July round up

Well, July absolutely flew past, my memory is that the weather was good on the whole which is always welcome, especially with a puppy in the house. It's made evening walks much more pleasant.

My boys :)

Barney's been with us for eight weeks now, whilst on the whole I can't remember what it was like before him, I do fondly remember lie ins and lazy Sundays. Oh well... He seems to have had a growth spurt over the last couple of weeks and is teething. No teeth lost yet to leave under his bed for the Puppy Tooth Fairy, but it an only be a matter of time.

My parents came down to see us for another house viewing, and my brother joined us this time. The house we looked at wasn't quite right for them, but it was certainly an experience having five adults and a very excited puppy in our house. Luckily he behaved himself (we'll overlook the biting and toe nibbling), and hopefully he hasn't put anyone off returning. 

Andrew's boss's daughter had been absolutely desperate to meet Barney, they nipped over one Sunday morning at which point she realised that Barney isn't just a cuddly toy, he moves and I'm not sure she was quite prepared for that. She finally stroked him after a lot of persuasion from her father, but I don't think she'll be wanting a puppy of her own quite yet. We met up with them again the following week at their village fete. It's fair to say she pretty much ignored him, he was a huge hit with the rest of the villagers though.

Barney behaving himself, despite the apple bobbing going on a short distance away

Barney is from a litter of nine and I have to admit I never expected to see any of his siblings again, outside social media, as we collected him from a breeder some distance away. Bizarrely, one of his brothers lives 15 miles away so we arranged a reunion. It was fascinating to see the differences between them and exhausting that they hardly stopped for the whole time they were together. I'm hoping Barney will grow out of his constant play-fighting with other dogs.

A brief moment of them both still, building up some energy for another play fight

We've tried to catch up with household jobs over the summer, we had a guy round to fix my iPhone (Barney chewed the mute button, it appears the metal isn't as robust as I'd antiipated), had a shower replaced and the boiler serviced. It's all been a great opportunity to introduce Barney to anyone and everyone in the hope of making him a well socialised puppy. 

As another part of that we've been taking him to Puppy Playgroup. I'd expected it to be obedience training, but it's really just socialising them in a fun environment and teaching them a few basics to stretch their grey matter. There's a huge range of shapes and sizes of puppy there (although bizarrely another similar looking cockapoo), but thankfully Barney seems to be getting more relaxed about the company of other dogs as the weeks go by. 

Not the best photo, but a good indication of the distractions in class!

We took a quick trip to the Midlands to see Andrew's parents as they'd not met Barney. It's fair to say it didn't go brilliantly, they have an eight year old Westie who clearly didn't have any interest in playing with Barney and let him know in no uncertain terms. Barney didn't give up trying though, it ended up being a very noisy experience. Once we'd taken him for a walk in the sun and he'd shown himself up even more we made our excuses and left. I don't think I'll be in a rush to take him back until he's learned that not everyone wants to or has to play with him.

At least it was a nice sunny day for a walk.

It was my birthday towards the end of the month. We normally go away for the weekend, so it was surprisingly nice to spend it at home. We didn't even go out for a meal, opting instead for a barbecue at home so Barney could join us.

Barney was on top form, helping with the laundry

And checking on the contents of the shelf which has all his belongings on, you should have seen the looks on our faces when we found him up there!

In day to day matters, work is still busy but quietening down a little. I've dropped my working hours to four days a week to give me more time to deal with everything that's going on at home. I've also caught the Pokemon Go bug, which is good as it gets me out for a walk at lunch time to visit Pokestops and catch a few more weedles and rattatas. 

Shame that Pokestop across the square is just too far from work

Now onto how I'm doing against my plans for the year...

Read sixteen books
I've had 'How to Train a Superdog' by Gwen Bailey in the bookcase for years. I think my husband bought it for me to convince me that getting a dog would be a fantastic experience, so I'd let him get one. Years on, and here Barney is. Certainly not a superdog by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm looking forward to working through the training exercises in due course.

Find one hundred geocaches
No progress on this, I've spotted a good walk we can take Barney on to introduce him to geocaching. We've got a free weekend in a couple of weeks, hopefully he won't just eat the geocache container.  

