute he had possession of her. The call came in around 4am as expected. He said working for the Prince has it's perks so he was able to take immediate possession of her when the plane landed. He said she came out of her crate with her tail wagging, not the least bit intimidated by strangers, airplane noise or anything. She was safely in her new home. Phew, my prayers were answered. And Eammon was instantly smitten with his new little girl. Eammon says that Eire immediately won the affection of his fiance, Laura, as well.