Oh Boy!

We had a lovely afternoon playing with the puppies on Tuesday. Harry came with us and seemed to enjoy the drive. He hasn't been great in the car up until now - lots of pacing, whining and panting, but today he seemed much calmer. It was a beautiful warm day so we could have the windows open (he loves sticking his nose out and catching the breeze!).

This is the view from the breeder's house and it's the same in any direction - pretty picturesque isn't it? I would love to wake up to that view every day, but imagine it could be quite bleak living out here in the winter.

Harry enjoyed romping in their huge double-fenced field, and had a good old bark with Oscar's mum and big brother! He didn't manage to catch one of the many pheasants running about though. He loved being made a big fuss of, and they thought he was great and will make an excellent big brother.

The puppies had changed so much even since last visit only 9 days ago! They have grown bigger and are much more playful. They just love fuss and attention and are all super confident. I love the one clinging to the back of David's jeans! Maybe it won't be so amusing when it's my ankle!



We were mobbed by puppies as soon as we went through the garden gate. Mainly because they thought we were great new chew toys I reckon!

Here Martin is having a cuddle with the littlest girl pup. She is growing well, she's just smaller than the others. I met the couple who are likely having her, and they said they'd like to keep in touch, so that will be nice. She is to be named Lottie. Hopefully other new owners will want to exchange phone numbers/addresses too, and as the breeders are keeping one, we will always be able to meet up easily with her.

Martin's shoe laces provided a great new toy, and the ragger tuggie was discarded in an instant! Apologies for some of the photos being blurred but they are so fast, plus their tails were wagging nineteen to the dozen.


Here are two of the boys working hard on those laces. Teamwork almost got them undone!

Their teeth are fully through now and they are testing them out on everything. It's great that the weather has been so mild as it means they have been able to play outside for a while most days. Apparently they day before they had explored the lawn and done lots of grass grazing and leaf munching! not sure a wrought iron table makes the best chew toy though puppy! We have been reading Ian Dunbar's puppy training book, so young Cassidy is hopefully going to become a Kong/chew toy-aholic rather than a furniture muncher.

How do you choose who to play with when confronted with 4 adorable little faces gazing up at you?!

Martin is the Pied Piper of the puppy world!

Those paws are getting bigger! Their fur has grown lots since last visit, and they are starting to get fuzzy now rather than being sleek. I am determined to start hand stripping Cassidy from an early age. That way both of us will get used to it while there's not too much surface area to contend with!

They really are adorable. You can start to see their individual characters coming through more and more. They are all very confident, and all are very good at coming when called. I suppose at this age they are like little sponges soaking up new knowledge. They all know to come when called and sit.

They were all keen to try these steps out! Maggie (mum) and Annie were up and down them and they so wanted to try, but weren't quite brave enough to go more than one or two steps high. We will be putting the baby gate back up once Cassidy comes home so there are no accidents on the stairs and no damage to young joints.

Before we left they had their supper - some Weetabix and warm milk - it didn't last long! There were 2 bowlfuls, and while they started out with two identical bowlfuls, none of them could resist wandering between the bowls to see if there was anything better on offer!

Listen to the contended slurping of 6 little puppies, bliss!



With full tums they went to snuggle up together in their crate, apart from this little guy who decided to catch the last warm rays of the day.

So yes, as the title of the post reveals, Cassidy is a boy! Unfortunately, we still don't know which of the three boys he is, as only David was home today and he wasn't sure which one was selected for us. They are all beautiful, confident, healthy and happy though so we don't mind. We may pop back across early next week so we know for sure, or just wait until the weekend and go to pick him up.


We are really excited now!! Time seems to have passed quickly the last few weeks, in part due to Harry's arrival I suppose. He has given us focus again, which had been so lacking since Oscar's death.

Here's Martin having some snuggles. Sorry it's sideways on - I forget I can't record that way sometimes, doh!

They are all having so much fun together. It seems sad that they're all off to their new lives, but such is the way of the world, and they'll all have lovely new families, and as I said, hopefully they'll all get opportunities to meet up in the future.

Only 8 more days until we can go back to pick Cassidy up! We will have to get Oscar's crate and the baby gate out next week and start getting ourselves and the house prepared. I have told Harry to catch up on his sleep while he can!

Harry's paw is much better. The sore area is all dry now, though I think it is still itchy. We have let him off wearing the cone when we are keeping a close eye on him, but if we are out or overnight he has been wearing it so he's not tempted. Now it is healed I may ask the vet if she can bandage it for a few days to prevent him fiddling during the itchy last stage. That will be so much nicer for him than the cone!

Katy and Martin x

Katy x