Seven Days Later

After one week of having Trigger the puppy, I declare myself officially exhausted. 

I have learnt a tremendous amount, such as; watching dozens of episodes of The Dog Whisperer and It’s the Dog or Me cannot prepare you for real life with a puppy. Reading all the books there are on dog behaviour and training is similarly great in theory but tends to all go out the window when you feel your puppy’s sharp teeth digging into your trouser leg and he hangs there determinedly. The more you move and shake to get him off, the tighter his hold and the more fun he seems to be having. Standing still is hard to do and feels counter intuitive, but it works because he then he gets bored of that game pretty quickly. 

Thankfully, as he is still so young, he sleeps a lot. And when he is asleep, I have to get as many of my jobs done as possible. Already in a week the house has gone to pot and so have I. I look even more like a scarecrow than usual!

Trigger on the Ball

Our lives have changed! Trigger is lovely and so funny. He didn't whine on his first night with us and so far he hasn't woken us for a night-time wee break. In fact, each morning, I have woken up before him!

His energy is unbelievable. My hands are covered with the 'reminders' of his play-biting, and the carpet is covered with - well the inevitable. But he does sometimes make it outside as long as we are observant and quick enough.

He already knows 'sit,' but pays no attention when he's in one of his fugues. He has several of those every day.

Home

Here's Alice with Trigger in the first few hours of arriving in his new home.

Japanese Spitz versus Staffordshire Bull Terrier

Before settling on a Japanese Spitz, I did plenty of research to find a dog that would suit our family and lifestyle. A few folk were rather disparaging about the fact that I had decided on a pedigree dog. I explained that my first port of call had been to the local dog rescue homes. There are a few in this area. Interestingly, and sadly, the vast majority of dogs they were trying to re-home were Staffies. Now, I am not prejudiced against any breed. Any dog can become aggressive and dangerous but it is a reflection of the owner, not the breed. While the consequences of letting a small- or medium-sized dog get out of control can be awful, with a strong, powerful beast they can be tragic. A Staffie that has been left at a rescue home is never going to be a viable option for a home with two children under eleven, and a rescue organisation would never allow it in any case. There was no one locally who happened to have a mongrel litter. In short, mutt pups are not as easy to come by as you might think.

Exciting Times

Breeder called: we're going to pick Trigger up this weekend!

Why a Dog and Why Now?

We had no pets after Poppy's demise. When I set up my home on my own, I just about managed to look after myself so did not consider getting a pet except for goldfish. Anyone can look after them, surely. Well, even that did not go so well. One bullied the other until it died and I was stuck with one greedy, fat fish until he died a natural death.

When my son was little, I thought it would be fun to share looking after a pet with him. I had discovered after looking after a neighbour's cat for a week that I was allergic to them, so that was out. I decided a budgerigar might be a good option. They're quite intelligent and can even learn to 'talk'. However, I found out the mess from one small creature can be unbelievable, and Georgie never did learn to talk or do anything all that interesting except freak out my husband, Andy, by swooping down and missing his bald head by a centimetre. When we were trying to sell our house, it was hard to keep it pristine for viewings, so I took Georgie to live with my mother's budgie. It was supposed to be temporary but he was so happy there with a friend to talk to, he stayed until the end of his life.

That was the end of life with pets until Alice came along. From as soon as she was able to, she showed us how much she was fascinated by, and loved, animals. All animals. Any animal. She would spend hours stalking neighbourhood cats to give them a stroke. She would (still does) beg me to ask anyone passing with their dog to ask if she can pet it for a bit. She loves to visit friends with pets and spends a large part of our time visiting with the animal(s). Alice would even get ladybirds to crawl on her hand and ask me if she could have that as a pet.

I've 'borrowed' guinea pigs so she can experience looking after something cute and furry. The kids loved them, although for me they were just a bit, well, stinky and boring. I was glad to give them back.

So, a pet would have to be found and I began to think: who's going to be doing all the donkey work when the novelty wears off? It would be me of course. I looked at rabbits when a friend wanted to rehome theirs, but remembered that they're cute, but a bit smelly and, well, boring. Gradually I began to tempt myself with thoughts of owning a dog. Now I don't go out to work, children are grown enough, so if not now, it will be never again.

Trigger at Four Weeks Old.

Back to Poppy for a Minute

Of course I could not kill the rabbit. Instead I managed to bundle her into a box and the bedraggled, sobbing lot of us raced up to the vet’s. 

He explained how small a rabbit’s leg bone was and how difficult it would be put it in a cast to mend. Usually such small creatures with devastating injuries were put to sleep. My sister whose pet it was presented a picture of heartbreak and despair on hearing this news. Perhaps it was because of her that the vet said he would try to save her. 

Poppy looked pretty weird thumping about in a cast. We had returned her to hutch life to keep her safe and she survived into old age, even though her leg never did mend quite perfectly. 

A First Look

This is Trigger at ten days old.