We've established who is the dog's PACK LEADER!

• The puppy got quite spooked by a field of long grass. He sat at the gate until his PACK LEADER (PL) took him through.
• He (the dog not the pack leader) can now escape through the fence. The Alpha Female (AF) is waiting for the PL to put up some extra fencing.
• The dog found that the PL was swift to act when he jumped on to the laptop. (It was on the LAP at the time!)
• The dog takes every opportunity to disguise his scent with the smell of fox or badger. The PL will appreciate this when he and the dog are out foraging for food together.
• The PL likes the AF to clean up doggy bottoms, ears and feet.
• The dog now walks to heel for both the PL and AF. His fans are impressed!
• The dog made a huge fuss when he was 'pinged' by the electric fence in the horses field. Silly dog, it happened again today!!



Looking for a frog to kiss.



Too big for his cage. He's growing into his skin!





The puppy has celebrity status!?

Having a dog adds a certain "je ne sais pas" to one's life.

Puppy in the lap of luxury.

We now live in a battleground with a variety of hazards littering the house and garden. We have a four-legged attrition expert taking over our lives.

BP (before puppy) life was peaceful (boring!); the house was clean (is that boring?); the garden was tidy and poo free (now that is boring!); I could sit watching TV all day without having to go 'walkies' in all weathers (really boring!). So our lives have become 'exciting?', 'full on?', 'energized!'. I hope it's what we wanted but is it what we needed?

It would appear that the puppy is achieving a limited celebrity status in the town, for instance:

Folk riding by on their splendid horses shout "There's that puppy."

Out and about couples walking by stop to have a word with him over the fence.

One lady tells us that she is "telling everybody about him."

Our very own, real live celebrity, TV presenter and actor stopped his car to pass the time of day with the puppy,

and

to cap it all one of his breed not only won Best of Hound Group at Crufts but also came Reserve Best in Show DFS Crufts 2011. (I just know his 'followers' are impressed!)

However, as with all celebrities, at home he is treated just like any other dog so that the fame doesn't go to his head.



Demonstrating his 'retrieve'.









He's quite normal for a dog.

          

 Likes:

• Sleeping in front of the fire.
• Going to the seaside.
• Playing with other dogs.
• Mealtimes.
• Cuddles.
• Treats when he's been good.
• His cardboard box.
• Having his tummy tickled.
• The pulling game.
• Rolling in smelly 'stuff' on the field.
• Sleeping on the furniture.



Moi?? Surely not.



Dislikes:

• Having his muddy paws hosed off in the garden.
• The hairdryer.
• The vacuum cleaner.
• The steam cleaner.
• Travelling in the car.
• The tickly toes game.
• Having a bath.
• Not being in the garden.
• Being thrown off the furniture.
• Walking to heel.



                                                           

                                                                                                                                             simonyorkphotography.co.uk

The puppy is faster than either of us.

As all good dog owners know it is important to 'bag' any poo deposited by your dog. The trick then is to keep hold of said bag until you find a convenient poo bin. This week the man of the house took the puppy out for his evening walk. What followed was not on the agenda:

• dog pooed,
• man bagged poo, 
• man dropped bag,
• puppy picked up bag.
• merry chase round the field developed,
• delighted puppy taunted, ignored and outran man,
• man's stamina eventually won the day,
• bag retrieved and safely deposited in bin.

He is still a scare bear when it comes to great big earth-moving machines, noisy waterfalls or large lorries. He can dash away before I know it leaving me hanging on to his lead for dear life as he tries to escape the monstrous object of his fears. He still has to meet cows and sheep but shows no fear of hens and horses.

His getting-longer legs give the puppy wonderful opportunities to inspect the kitchen worktops, be helpful with the cooking, jump on the beds and discuss the time of day over the garden fence. 

He found a delicious patch of fox/badger poo to roll in this week so had his first proper bath. Why do dogs enjoy smelling so bad? I'm sure that he will do it again despite his aversion

He needs some youngsters to play with!!

This week we have had the company of our daughter's dog, a kind and gentle Staffy, with three older grandchildren around and about for the puppy to play with. They did come especially to see him, didn't they??

He has had a grand week playing chase, the chewing game, the jumping onto laps game and lots of other unidentifiable puppy made-up games that he wanted to play. Well they did come especially to see him, didn't they?

Photgraph by simonyorkphotography.co.uk

We went to the beach again and to my favourite dog walk place, a local hill fort, where lots of friendly adult dogs taught him how to behave and lots of friendly adult people said that they are looking forward to watching him grow!!

The training took a bit of a back seat this week what with all the excitement of having a house full of young people and dogs. Hey-ho, we all had a lot of fun.

The long car journey to the caravan at the weekend was a triumph however, achieved with the minimum of trouble as the puppy was on the back seat of the car. I hope that it didn't set a precedent. Back to the boot on our next car outing!

He had a lovely time in the caravan. The seats are low enough for puppy legs to be able to jump up onto. The windows are all round so he could see all the action from the comfort of a warm caravan. Best of all we were available to be jumped on in the middle of the night for a very comfortable, cosy, sleeping-bag berth. Aaah, doggy bliss.

A busy week for a little dog.

A day in the life of....!

We have now established a bit of a routine with the puppy. I get up at 6am and let him out to pee. I then get my breakfast and the puppy's. We then settle down on the sofa for a nice cuddle whilst I watch TV and catch up on my emails,iPlayer, Archers etc. It's comforting having a dog to share this time in the day with.


Photo by simonyorkphotography.co.uk



The rest of the household gets up at about 9am and has a play

with the puppy before breakfast and shower.



I take the puppy for a walk around the block. If I'm lucky he rolls in something smelly or finds lots of mud to paddle in. Back home I hose him down in the garden then dry him off. I get lots of love bites, sloppy licks and wet cuddles through this process.

He then plays in the garden while I do some gardening, hang out washing and/or clear up after the puppy. He loves to run about with a plantpot in his mouth, sense out mice or monsters that have been in his domain overnight and especially enjoys enchanting his passing public. He brings a smile and laughter to the hardest heart.

Time for a light lunch and Mystic Meg impression before he collapses again so that I get time out for sewing, knitting, reading, dancing, singing or just a short zzzzzz.

Late afternoon he has another short walk, meal and training session. He is learning fast to sit, stay, leave, come and is trying to walk to heel but life is just too exciting to stay close. He certainly gets us out of the house for excercise and socialising.

After our evening meal we like to settle down for an evening of TV/reading or quiet relaxing. The puppy WANTS TO PLAY. So for an hour or so we entertain and are entertained by him as he squeaks, jumps, chews, runs,

rolls and generally creates mayhem until he collapses into his crate for the night after a quick pee.