Let’s
get a dog, we said. It’ll be fun, we said. Let’s get a puppy.
It’s not exactly as though we are without experience. We’ve had five other dogs, all raised from puppy, so you would think we would be prepared for the onslaught that is Rosie. OK, we are quite a bit older now, but still…
The mistake we always make is that of thinking the new dog is going to be like the old one who just passed away. We miss our old dog; she was easy, and at fourteen, let’s face it, she didn’t have that much energy left.
Enter Rosie, a red (they call it ‘ruby’) cavapoo. Now don’t make the mistake of thinking a fluffy, curly-haired little sweetie. This one has long legs a long snout, and a long body. And is, so far, smooth haired. We think there may be a hint of ‘feathers’ on her legs and tummy, and she certainly has fluffy ears, so we await developments. Not your typical cavapoo, then.
Enter a whirlwind of needle-sharp teeth and hypodermic claws, ideally suited to pulling at clothing, and biting people. We have given up trying to look smart for the time being, reassuring ourselves that it will pass. She’s only a puppy. Currently I have jumpers with threads pulled, a pair of gloves which are wearable only to take the dog for a walk, skirts with pulls and hems unravelled. And people who come to our house wearing good clothes, leave looking just as dishevelled as we do!
So, you’ve seen her picture. Butter wouldn’t melt, right? Wrong! Anything that comes within range is chewable, including lumps of concrete, stones, and pieces of wood from the log store in the garden and the log basket in the house. In no time they are in pieces, and our newly vacuumed floor looks like I haven’t bothered in months! Also coming in for chewing is any item of clothing she can find lying where you just dropped it, and the woollen blankets I have used as protective covers on the sofas. One has a particularly unattractive hole in the centre. And they both have the fringes chewed.
Time passes, and discipline comes into play. Someone suggested a rolled-up newspaper to make a noise. We slapped it (no, not on the dog!) on the furniture. Sudden and absolute obedience! For the first couple of times. Obviously, use sparingly. But it does stop her mugging visitors in the hope of a fuss. As for the teeth, (no, we didn’t have them all pulled out, although the thought did cross my mind!) but we put in place a ‘no teeth on skin’ rule and dumped her unceremoniously on the floor when she broke the rule, with a loud shout of ‘No’ or even ‘Owww!’ as we dived for the box of sticking plasters in the cupboard.
Now she has stopped chewing us, she is quite lovable if she can stay still long enough. Like yesterday. She was so pleased to see me when I came in. I thought we had got the whirlwind greeting out of her system and dared to sit in the easy chair in the kitchen with a cup of coffee when she suddenly launched herself at me and jumped straight onto my lap. Hot coffee sprayed up the white wall, over the little side table, over my lap, and over the dog who, to my shouts of protests, shot into her ‘crate’ and pretended it was nothing to do with her!
She’s nearly four months old now. I take her for walks in the park, where her favourite thing is to mug everyone there for a fuss. I think of the mud stains she dawbs on their clothes, and the pulled threads, too, and try desperately to call her back to me. She comes. Eventually. (She has good recall when she isn’t distracted.) Thankfully, most people are good-natured about it, as they can see she is a puppy, and they all give her some leeway.
I thought, therefore, it would be a good idea to take her to a country lane near where we live where there are hardly any people. And it worked. No people to molest, not near a road. Good, I thought, I’ve cracked it! I found out my mistake when we came to the first muddy puddle, and by the time we got back to the car the mud was half way up the dog. The recent rain had turned the place into a quagmire in places and a marsh in others.
Well, it’s all a work in progress, and she is progressing very well. She learns quickly. The jumping up, though, has to go, so that is something we are still working on.
Someone said recently that puppies are like a whirlwind of love. More like a hurricane of love! Worth it? Oh yes. Most of the time.