Try three gym classes
I've actually started to think about this! Barney's sleeping better and is okay being left for short periods of time, so I may start to be able to make plans. How exciting! 

Meet up with an old friend
No change with this, but it's nice meeting people with Barney, whether it's other dog walkers in the park or puppy owners at puppy school. Few people can resist his hairy face.

Blog once a month
Only one post in June, a guest post I did for Penny at A Penny for Them. You can get details about it here.

Watch a new film once a month
At the moment I'm so tired in the evenings that we're back to watching NCIS and Deep Space Nine. I shouldn't mock, I love it really. 

Take six day trips
No progress on this over the month but hopefully we'll catch up over the remainder of the year, albeit with a very excited hound at our feet!


August looks like another busy month, full of puppy activities. I'm just hoping the weather is kind, as I found out yesterday, a damp dog makes for a very muddy house. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Guest blog - A Penny For Them

A couple of weeks ago Penny invited me to guest blog for her whilst she was away in sunnier climes. I was super keen as I love reading her blog and follow her on Twitter, where her tweets often make me laugh out loud. 

I really enjoyed the opportunity to write for another blog, but it was difficult trying to find a subject matter that would be a good introduction to me, for readers who won't have come across my blog before. Unsuprisingly the post includes puppy photos, if you can bear the sight of yet another image of a fluffy-faced dog, then you can read my post here. 

Have a look at Penny’s blog whilst you're there, hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

June round up

Well, that was an eventful month! Things are still very busy at work, so of course the sensible thing to do when I'm rushed off my feet at work is to get a puppy (not!)

If you've not read my other posts, we did indeed collect our puppy, Barney at the start of June. A month in and it feels as if he's been around forever and there have only been a couple of occasions when I wanted to put him on a train back to Liverpool. I took a few days of peternity leave to keep an eye on him when Andrew needed to be elsewhere, so all in all he's been very well looked after. He seems to like it here, now if only we could get him to sleep through the night so that Andrew can also sleep through the night, that would be perfect.

As you can imagine, our lives have been pretty puppy-centric since 5th June. Luckily we've had plenty of visitors (all visitors now come to see Barney, not us!) and have been able to get Barney out and socialising since he had his second lot of jabs. We even managed to go out for a sneaky lunch, just the two of us, whilst Barney was snoozing in his crate. A tiny glimmer of light at the end of the biting, house-training tunnel!

Now onto how I'm doing against my plans for the year...

Read sixteen books
Not fiction this time, but I read 'The Happy Puppy Handbook' by Pippa Mattinson. I'd never had a dog before and wanted to be prepared. This book was recommended to me and it was really good, it certainly gave me the confidence to know what to expect before Barney arrived and was a useful source of reference in the first couple of weeks. 

Find one hundred geocaches
No progress on this, Barney can only do fifteen minute walks at the moment, but hopefully we'll be able to take him for a trot via some geocaches soon.

Try three gym classes
My weekends now broadly consist of getting up with Barney so Andrew can catch up on sleep and then entertaining whoever is coming to see him. Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to get back to the gym reliably. For now, I'm enjoying our daily walks through the fields.  

Meet up with an old friend
No change with this, but I think we'll meet plenty of new people through Barney, he's a bit of a people magnet!

Blog once a month
I've been fairly active this month, there are a few new posts on here if you've missed them over the course of the month. There's the story of Barney's first day with us and a few things I didn't expect about getting a puppy. I also did a photo an hour post.

Watch a new film once a month
There seem to be so many new films that I'd love to see at the cinema, but I think I'll have to wait for them to come out on DVD. I'm not sure Barney can keep his legs crossed at home for three hours!
 
Take two holidays
I'm going to take this off the list. We had a really nice trip to the Isle of Wight, but I don't think it's going to be practical to do much more than day trips for the rest of the year.

Take six day trips
No progress on this over the month but hopefully we'll catch up over the remainder of the year, albeit with a very excited hound at our feet!


Hopefully July won't be as dramatic. It's my birthday month so hopefully the boys will spoil me suitably. Barney also starts puppy school, I'm just hoping he's not the terror of the classroom! All in all, I can't wait to see what it holds.

