This is the story of how a small Golden Miracle changed our life. We have a wonderful Golden furbaby named Molly Brown. We watched her mom grow from a pup and when asked if we would be interested in a puppy from her litter we were very quick to say YES! Well Molly would crawl over the side of the whelping box to sleep in my arms when she was just 3 weeks old so you would have to say that she picked me. There was simply no arguing with that. Molly did not know it at the time, but our plan was to one day let her have a family of her own. And so it was that three years after entering our lives—three years of defoliating our backyard, chasing frogs in mountain streams, playing in ponds, and dry washes, and allowing us to build a pond in the backyard for her—we decided the time had now come for her to become a Mom. Now the hunt was on for the perfect mate for our Golden Red girl. We finally decided on a very pale male with European lines. This would be our very first litter and we were so happy to see that Molly was pregnant and things were going the way they should. It was now that Mother Nature decided to step in and forever change the way we look at life and the things we have always taken for granted.
     Our veterinarian could not feel any developing babies in Molly. An x-ray showed that Molly had only two babies. The projected delivery date came and went and Molly showed no signs of going into labor. We waited and waited for several more days, and finally after again consulting with our veterinarian, we decided that a cesarean section was needed to deliver the pups. This was done on June 25, 1999 and it was discovered during the procedure that one of the pups was dead. The second pup was delivered and after a very frantic 20 minutes, she started to breath on her own. Our beautiful Molly had given us a wonder Golden baby that we named Skye. She came into the world in a very hard manner and she was having trouble breathing, but she was here and we were so happy! Molly was spayed, because of complications, but she was doing fine. We had our new generation and the line would continue.

     We took Skye home from the vet’s office and started a feeding schedule. We noticed that Molly would not nurse Little Skye and she would not clean or lick her either. We decided this was because of the cesarean section delivery and when Molly was feeling better she would become the loving mom that we knew she would be. We took turns feeding Skye and after about 20 hours we were simply exhausted. We put Skye with Molly and just watched them for a few minutes. We both fell asleep for no more than 15 minutes, and when we awoke, Skye was no longer breathing. In one moment, we had lost the battle for our dear Skye. We tried everything and could not bring her back. We had the joy of her presence for only one day. Just 24 hours of time on this earth and she was called to the Rainbow Bridge.
     Molly is an Internet dog. She has her own web page and she had people from all over the world wanting to know how Skye was doing. We fought the tears that were filling our eyes as we told all of our friends about the tragic death of our beloved Skye. We felt terrible and could not help but think that if we had just stayed awake and kept trying that Skye would somehow have stayed with us and would still be alive. It was at this time that we found out just how many Internet friends we really have. We received letters and cards from people from all over the world. It was good to know that we were not alone in our sorrow. We used Chat to talk to several people at once, and everyone was supportive and a source of comfort to us in our time of need. We decided to have Skye cremated and her ashes will be put with Molly’s when she is also called to the Rainbow Bridge. At that time, she will be with her daughter again.
     Tonny, our dearest friend on the Internet sent us a wonderful tribute page that we put on the web page for Molly. She was always there for us and spent many hours talking to us about our loss. Tonny is a breeder of Golden’s who lives in a small village in Holland. Several months after Skye’s death, she mentioned that one of her dogs would be having a litter of pups and asked if we were interested. We had discussed various options for obtaining another puppy for Molly, but we had never considered a European Golden. This was such a wonderful surprise for us, and we accepted the invitation immediately. We wanted a Golden with the European qualities and it now looked like we would get one. No dog could ever take the place of our dear Skye, but we wanted to find a puppy to fill the empty void left by her passing. Molly could then have a sister to share adventures with, and be her companion. We had a new resolve and purpose and we soon had a calendar all marked and ready with the big day in bold outline!
     Then we got the word from Tonny. Her vet thought the mother dog was not pregnant after all. We were again faced with a set back. Tonny was upset but several days later she was petting her dog and she noticed that her hand was being kicked! Yes, despite the odds, the dog was pregnant! So it was back to the vets and this time an ultrasound showed she was carrying either one or two puppies. We were again excited about the prospects of a litter in the very near future. We started worrying about the same thing happening to this litter that had happened to us, and we felt the same dread and fear again. The delivery date came and went and we were even more concerned than before. Tonny decided to have a cesarean done. During the procedure it was discovered that the one or two pups were actually four! Oh what a wonderful surprise that was! Each of Tonny’s litters has a central theme to it and after a lot of discussion, we thought the best theme for this litter was SURPRISE! So all the pups would have the word Surprise in their registered names. So this was how our most special puppy came to be named Dutch Surprise v.d. Issel Hoeve. Her house name would be Merlynn.
