We had recently lost our wonderful 4-legged family member, Lupita, and knew we needed a new friend to make life go on. Lupita was a rescue who we believed was some part Spaniel. My husband and I started researching the different Spaniel breeds and the Welsh Springer Spaniel sounded very similar to Lupita’s personality. Finding a Welsh Springer Spaniel in the US was a bit challenging, so we thought to look on the other side of the Atlantic since we frequently travel to Europe. Little did we know what a wonderful change was coming our way after 1 Facebook message to Kennel van Sminiastate to learn more about Welsh Springer Spaniels.
Enter Coconut Milk, now Selva. After weeks of seeing puppy pictures, getting updates from Danielle, and planning Selva’s trip, it was finally time to fly to the Netherlands to meet her and bring her home. Selva was more perfect than I could have imagined – the sweetest pup with so much personality and a touch of spice! And her color- just like a shiny US penny! It was so wonderful to meet Danielle and her family, to see where Selva was raised, and to meet Selva’s extended family!
After one canceled flight and an extra day in the Netherlands, Danielle, Selva, and I were off to the airport. We got Selva checked in, through security, had an emotional goodbye, and then Selva was off to the plane. I was so nervous about tiny Selva the entire flight, but she was so brave.
Due to flight logistics, our flight was through Canada, and from there we entered the US by car. Selva and I quickly made it through Canadian customs, and she was free!
Selva was the best little traveler! As soon as she could get out of her crate (after 10+ hours) she marched right out with her tail wagging and was oh so happy to see me! We made several stops in Canada for Selva to get out and stretch her legs, and then 1.5 hours later we were at the US border. We had a quick inspection by the border agent and then Selva entered the US! Finally, after weeks of planning, she made it!
When Selva arrived home she settled right in like she had lived here forever. She tried to win over our older dog, Poppy, but realized that might take a bit more time. Exhausted from a long day of travel, Selva, was very happy to go to bed early with only a few little barks.
The next day Selva was eager to get out and play. My husband and I are fortunate to be spending the summer at a 200+ hectare farm in Vermont which is the perfect place to have a young pup! Selva spent her first day running through the massive hayfields and going for walks on dirt roads. She adapted remarkably well for a young pup who had such a long trip!
I think we were both a bit jet-lagged the first few days, but after that, we quickly got into a good routine: an early morning walk, followed by breakfast, then sleeping at my feet while I work, playing in the yard, lunch, more sleeping at my feet, a nighttime walk and more playtime, then dinner, another walk, and then bed. Having giant hayfields and miles of dirt roads to walk on has helped burn off the puppy energy.
Selva is a very happy character, and she greets all new people and dogs with a wagging tail. For us, she is the perfect combination of being confident, yet attached to her humans. Selva lets you know what she wants but does it with a smile!
Selva was a natural with learning to walk on a leash and she is excelling with her classes. We are taking private classes for now until the puppy session starts. The trainer’s first few comments were – “she’s a spaniel with a tail” and “she is a very well-bred dog”. Selva is an amazing student who is super focused and has an extremely responsive recall. She clearly wants to work and learn, and we are looking forward to future classes and maybe agility or frisbee – depending on what Selva likes. Her classes also helped with her brief puppy barracuda phase – as soon as we started to work on our homework she focused on her training and the barracuda went away. Fortunately, that was a short phase!
Selva was also a very quick learner with housebreaking. Selva has graduated to sleeping outside of her crate at night. She has discovered down comforters, and I am quite sure she will never go back to a regular dog bed.
Selva is very much part of the family and every day we learn more about her! For now, Selva is obsessed with watching the cows on the farm, chasing butterflies and moths, eating slugs (we are working on “leave it”), collecting sticks on walks, splashing in the river, keeping my feet warm while I work, continuing to try and win Poppy over, chasing ice cubes in her water dish, snuggling in down comforters, and going on car rides.
We are looking forward to getting her out hiking this fall and our first road trip!
We are so happy with Selva and so grateful to Danielle for raising such a well-adjusted, happy, confident pup, and for trusting us with her.
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