Things I didn't expect about getting a puppy

My husband has wanted a dog of his own pretty much forever, but whenever he mentioned it to me, I just didn't get it. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs, but I didn't understand the concept of bringing an animal to live in our house. It struck me that it would make our house messy and smelly and we would lose the freedom to live day to day with no one else to worry about.

He eventually convinced me and I thought I'd give it a go. I have to admit, it's a scary prospect, someone else to look after for fifteen years, not just that, but being responsible for their wellbeing and training to make sure they're a good citizen of the dog world.

And so Barney arrived. It's been nearly two weeks, it helps that he's utterly adorable (he's currently asleep on my left arm), and I seem to have settled into puppy ownership better than I expected. That said, it's early days. There have been a number of things that I wasn't expecting though...

The noise
Oh, the noise. I expected him to be upset on his first night. What I wasn't expecting was the hours and hours of howling, crying, whimpering, you name it... I don't actually know when he found the time to breathe. After two nights though, we didn't hear a peep from him from 10pm to 6am. I have to admit I did worry he'd died in the night...

How much noise do you think something this size can make??

The constant attention

I don't think I quite appreciated how much attention my little bundle of fur would need. I need to keep an eye out for toilet trips, either to get him outside in time, or to praise him if we're already outside, but it's also making sure he's not eating anything too unsuitable, whether it be the sofa or roses. It's pretty much a full time job.

Mmmm, moss

The laughs

He makes me laugh so much, it's great for my pelvic floor. Whether its chasing Andrew around the garden, running off with his soft toy at such a pace with no concept as to where he's going or why, or falling over because he lost balance whilst chewing his tail, it's great for lifting family spirits when you're feeling sleep deprived.

I'm not quite sure why Andrew's rugby shirt needed a trip through the dog flap, but it did

The sleeping
He sleeps a lot, just not when we want him to! Perhaps eighteen hours a day? I guess all these new experiences, smells and growing he has to do takes it out of a young puppy. That said, when he's awake he can be like a crazed beast. We end up running him around the garden just to quieten him down!

Asleep with his face in my slipper, crazy animal

The companionship

When anyone told me why I should get a dog, they all mentioned loyalty. Don't get me wrong, I value loyalty as much as anyone else. I love that my husband doesn't chase other women or moan about me behind my back (much), but I couldn't see how that would translate into a positive quality in a four legged friend. Now I think I get it. There's nothing he loves more than being next to me. He sleeps on my feet and if I get up (assuming he's not too sleep fuddled), he'll leap up to accompany me wherever I'm going. Admittedly it'd be nice if he didn't keep tripping me up, but it's nice to know that he's settled and quite likes his new family.

My little shadow

Communication issues

I hadn't realised how difficult it would be to live with someone who speaks a completely different language. It's like having a lodger from a different world who wants to eat the curtains and your clothing and you can't explain to him why he shouldn't. We're booked in for puppy classes in a month's time, I can't wait for us to find a common language.

The biting

When we chose Barney at six weeks old, he was part cockapoo, part piranha. It's amazing how sharp those little puppy teeth are. The breeders worked on his training and whilst he mainly just mouthed, he's now starting to catch us more often as he's teething again. He's now part velociraptor! We're still working on bite inhibition, I didn't even know that was a thing two weeks ago. Whilst he's learning not to bite hands, that hasn't yet translated to clothing or soft furnishings. If only the curtains could yelp.

Biting the hand that feeds

The poo

Picking up poo isn't as bad as I thought. What adds an extra dimension is that it seems I need skills for speed poo collection. If I'm not quick enough at grabbing it in the bag and whisking it away, I end up with a puppy attached to the bag. Whoever put a smell on these bags which attracts puppies is a mentalist.

