Second Vacc's + Travelling

Merlin had a very busy weekend last weekend...

On Saturday we went to a pet shop and brought far too much! We brought him a little harness for his walkies, unfortunately he was in-between sizes of all the dog harness' so we had to get him a cat harness, which is fine, it works the same and is probably better as it has a adjustable bit on it, which means he can use it for quite a while!
We also brought a new toy which we thought would help his chewing and some proper chews that he is very fond of!

He was very good in the shop and the staff made a very big fuss of him and gave him lots of loves, they also let him try some doggy ice-cream, which he was very partial to!

Then on the Sunday our Gran (who isn't actually our gran) came over and then we had to take her back to Essex, and he met all of our families! He met Josh (OH)'s parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. He also met my Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and my sister and four nieces. He was very well behaved and had lots of love from all of them, especially from Josh's parents, which made up for the fact my grandparents gave very little!

He was only car sick to begin with and since then has been very good indeed! We are super proud of him!

This week we have been focusing a lot on his training and went to see the training without Merlin the other day, and thought it was very good, so will definitely be taking him there :) Although, he's going to be in the older doggies class due to the timings... unless I can work something out. So he's going to be bottom of his little class poor boy! We're going to do lots of working hard with him in the mean time I think.

Anyway, here are some pics!

Him in his spiffy harness!

Him enjoying the sun :)

Merlin enjoying the sun!

I'll do a proper update at the weekend, but for now -

Merlin had a wonderful time sitting in the garden most of the day - chewing up the grass!

Sometimes I really do think I brought a goat home with us the amount of grass he grazes on!

Thanks for looking :)

Second Week with the Monster!

Hi Everyone,

So it's coming up to two weeks since our bundle of joy joined our home! We are now settling into a routine, he is doing very well, learning a lot, and growing like crazy!

Last weekend (I forgot to mention) we had a break-through, he has started going to the back door when he needs to go out, and earlier this week he started scratching and whining at the door when he wants to go out! This is brilliant, but obviously it is only 90% accurate, so we are still watching him like a hawk!

He's favourite snacks are apples/oranges or carrots. He isn't so interested in any training treats, so we've been using these. He now has learnt sit (95%), stay (40%), lay (45%), down (80%) off/leave (60%) and weewee (95%). He is overall doing very well, and is really getting into the home routine.

We are going to our training session next Thursday to watch it, so hopefully this will become the training class we take him to.

This week we have gone for lots of walks, met our first other dog, met some cats (who did not like Merlin!)  he wanted to play with them :), learnt that grass is super tasty, but not quite as tasty as the fireplace! He has also learnt that the sun is super warm, and the nicest place to be is in the sun!

Here's some pictures of Mr Merlin-Monster.

Bringing Merlin Home + 1st Week

So on the 10th of March 2012, we brought out bundle of Monster home!

On the drive home he was very good, didn't cry however he was very car sick, poor little thing.

The first day he was really good, and we spent the day playing in the garden, taking him out every hour, getting him used to his crate and just general puppy stuff!

That night he was very good, slept very well in his crate. When I got him out in the morning it was like letting out a different dog - so confident and so cocky!

Since then he had just grown in confidence and has been overall very good. Minus the chewing.

He chews EVERYTHING!

On Wednesday he had his first vaccination and he was very good, we took the last appointment due to me working and so he was quite tired and very relaxed at the vets.

He has been for several walks (obviously being carried) and in the last couple of days we have begun our obedience training and he is doing very well, has already learnt sit - so long as I have a treat in my hand!

I found out today he is a week younger than we thought he was, which makes him 8 weeks old on Monday. I'm not so happy about this, purely because it means that the breeder had lied to us about his age, which makes me think what else did they lie about.

Yesterday night he had his first puppy crazies, which means he just went mental! We just let him get on with it, but boy, it was a mad moment!

Today has been a hard day though, hence me not telling everyone how lovely he is! He was fine this morning but then he just been a monster! Kept trying to bite me, he knows it's wrong and then this afternoon bit me and I told him no, so he growled and tried to bite my face. Naughty dog.

Overall is he is really good and I have to remind myself of this, but boy, it's been a long day and it's not even over yet!

I know, butter would melt right?

Planning and Choosing Merlin

Hi everyone,

My partner, Josh and myself have been together for 2 and a half years, we moved in together 2 years ago, and moved into our property with a garden just over a month ago :) We moved so we could get a puppy!

Anyway, we spent months and months choosing which breed type etc. We eventually decided on a whippet as we felt it would suit out lifestyle. I work full-time and Josh is at Uni full-time, which means he goes in for lectures one day a week! The cheek!

We thought it would be a great time as he is here the majority of the time, and as we know a puppy is practically a full-time job! Then we swap over when I get home and I look after him in the evening.

We looked and looked for a breeder and eventually found ours. They were about an hour and a half away, and they had some puppies born and told us they would be ready in a few weeks and we could go and look at them. So off we went the next day.

They were all lovely looking, although slept the majority of the time. They were in the study of the house and we in a secure pen. It looked very clean, although didn't have a bed, but I didn't actually notice this until we picked him up...

We eventually picked one that chewed my ear and wagged his tail at us! And we named him Merlin. He was special as had a cute little crest on his chest and the rest were pure blue.

After we'd chosen we put down the deposit and then saw him the next week, then the week after we had family coming over, and the one after that we picked him up, and so our story had begins!

This is him on our first visit.

This is him on our second visit