The One With The Labrador Puppy!

If you pop here often you will know that we are big dog lovers in our house. I had my faithful old friend Tikka for 15 years. Tikka was a Staffordshire bull terrier and the most loving dog we could ever have wished for. It hit me hard losing my boy and I couldn’t quite face having another dog for some time, although my eldest really wanted one.

We had a rescue lurcher a few years afterwards but what we weren’t told at the dog home was that she liked to escape and eat her own poop! We simply couldn’t have this around our children and we were forced to make the decision that sadly she wasn’t suitable for us. She went to a loving home where they had many years of experience with lurchers.

Fast forward another couple of years and we thought the time was right to do our research. It’s been a long time since we had a dog and a lot has changed, so we had to make sure we were up to date with everything. This article, titled ‘What Can I Give My Dog for Pain Relief? Best Natural Remedies‘ was very useful, as were the many articles we found online discussing house training a puppy. Then it was time to find a reputable breeder and have a puppy join our family.
So here she is………Annie!

Labradors seemed to tick all of the boxes for us – Great with kids, sociable, easy to train, loyal and so on.

Annie has been with us for almost two weeks now. She is such a good girl and has already picked up on her recall and even though she has a few accidents, she uses her puppy pads 90% of the time. That is totally fine and more than what we expected of her at such a young age.
Don’t get me wrong it isn’t all a walk in the park! The days are a little more crazy here and we generally get up once in the night so Annie can have a wee.

We are crate training Annie, which is a first for us but I must say it’s brilliant. We have a crate upstairs in our bedroom and a crate downstairs. I never shut the door, just leave it ajar and she can come and go as she pleases. It’s also great for giving Annie a little escapism from the boys when she needs a rest.

My boys absolutely adore her! They are both so good with her and know when to leave her alone. Joben my youngest is currently being assessed for autism, and I can already see what a huge difference it makes for him to have a dog around. They say dogs can be great therapy for autism and I think there may be some truth in that.

I’m so glad we made the decision to welcome another dog into our family. Annie has filled that last jigsaw piece in the puzzle so to speak. I think this little madame is going to enjoy it here!