     A very interesting note is that all four of the people who received a puppy from this magical litter had lost a Golden within the last year! This only left one small problem to be resolved. And that was how to get Merlynn from her current home in The Netherlands, to our home in Arizona. The problem was that the temperatures are too high in the summer and none of the airline carriers will ship animals. We did not want to risk sending this precious cargo alone and Tonny would not allow her to go alone either. So the only alternative was to hop on a plane and go get Merlynn and bring her home!
 

     The plan was to spend a week with Tonny and the pup, and get accustomed to each other, resting up for the return trip. But, since this was during the height of the tourist season this was not to be! The trip turned into a four-day whirlwind around the world tour! I left my home on a Wednesday and arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday morning. It just so happened that there was a very large Golden Retriever show being put on by GRCN (Golden Retriever Club Netherland) that day and I just could not pass it up! The opportunity to see over 700 Golden’s, all at one time, was just too good to be true. Tonny’s husband picked me up at the airport in Amsterdam and it was off to the show in Apeldoorn! After the trip and the all-day show, I finally got to see my new baby girl—Merlynn. Oh, the wait was worth it! She was waiting for me with her sister, and as she looked at me with her big dark eyes, my heart melted. I had watched her develop from a new born puppy to be eight weeks old by web cam, but that did not prepare me for the joy of physically being with her.
     At long last I was able to hold my baby girl in my arms and feel the warmth and love that she was so anxious to give. The fatigue and strain all melted away as I sat there with her and just enjoyed the wonder that only comes from holding a new pup and smelling that glorious aroma called "puppy breath". I was in heaven! The next day was spent with Tonny and the pup. All too suddenly it was time to get out the "official" under-the-seat carrier and get Merlynn all ready for the big event! Merlynn was up early and said goodbye to her sister Janyss, who would be staying with Tonny. I said goodbye to the family and we headed out for the airport at Amsterdam. The adventure had begun!
     Anyone who has ever traveled has seen people with animal carriers, but until now I really had no experience with them. That was soon to change! The first opportunity came when I refused to put the carrier on the belt to be x-rayed. "There is a puppy in there!" Well, several minutes and several supervisors later, Merlynn was hand carried through the metal detector and her little house was sent through the x-ray machine. Getting Merlynn in the carrier the first time was not hard as she had never been in there before. But that now changed as she had been inside once and much preferred being out! The carrier I had selected was a wonderful model that has a large zippered top as well as a zipper in the front. It was easier to get Merlynn back in through the top than it was through the front. The next fun time was in the security screen.
     A nice gentleman asked me what was in the bag so I just unzipped it a small amount and out popped Merlynn! This was great, as no further explanation was needed. We now had about a one-hour wait, and naturally, everyone wanted to see Merlynn. She just loved all the attention! The novelty of the attention and the fun of the flight wore off about half way to Atlanta. Now it was just a battle to stay awake. Merlynn was not getting enough air under the seat so the carrier was on my lap and to keep her comfortable, I would open the top of the carrier and point the air right inside. But this required me to stay awake so that she would not seize the moment and make a break for it!
     Eight hours later we were in Atlanta and ready to clear passport check, animal inspection, customs, and the trip to the next terminal. I was ready. I had my official veterinary inspection papers from the vet in Holland, my passport and everything that I could possibly think would be needed. When I got to the health inspection station, the inspector looked at the papers and declared that they were in Dutch. Well yes that is where she is from. At that moment, Merlynn licked the hand of the officer and was immediately welcomed into the United States with a statement of, "What a cute dog!" Way to go Merlynn! Now it was just another trip through the metal detector in my arms and off we went to our next flight.
     This proved to be the longest leg as I was stuck in the middle seat exit row and could not move for over four hours! But, as always, Merlynn was just as good as gold and with just a few pieces of dog food she slept another flight away. I have never been so happy to see my hometown as I was on that flight! I knew that my wife and Molly would be waiting for us as soon as we got off the plane. After 20 hours of good quality time together, Merlynn was still wagging her tail and as happy as ever.
     The ride home was filled with tears of joy from my wife, as she would not put Merlynn down. She just could not believe that the long wait was finally over and our new little baby girl was finally home! It was now June 4th and it had been almost a year since Skye had died.