Dogs Make It Better: Goldendoodle Puppies Bring Joy to Sandy Hook Survivors

The pups, who were born on the day of the tragedy, find homes with school staff.

Three weeks after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, Laura Feinstein, a teacher at the school, received a letter from a breeder in Texas. She had a litter of nine Goldendoodles. They were born Dec. 14 -- the same day as the massacre. The breeder wondered whether there were any "Sandy Hook staff, families, victims' families, first responders, or anyone in the community affected by the tragedy who might find some comfort in taking on a pup."

There were. Feinstein responded to the breeder, saying that survivors would be delighted, according to a story she wrote about the affair for WTOP.

"I just knew this was going to be a new beginning for my family," she writes. 

Photos were sent, and people picked out their dogs. Feinstein and her family chose a male pup and named him Zeus, "Protector and Ruler of the Heavens."

As the staff waited for the pups to grow up enough to be adopted, the breeder, who is unnamed in the article, sent weekly updates and photos. These offered a bright spot in a school and community under such strain. 

"Those of us on staff who had agreed to take pups were often found huddled during our lunch period sharing photos, a temporary distraction from the struggles we faced adjusting to our new location and our new lives," Feinstein writes. "Whenever I was having a bad moment, I found myself going to the camera roll on my iPhone to sneak a peek at Zeus, who was the positive association I used to overshadow negative thoughts."

On Feb. 16, when the pups were nine weeks old, they arrived at a local airport, where "the reception emotionally overwhelming. It was simply beautiful to see smiling faces and tears of joy."

"I have to say when Zeus was handed to me I smiled like I hadn't smiled in more than two months. His puppy breath and warm little body all snuggled up to you puts you in instant relaxation mode."

Watch a video of Zeus playing with Fernando, Feinstein's black Labrador Retriever:

Feinstein now cares for Zeus with her college-age daughter, and doing so has brought them closer. She ends her article by thanking the breeder for her kindness, and for reaching out: 

"We will never forget what happened on Dec. 14, but a very special person, who had a team of others to support her efforts, did a kind and generous thing for a community of people who were in tremendous pain. I will be forever grateful for that."

Via WTOP

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Ugh, No: Usher Wins a Goldendoodle at Auction

Usher wins a $12,000 Goldendoodle at a charity auction. How many things are wrong with that sentence?

This weekend, at the Pencils of Promise gala in New York City, Usher bid $12,000 in a celebrity auction to take home an adorable and "coveted" Goldendoodle, beating Justin Bieber's manager and former Gossip Girl actress Jessica Szohr (Vanessa from Brooklyn), and everyone went home dumb and happy, according to US Weekly.

All well and good, right? Wrong.

Our biggest issue: Dogs should not be prizes in anything, even if people such as Usher and Justin Bieber's manager are involved -- especially if Justin Bieber's manager is involved.

Here's what Dogster writer Anneli Rufus had to say about puppies as prizes horrorshow on Toddlers and Tiaras, and it's just as valid here: "Excuse me, but randomly matching a dog with whoever happens to win? On how many levels is this wrong? Human-dog chemistry is almost as complex as human-human chemistry. Winning a puppy is like being forced to marry your blind date."

Next: a $12,000 Goldendoodle? So the $0 rescue dog you were going to save from a local shelter and give a great life to fell through, huh? Shoot, and all that great publicity you were going to get for your charity, Pencils of Promise -- a charity dedicated to educating children -- for doing the right thing and raising a rescue out of poverty is now going to get berated by someone from Dogster. Win some, lose some.

"We are proof that a generation empowered will empower the world," says Pencils and Promise founder on its website. Okay.

Finally, you had to go with a hybrid? If you weren't going to save the life of something, couldn't you have prevented another round of dumb fascination with designer dogs? Not that we dislike hybrids -- we dislike the cult of hybrids, which sends backyard breeders into fits of bad decision-making. We dislike celebrities such as Kim Kardashian buying a teacup Persian kitty and then sending the tweet “My new baby Mercy! #TeacupPersian,” making the phrase "teacup Persian" rocket up Google rankings and leading Phil from Arkansas to rejigger his backyard kitten-mill operation in the dead of night into something even more unholy.

To the charity's credit, though, Usher's Goldendoodle is freaking adorable. We hope he and his kids give the dog -- named Poppy Raymond (Usher names all his kids Raymond) -- a great life.

What do you think about charities auctioning hybrid dogs? Let us know in the comments! 

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