Dancing At Lunacy

Well, we have a new addition to the family!

Despite the fact that my husband has been angling for another dog for some time, and I’ve resisted strongly, this was the Unintended Dog. A friend of mine got Toby about a month ago, and I instantly worried about how she would be able to cope with him.  He’d had a tough enough start in life, having swallowed a baby’s dummy and had to have an operation.  So the first time I actually met him he had a wee buster cone on, to protect the stitches on his tummy.

As he got bigger and stronger, he was proving too much of a handful for my friend, not helped by the fact that she couldn’t let him outside.  So all his toilet training was being done indoors  with puppy pads. Fast forward to the Thursday before  Good Friday. I got a phone call, saying that she realised he was going to be too boisterous for her, and would I be prepared to take him on. A quick discussion with husband (whose reaction was clappy hands and Oh yes! Oh yes!) and we agreed to have him for a trial run over the Easter weekend.  An important factor was, how would Minnie react?

So on Easter Saturday lunchtime, we picked him up with his bed and crate and toys, and took him home.  My husband was instantly besotted, and created a special facebook photo album for the name he gave him: Tobias Albus Regis von Thunder.  The naming of dogs is an important thing, don’t you know!

Full credit to Minnie, she was brilliant with him, particularly in putting him in his place when his puppy boisterousness gets a little too exuberant.

We were blessed with fantastic weather over the holidays, and I was off work for a few days too, so we were able to spend loads of time out in the garden. This was obviously Toby’s first experience of grass, and after a few tentative sniffs, he was soon enjoying playing zoomies with Minnie all round the place.

For his first night, we left him in his crate, but this proved rather messy in the morning.  So we then tried leaving him an his familiar bed but in the utility room, with some puppy pads about.  On the next morning, he seemed a bit shivery, so he’s now trying a cute purple fleecy coat to wear as pyjamas.  He settles quickly, and sleeps without too much noise until we get up at around 6.

Puppy teeth are like needles, and we both have hands that bear the scars.  We are working on getting him to chew appropriate things, ie not human flesh.  Minnie is teaching him not to chew on her ears, either!

Toilet training has been pretty good – we are looking out for the sniffing around signs, and what I call the “John Wayne” walk, which preceeds a poo.  He’s been finding his favourite spot in the garden to perform, and get lots of praise when he does.  Accidents have been few.

Other training has been exceptional!  He is one smart cookie.  He learned “sit” on the first day, comes when he’s called, and is chasing and fetching toys.

So, Week One verdict – better than expected.  No destroyed shoes or scarves, no dashes to the vet, and no regrets.

Filed under: Dogs |