Puppy blues

This was the bit I really wasn't expecting. I was left alone with Barney for about nine hours on Saturday and it was just about the toughest experience of my life. He was trouble from the start, wanting to jump up, pull at my clothes, eat the curtains, claw the sofa, you name it... Nothing would distract him and when I tried to, he'd just snap at me. I ended up putting him in his crate to calm down, but he'd be just the same when I took him out. It didn't help that I was exhausted after only six hours sleep. I didn't give up, I kept taking him out to play with him, but he was just impossible. I was fed up being stuck in the house on my own with an ungrateful hound and he probably missed Andrew. As a result, we were both thoroughly miserable. It made me realise what a huge project I'd taken on, with no training, and I was worried that Barney was an unhappy as I was. He's been much better since, but if you feel a bit helpless after a week or so, its not unusual. You just have to remember, it will all be worth it.

Sorry for biting you

Photo an Hour - June 2016

Sunday June 13th was the date set for this month's Photo an Hour project. It's organised by Jane and Louisa, you'll be able to see more details on their blogs, as well as details as to how to sign up for reminders if you'd like to join in.

We're a week into puppy parenthood, so puppy pictures feature heavily!

10am Laundry time!

11am Barney had worn himself out and so took himself off to his crate for a sleep

12pm Not quite a photo, but a bit of post sleep training

1pm Lunch!

2pm Time for an old film, Clockwise, partly filmed where I grew up

3pm Still in front of the film, but with a nice cup of tea

4pm A cuddle in the sun

5pm Relaxing in the kitchen

6pm Watching the football whilst Barney attacked his cuddly chicken

7pm Barney managed to get one of my shoes away from me. I'll get it back damp and nibbled.

8pm Time for Top Gear 

9pm Bed time

Barney the Cockapoo, the first day in my new home

I was spending the morning in the garden enjoying the sun with my brothers and sisters when some nice people came to see me. I think they've been before, they tasted familiar when I chewed on them. They played with me, signed some papers and then carried me away. Yay, I'm free! Hang on, what's this big, hot metal box they've put me in? It's making a chugging noise. It's really, really hot even though there is a wind blowing in me. Maybe if I climb up in the man I'll get more breeze. If I howl will the others hear me and come and pop me in the shade? No, that doesn't seem to work, what am I meant to do then? It's a bit boring here, maybe I'll give his finger a nibble, ooh, this belt holding him in tastes nice. Ah, that's better they've put my favourite radio station on. Maybe I'll lie down and have a little sleep in this shaded area under his arm. Ah he's stroking me, that's nice... That was a nice sleep but I'm still in the box. Boring! I'll have another nibble. Clearly I shouldn't, he's given me a fake bone to chew on instead. Ah, I've worn myself out chewing, back to sleep after a little stretch.

Hang on we've stopped. We're getting out, hurrah! Ooh grass. This is nice. They're very friendly here. They don't mind me following then around. I've had a bit of an explore, now we're going inside. This is odd, not like the other inside I knew. They've made a den for me, it's nice, but not like my old one. Hang on, the nice man has brought me Stinky Pheasant that I used to play with in my other home. I love Stinky Pheasant! I'll give him a bit of a chew, actually maybe a little sleep, this bed is so comfy. 

They've taken me outside again, honestly I must be out here twice an hour. I did a poo and got so much praise, do they not poo? Back inside again. Yay dinner time! I'm starving! All gone! Now I'm outside again. I pooed again and they loved it. They're weird. 

My den's moved, it's in a darker room now, I'm not too sure. They left me alone for a little bit but I howled. Luckily they came back when I stopped. The lady gave me a cuddle whilst the man organised things noisily. He took me outside and I had a wee they cheered at that too. They were in the kitchen eating so I had a little nap and dreamed about food. When I woke up they took me out again, but then back in. I wonder why they keep bringing me to this bit of grass? 

There's even more inside! They've given me a fleecy area to lie on. Hurrah, they've brought Stinky Pheasant through. The lady didn't look pleased when I tried to climb into her lap with Stinky Pheasant. Maybe I should stay down here. They're watching moving pictures on a box on the corner. Maybe I'll have a little nap. It's the only time that they don't drag me outside. Sneaky!

