Look, don’t touch (or for that matter, bark) has been my watchword this week. I don’t often get the chance to ride or drive horses these days but I do come across horses a lot, whether that is working horses, competition horses at shows or just happy hackers in local parks. It is therefore very […]

Trains and boats and ‘planes – well OK, trains and buses so far. We will add boats at some point, ‘planes, probably not, as he will hopefully be a blood donor, although living ten miles from Heathrow we see and hear our fair share. As a non-driver, it was important for me to accustom my […]

Travis was ready for the world – was the world ready for him? We were about to find out, rather sooner than we expected as Travis said “Hello world”. Quarantine was hard for both of us. My lively puppy was getting very frustrated at his enforced confinement and just wanted to be on his own […]

Everything in the world is for the first time for a puppy and there are so many important “firsts” to check off in the vital early weeks for owners too. There is a lot of mis-understanding about puppy socialisation. Although it should involve meeting other dogs, it actually refers to the first three months of […]

Ah, house training. A sometimes fraught area and probably one of the first things that needs to be trained. Puppies have an approximately 45-minute bladder capacity at 3 weeks old , 75-minute capacity at 8 weeks old, 90-minute capacity at 12 weeks old and a 2 hour capacity at 18 weeks old. Normal urine production is […]

As an actor, I was used to first night nerves, but this first night had nothing on it! My puppy crashed out within half an hour of getting back but I was wide awake all night. Has he stopped breathing? Is he warm enough? What if I roll over and squash him? There are pros […]

He’s coming home! – puppies are all about milestones – so many due to pass in the first few weeks and months of life. So, for my pup, the biggest of big days – he is due to leave the only world that he has ever known and embark (and bark?!) on something completely new […]

Welcome to the Puppy Blog: after 5 years waiting a puppy is finally born. Find out what happened in the adventures of a new Australian Shepherd puppy… Finally the call that I had waited 5 years for came at 9am on a Monday morning – a puppy is born. There were 8 whelps, 2 bitches […]

Welcome to the Puppy Blog and meet Travis the Australian Shepherd. Struggling with your puppy or just wonder if you’re doing it right? Raising a puppy is hard work – even for the professionals. You are not alone, we all have problems and expected difficulties and, of course, the ultimate joy in raising a happy, […]