My original plan was to do a daily blog on the Woof by Bailey website about our new arrivals – Ted and Ruby – two eight-week-old working cocker spaniels. We are now one week in and this is the first chance I’ve had to sit at the laptop and write! I guess it was to be expected with taking on two puppies at once but it was a decision we made as a family that was right for our circumstances.
Where to start? Day one – we had travelled from Lancashire to Carmarthenshire, Wales to collect our bundles of fur. We had visited them a couple of weeks prior to pick up so at least we knew where we were going.
The journey was eventful with Ted pooping and being sick twice within five minutes of setting off. Three stops to clean the crate out with two escape artists in the back of the car was a real challenge.
A couple of hours into the trip home and we came round a bend on a windy A road to be confronted with a two car and two caravan head on collision which was totally blocking the road! Thankfully everyone was OK but it meant a five mile detour on the narrowest of Welsh country lanes to get on our way. Ted and Ruby were blissfully unaware of all this and we almost made it to the M6 near Lymm with an hour to go.
It was at this point that Ruby decided to poop and the stench from the crate and trying to keep two pups from standing in it was just too much so we swung into the services negotiating numerous roundabouts. After a clean up and some water for the pups, we were on our way again…. Or so we thought. Before we had made it round the first roundabout, Ted had pooped again so it was back to the same services to clean up all over again!
We made it home and settled the pups in. They were brilliant and slept through the night with just a few toilets on the pads in the morning.
I have to say my favourite part of the day was giving them their puppy milk supper – they love it! I’ll be gutted when we stop this at around 12 weeks old.
The following day we had a stream of visitors to welcome the new arrivals and both dogs took it all in their stride. They spent time discovering their new home – particularly the garden, which we soon came to realise is the most un-puppy friendly garden – EVER! The ramp for the garden steps was a result with Ted very quickly mastering it. Both of them loved running about on the grass and through the plants in the flower beds.
Another good night with just few wees and poops on the pads again. More fun in the garden beckoned until Ruby ate something and became quite poorly with diarrhoea and vomiting. Having already registered both dogs the previous day with our local vets, Ruby was back in car and off to get checked out. She was fine and had an anti-sickness jab and a couple of days on some digestive paste. She bounced back in no time and spent the afternoon happily playing on the patio barricaded in to prevent further eating mishaps.
After that scare we decided that we really needed a fence for the end of the patio and a large run building for the grass!
The next few days saw more visitors including our very first photo shoot with our good friend Dane, who has recently taken up photography. He got some excellent shots and we are looking forward to doing more of this with Woof by Bailey’s products as Ted and Ruby grow up. Both pups by now are doing really with toileting in the garden with just a few accidents.
Big day for Ted and Ruby (and for myself and my husband) as we met Natasha the dog trainer for the first time! She was amazing! We had both pups on a lead and walked them round the garden which they absolutely loved. She introduced us to bitter apple spray to deter chewing – seriously our new best thing as it even works on shoe laces and brick mortar!!!
Best of all she suggested making the pen smaller to discourage the dogs from soiling overnight and halleluiah we came down on Saturday morning and only a couple of wees (no poops) on the pads!!! Both pups went straight outside to do their business and have continued to do this each night.
Natasha also told us to ditch the puppy pads we had around the kitchen and even though we’ve had few accidents both are doing really well with toileting.
As Saturday was such a nice day, I decided it was time to give Ted and Ruby their first outside shower! Luckily the previous owners of our house had installed a hot and cold running shower near the back door and it proved invaluable with our previous dog – Bailey the springer spaniel – who pretty much always came home covered in mud! They were both a little unsure but I got them both showered, shampooed and rinsed without too much trouble. Their favourite part was definitely being towel dried afterwards though!
Now all clean and fluffy, Ted and Ruby were all ready to meet ‘Auntie Nicky’ – my partner here at Woof by Bailey. They absolutely loved her and she is already totally smitten with them both.
More introductions followed as the pups then met Barney the spoodle who was fantastic with them. Ted was leaping around wanting to play, whilst Ruby was a little more timid. It was a day for meeting other dogs for the them both with introductions to Tess the golden doodle and Tilly the Labrador. With each meeting both Ted and Ruby grew in confidence.
The new run was also completed today – hooray! It’s fantastic as both dogs now have lots of space to run and play on the grass. It also means we have somewhere safe and secure for one dog whilst we spend some individual time with the other one.
We’re now a week in and it’s been an absolute rollercoaster but I’m loving it! Each dog is developing it’s own personality already. Ted is a greedy guts but on the whole quite chilled.
Ruby on the other hand is more delicate especially while eating but is an absolute whirling dervish who is into everything!! She will almost likely be boss dog despite her slighter frame.
I’m so looking forward to our journey with them and I hope you are too!
Check back here in a few days for the next instalment of “Puppy Tales “where I’ll be sharing our experience of taking Ted and Ruby to our static caravan in Arnside for the first time and also how “clicker” training goes at our next session with Natasha……..
