A New Puppy

There were 7 puppies in the trailer – all clamouring for attention.  They were different colours as their mother was a blue merle border collie – both parents were working dogs.  I instinctively chose the one that looked most like my old Duke.  I picked him up in my arms and was speechless.  It had been so long since I had held a dog in my arms, it was a wonderful feeling, a dog of my own again.  And this time, he would be living with me all the time.  A permanent companion, sharing my life outside – but such a lot to learn first!

I asked what food he had been having – standard dried dog food mixed with milk (dairy farm dogs nearly always get milk with their food).  I took a small amount of the dried food home with me.  And we also had the paperwork for his microchip.  Since April 2016 every puppy has to be microchipped and registered by 8 weeks of age.

I got the towels ready for the journey home – nearly two hours – he slept most of the way – but was sick three times.  We finally got home and I found a old collar for him (he wasn’t terribly happy about having it round his neck – but he soon got used to it).

I expected him to wake in the night so I slept on the settee downstairs, surrounded by newspaper.  He slept in the old cat basket which was just the right size.  Surprisingly, he slept through the night.  I took him out for a wee first thing in the morning – then he got back into bed with me.

The next night we made a bed for him on the floor in our bedroom and he slept on that.  But subsequent nights he kept waking up – and waking us up – so he now sleeps on our bed – between us – and with his head on the pillow if he can possibly manage it!

I fed him on the dry food mixed with a bit of tinned food but he was sick every time he ate.  He usually ate it all again, and second time around it stayed down.  I asked advice from our local animal food supplier and Belinda said to feed him dried food soaked in water in small amounts at regular intervals.  This generally worked and it was only if he ate something different – or too much at once – that he was sick.

His name was pre-ordained – as he looked like my old Duke – he became Duke II – and learned his name quite quickly, along with sit and stay.

Our garden is fairly secure but, from previous experience, if a border collie wants to get out – he will get through anything – so we had to watch him all the while.   He had been brought up with hens in a farmyard so didn’t chase them – but Dillon the cockerel wasn’t terribly happy with this new addition to his domain.

Duke sniffed inquisitively at the rabbits – Lunar, mother rabbit with babies in the hutch – got quite cross at puppy sniffing at her and turned her back on him.  Offended, he barked at her – she was not impressed!

Duke was used to hens – ducks were a different matter – and Duke was fascinated with these strange things – he wanted to investigate further – but of course they ran away when he went near.  So this is going to take a bit of time.  The ducks learned to keep out of his way – but Jasmine duck has just hatched 3 tiny ducklings so we’ve had to provide a secure pen – and Duke will have to have some lessons in looking after the ducks – my old Duke used to round up my ducks at night and put them to bed.

So, to our first walk in the field.  The grass is quite high in places and Duke couldn’t see where he was going, so he followed ‘doggedly’ in my footsteps – until we reached the badger set – where the grass is shorter – and he started sniffing around.  Then we had a dig in the sand by the rabbit holes – and he got sand all over his nose.

He’s now learned to fetch a ball – he will bring it back if he gets a treat. He still curls up in the cat basket – but he’s really too big for it now and ends up half in and half out of it.

Potty training is not going terribly well – he hasn’t got the hang of going to the toilet on newspaper so we’ve given that up – instead we take him outside every time he wakes up and after he’s eaten – but he still doesn’t seem to know the difference between inside and outside – and if it’s raining he really doesn’t want to go out – for a farm dog he’s certainly over-fond of his home comforts.

He loves serrano ham treats – and melon rind – and he’ll play for ages with a broad ben pod.  He’s nearly wrecked the conservatory – I’ve had to move everything off the worksurfaces as he’s managed to climb up – somehow.

He’s had all his injections and we’ve been patiently waiting for the day we could go a proper walk – which was Thursday – but it hasn’t stopped raining since then!  Made a mental note to remember the poo bags!  Wonder how he’ll get on with other dogs?