Can Grand CH Aero x Zarah, Boston & France
The experience my wife and I had with Mary and Goldiva Goldens was the perfect way to welcome our best friend Theodore Graeme Nehdi aka Teddy (@goldenteddygraeme on insta!) into our family. On our first date, my now-wife Sarah told me we’d one day be getting a Golden Retriever and if I wasn’t on board with that, it was nice knowing me. I had never had a pet but I liked her, so I was in. 4 years later after my wife did months of research and decided on a Goldiva Golden, I went ahead and put down a deposit and told my wife our family was about to grow!
Despite being born the week Covid lockdown started, the experience of picking up and meeting Teddy was something I’ll never forget. The Goldiva team are pros – they had everything sorted out and ready to go – the pedigree and paperwork, vet tests and certifications… everything in a neat folder so we could focus on the little fluffy bundle of joy joining our family. Teddy was the son of Aero and born to mama Zarah and since day 1, he’s been objectively perfect.
In the 6 years since then, Teddy has grown into a better dog, pet, best friend, and companion than I could have ever imagined. His temperament is perfect – he doesn’t bite and rarely barks, he’s calm but playful, expressive and curious, and extremely well-behaved. Part of that is down to having spent the first 18 months of his live cooped up inside with only us where we spent time training him, which turned him into a velcro dog who never goes more than 20-30 feet from us off-leash (which we love). He doesn’t get defensive about toys or food, and is never aggressive. He is relaxed around other dogs (but definitely is more interested in being friends with their humans) and is infinitely patient with kids of all ages. We have nephews ranging in age from 6-10, including some on the Autism spectrum, and Teddy has been an ideal presence in their life to teach them about how to be gentle and careful with dogs while being a calming, grounding presence for them.
In 2023, I permanently injured my leg, severing a nerve that will never heal, and aside from being the best healing presence I could hope for following multiple surgeries, Teddy stepped up and become a balance and mobility assistance dog for me in my recovery. Over the course of a year, we trained him with a harness with certain commands to stop and allow me to shift my weight onto him. It was like he knew I needed him, and when he puts on his work harness, his primary directive becomes helping and supporting his human. Nowadays, when I travel, he plays a critical role in helping me get around and reducing the risk of reinjury. This was especially important when, last year, we moved to France!
Because Teddy was my helper, he was able to fly in the cabin with us on AirFrance and was such a champ on the plane – dare I say, he was basically Co-Captain of the plane by the time we landed in Paris! He was such a good boy, just laid quietly at our feet and slept for most of the flight. He’s the same way on trains which means he comes on most of our adventures across Europe! Getting him to Europe was a surprisingly smooth process for us – just a matter of getting the paperwork in order before our flight and doing our research. Of course when we landed, they didn’t even look at all the paperwork we had prepared – the Customs agents came out of their booth to say hi to him and pet him. Now he’s got his European pet passport and he’s everybody’s new best friend, everywhere he goes.
One year into our new life in France, Teddy is thriving. During the summer, he gets his daily exercise by absolutely launching himself into the pool after his toy. He loves swimming and took to it naturally. The rest of the year, we walk him around the village and take him to the marche, making new friends on just about every walk. He manages well in crowds, doesn’t get into trouble or pull. He’s even learning a little French! He still loves chasing balls but he’s friends with the sheep that are our neighbors and has developed a taste for fine European meats and cheeses thanks to his spoiling grandparents and our trip to Barcelona where it seems like everybody had iberico ham that was meant to become Teddy’s favorite treat. We’ve found Europe to be generally very friendly to Teddy and it’s only getting better.
There are a few pleasantly surprising experiences I consistently encounter being a Goldiva Golden’s human that are worth mentioning. There are of course people who stop us on the street and ask to pet him and he’s always thrilled to make a new friend and make someone’s day. I even catch people smiling when they drive by and see him in the car. What I didn’t expect was the number of people who would call him “perfect” – it’s almost uncanny. He’s perfect in our eyes, but he comes from the best-looking Goldens out there. The perfect fur color and length, temperament, blocky head, big paws, calm demeanor… truly a 13/10 pup. It’s no wonder Goldivas are so consistently awarded top marks at shows. I was once stopped by someone on the street in my hometown in western NC with someone who popped out of a shop just to ask if he was a Goldiva – the person had been a Goldiva owner as well, and she could tell from his distinctive appearance that he was “one of the good ones” with just a fleeting glance as we walked by, thousands of miles from Maine where he was born.
The other remarkable thing about having a Goldiva Golden is the network of fellow Goldiva-obsessed owners. Even though he was born at the beginning of covid and we couldn’t meet any of the rest of his litter, it didn’t take long for us to find one another on instagram and become lifelong friends! When we lived in Boston, we would watch his siblings and they would watch Teddy when we had to travel and we never doubted for a second that he would be as loved and cared for as he was at home.
When we’re ready to have give Teddy a little brother or sister, we have no doubt or hesitation about going straight back to Mary and the Goldivas team to get another perfect pup. They’re 100% worth the investment. They will be your loyal, sweet, absolute BFFF (best floofy friend forever) and I cannot imagine my life today without Teddy in it. Where you get your golden matters – the pedigree and breeding process makes a huge difference in the kind of animal you’ll be sharing your house and life with. I can’t wait to bring another Goldiva Golden into our family very soon, but if you’re on the fence, get on the waitlist now – it’ll be one of the best decisions you’ll make!
Selim, Sarah, and Teddy Nehdi
