A Blogger's Guide To Your First Puppy!!!

Yes, you read it correctly!

First of all, may I offer my sincere apologies for the lack of post this past fortnight. As you have read in the title of this post, Craig & I have some very special newsssss!

We bought a puppy. A beautiful, fluffy, ball of love. Who smells like puppy! Seriously though, WE BOUGHT A PUPPY!!!!!!!

So this 'Blogger's Guide' Is dedicated to the new addition to our home!!

Now Craig was brought up around dogs whereas I only had a pet bunny rabbit growing up due to my parents working schedules etc. So for me, going in to this 'Puppy fiasco' was all exciting and fun. For Craig however, it was more of a 'I need to calm her down & bring her back to the real world' moment! So here it is, my guide for you and your new pup!!

A Blogger's Guide To Your First Puppy!!

1. The best thing we have done with our pup so far is to get her crate trained. She now knows that when she is in there, she is to be quiet and relax. It helps that our house is big enough for a huge crate and that our pup is only a small breed. Of course this would be a lot more difficult if you go for a large breed. If you have decided to go for a larger breed of dog, I suggest a stair gate!

2. Do not get your pup into the habit of coming upstairs with you at bedtime. It is important for you to have your own room or space just for you. Nobody wants to have a wet, slobbery tongue licking your ear at 5.30am when you would really be in the land of nod! 

3. Buy loads of toys. You may buy 3 or 4 and think that is enough for your new furry friend. It isn't. They will need more. If you decided not to get any more, they will claim your things as their own. They will take off with your shoes and even worse, they will just bite you constantly!. I decided to get a collapsible storage box to keep all our little ladies toys in. She knows that when she needs a toy, it is here she will find them. In this box we keep all her puppy related items such as harness, lead and coats.

4. You will need the essentials when going anywhere with puppy! These are poop bags, doggy treats, handbag sized toy, portable dog bowl and a bottle of water, harness/collar and lead. As he/she are so little, they will need these items in order to keep themselves entertained on car journeys or even to reward good behaviour when out. 

5. Put a towel in the boot of your car. You will know why!

6. Doggy bath time is insane! I never knew that all dogs have this strange reasoning that when you have a bath, you absolutely must run around chasing your tail and throwing yourself around the floor for a good 45 minutes afterwards! Imagine if you did that after you had a shower or bathed?
Mental!!

7.  You will need to own a treat box! As with the toys, you need wayyyyy more than you would think. Different types, different sizes, different flavours. You were warned!

8. Pick a good name. Your pup is stuck with this name for a damn long time so make sure it's a good one! Our puppy was already responding to a name when we bought her and Craig really like it. As this was the case we decided not to change it as she was so good at recall when walking and off her lead. So here she is, the first blog picture of our new baby...

World...Meet Pippin!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this is Pippin. Our beautiful Shih tzu puppy. She is 19 weeks old now and full of love. There really is nothing better. She is proving to be fine with Morrissey and Luna our two beautiful cats and all is well in the Foster-Shotton household!!

Byeeee xxxxx