After my looong nap they took me outside again, it was really odd, the man was running about the grass so I followed him, I can't let him get away. I only have tiny legs, but I'm really, really fast, I kept catching him. He gave me lots of attention when I did. I got tired after a bit though, and the sky was getting dark, so they popped me back in my den. The lady sat with me for a while, I howled at her to play with me, but she didn't. After a little while the lady left and the man came in and the room went dark. Did they forget I was in here? I should howl to remind them. Maybe if I howl a bit louder? How about a shriek? That's not working. It's a bit lonely here, and a bit odd without all my brothers and sisters. I have got Stinky Pheasant though. Maybe I'll try and have a little sleep, hopefully they'll come back for me when I wake up.

May round up

May has been exhausting, I think that's the only way of describing it. I'm so glad we had a holiday at the end of April as at least I went into the month feeling refreshed. Working for a travel company, it's our busiest month, things are always a little more fractious in the office and my desk was often completely obscured by paperwork. I've managed to just about keep my head above water in the knowledge that things can only get better. It's been exhausting though and sometimes felt like an impossible task. Still, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

This was just one week's cost invoices to process, and that's only part of my job

We went to our Village Show at the start of the month, you can read my post about it here. Predictably, it rained and rained, but it was still a great event and I came home with a rosette. I wore it proudly.

We also went to a fiftieth birthday party, a definite sign that we're getting older. It was really nice, I finally got to meet a friend of my husband's, and his wife. We've already made plans to meet for a dog walk, just the minor hurdle to overcome that we don't have a dog yet. Oh well! The party was at the birthday boy's house, it was a relaxed affair, polite conversation, his best friend spontaneously playing the grand piano, great food and a free casino. I'd managed to get my £200 stake up to £1,700 before blowing it again on the roulette table, mainly because my birthday kept coming up and then throwing it all away by going crazy with my stake. Good job it was only paper money!

Like no birthday cake I've ever seen before

My parents have been looking to move house so we did a house viewing with them in the last weekend of the month. At present I think it's a case of trying to work out which of their criteria they can compromise on, but the best way of doing that is by looking at real houses, rather than just images on Right Move. They seem to have had a mindset change and are keen to move rather than just mulling it over, so we just need to hope something suitable comes up.

We met up with friends on the Sunday night (the joys of a bank holiday weekend!) for a meal at the Wild Duck in Ewen. It's a well known name around these parts as it used to be a royal haunt back in the day. It's now changed ownership, so we didn't quite know what to expect. It was certainly an experience, like eating a restaurant meal in a nightclub, but probably not an experience I'd rush to repeat!

Apart from that, we've made a big dent in the jobs that needed doing around the house. We've replaced a blown extractor fan and light fitting, put all our pictures up, reorganised the utility room and tidied up the garden. We've still got one box room, but as it took us five years to clear the box room in our last house, I think we're well ahead of the game!

Now onto how I'm doing against my plans for the year...

Read sixteen books
No further progress on this, I'm still working my way through my audio book on my phone when I'm at the gym. Unfortunately work has meant I've not made it to the gym for the last couple of weeks, hopefully this weekend.

Find one hundred geocaches
Again, no progress on this (are you seeing a pattern?!) 

Try three gym classes
Still not made any progress on this one. I did actually book a gym class but had to cancel it as it was early on a Sunday morning and I was desperate for a lie in. I'm such a failure! 

Meet up with an old friend
No change with this, but it's been good meeting up with new friends, which is just as important. Perhaps a life lesson there! 

Blog once a month
I've been on fire this month, obviously being stuck at my desk is motivating me, there's a few new posts on here if you've missed them over the course of the month. As well as my post about the Village show, I'd blogged about our trip to the Isle of Wight and how we went about selecting a puppy breeder. It's nothing if not diverse this blog!

Watch a new film once a month
I think for the first time, no progress on this one either. My television viewing comprises pretty much solely Supervet, Deep Space Nine and NCIS. In other words, something that it doesn't matter too much plot-wise if I fall asleep in front of it!

Take two holidays
Nothing booked for holiday number two, the events of the next month or so should reveal whether we'll get a chance to get away or not.

Take six day trips
Again, no progress on these but hopefully we'll catch up over the remainder of the year. 


I'm not really sure what June will hold, definitely more mountains of work, but hopefully something more exciting too. You can be sure I'll be back to let you know!