This week I am dedicating it as Puppy Week!
So to kick things off, I want to share with you my insights into owning and caring for puppies, of all shapes and sizes.
The two on the above photos are Willow and Barney. They are two of our current dogs. Willow is a cross poodle/bichon/cavalier and Barney is a collie.
By time either of these dogs came into our lives, I thought I knew a lot about dogs. I'd cared for puppies, I had trained them and I had lived with them.
We made a plan for when Willow was to arrive. Where she would sleep. What food bowls we would use. What food we would start off by using. How we would be training her. The whole family, young and old, knew what we were doing. And guess what? Willow got with the program immediately and there was barely any bumps along the way. She was a dream! She still is, and those foundations we put in at the beginning made her who she is today.
We applied the same program, two years later when the lovely Barnacle arrived. Barney however had other ideas. The tried and tested program, plan, ideas, were not what Barney had in mind. She had other ideas. She took those plans and chewed them up! It was incredibly hard, very tiring and for me, even confusing. I was tired and stressed and worried I was doing it all wrong.
So, three weeks in I decided to start again. I started to listen to her needs. I started to learn about her and how her brain worked. And me and her, and everyone else in the house started to understand each other. It was hard. It was tiring. But we got through. She wasn't a dream like Willow, but Barney taught me so much! And I love her very much for it. And once we figured out how to care for her, we put the foundations in and she is an amazing dog.
It was about finding the right path for each dog. It was about finding what the pup needed to ensure those foundations were put in place from the beginning, and ensure their life started well. And pups need that, they deserve that. And we as humans have a responsibility to give them that, or at least try our very best to do so.
I want to help you do that.
You can click on the link below to learn more x
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