Meet Jess

[Goingtobeawesome]

Been home an hour and already belongs

. When do the 5:20am wakings stop?

23 months old today and he wakes up at 6.00 am in the winter and 5.30 during the summer. Except on Sundays, when he wakes up at 7.00. No idea why!

My human kids always slept later on a Sunday than a Saturday too. Up to ten minutes ago she'd done two days without a wee inside. We missed the signs a few minutes ago well DH did and she had been asking to go out. She's so clever. Two days on the trot she's slept in until almost six. I was awake at 5:20 waiting for her..

Jess is 11 weeks and a total toddler. Tell her off and take away her twig - she pulls a leaf off the nearest tree..

Mummy trying to catch her as she has something she shouldn't - runs around in many many circles under the oak tree where I can't get to her..

Tell her not to bump, bite or take away something and she bites my trousers. In the sin bin every time for that one!

Shopping tomorrow for a coat for her. Just wondering if matching wellingtons and a Paddington hat would be too much? !

Hi Jess! You're beautiful. Our Golden girl will be coming home 2 weeks on Saturday

Lovely! Enjoy.

We just went shopping. She did so well. Didn't get a coat but managed to spend more than £70. Oops .

ha ha. Money just vanishes when you shop for puppies. We bought ours so many toys and things he never used! And they are all bloody expensive as well. :) Jess sounds like so much fun. I must get one more puppy!! The thought of training another pup is the only thing stopping me.

Aahh dissolves into a soggy mess

She is so so SO cute!! Can I have her please?!

Sorry, no one can have her.

Today was huge. We went for our first work alone and she was a lot more scared than when she went with her doggy friend. Coming home was easier . Have had two scary moments but she's okay. She was very quiet and not like herself at all but I think she was just tired and wasn't able to nod off. My PIL came over and in the end we went in the garden and shut her in the kitchen with her cosy bed. She slept by the door but at least she slept. She's currently having her third sleep of the day which is one more than normal. Has eaten lunch.

Second scare was when she found a mini chocolate roll the neighbour's had helpfully chucked over but then I managed to get it off her and we realised it was just the wrapper full of mud and not chocolate.

The worry!!

Can take months to train a dog. You don't have to do everything straight away. Your expectations are real high from what is in effect a baby. She is lovely.

We had no expectations as she is our first dog. We still don't have any but while she's so keen to learn and very clever it would be daft not to keep going with what she can cope with. I think the fact she's very bonded and settled means she's happy to learn.

She met quite a few dogs today. A little bit scared but also curious. Behaved beautifully.

Well done Jess! The one thing I regret not doing is properly lead training my dog. He is a nighmare on the lead and I am surprised I haven't injured myself...yet. Off lead he is lovely. He walks to heel, recall's great and is good as gold.

She had two walks of one hour today. Didn't mean the first one to be so long but she took ages to get to the end of the road . She slept through as well and only woke at 6:25 when dh got up. Currently sleeping in my foot. Shame I have to go and get ds.

How is Jess doing? Is she going mad chasing the falling leaves? Mine is 2 and still chases leaves :)

She's just been going bananas when dh raked the leaves. She's the same with the brush. It's so funny watching her shouting at the objects. She's so adorable. Very funny. Has a reputation already in the village. Has a boyfriend . And is house trained .

Another question please

We are ordering her next bag of puppy food and might get the next age food too. Do we have to stick to the same flavour? She's currently on chicken and rice as she was at the breeders.

No you don't have to, but introduce new types/flavours gradually - you don't want here to have an upset tum!
Can I ask why you are getting her a coat? None of my goldies has needed one.
My two are currently sulking after a bath - they rolled in Fox poo and as you will find out, there is no smell quite like eau de renard.

I was worried she'd be cold but she's growing so fast and seems okay so didn't get one. She has got a snazzy reflective one though for odd evening walks.

She's gorgeous. We had a GR for 15 years.

Five mins exercise per month of age twice a day is a good rule of thumb when they are little though. An hour sounds awfully long for a pup.

It's not an hour solid walking. It can take five minutes to get next door..

Well done Jess, a boyfriend eh? RE the food, please don't switch to adult food too soon. They need the extra fat in food to grow up properly. Try to keep her on puppy food for at least the first year.

Also, the 5 min per month rule is an important one to follow. I know how it is impossible to tire them out without long walks but please don't push it more than the recommended limit or they will have joint problems. I am guessing she is about 4 months now? So that's 20 minutes a DAY. Total. Good luck :)

Thank you for the advice re puppy food. We thought we had to change at six months so will stick with that.

Her hip score was good so assumed we could walk as she wanted. Sometimes that is not long, other times she loves a slow, long walk with lots of bouncing with dogs she meets which takes an hour door to door as we take our time.

I'm not walking her to tire her out. I don't mind if she's awake all day but because she loves meeting other dogs and people and is good for socialising.

It's sim demoralising and upsetting when you think you're doing okay and others say doing it wrong. Apparently we should have her off lead in a massive field surrounded my trees and bushes where she could escape.

We are going with 15 minutes once a day. Thanks everyone.

Just had a lovely afternoon with her. She's not showing any signs of being bothered by the lack of a walk. Feel terrible that I might have hurt her and it got to me as she had me up at 4 and I'm poorly so...