First puppy nerves!!!

[Poppypuppy09]

Hi Alison,

Welcome to COL 

I have Poppy who is a one year old show type blue roan cocker and Tessa my 6 yr old working Springer    I have been around cockers since I was little and whilst I love all breeds cockers are the best 

Cant wait for lots of Dexter pics ....try not to be too anxious over everything....afterall we are all here to help 

Jennie x

[smartietopdog]

Firstly Hi Alison, you sound like a lovely person, and fantastic dog owner, so I'm sure you will be absolutely fine! Oh and you're gonna fit right in here on COL!!
I didn't get nervous until I'd actually bought my 2 home (nearly 11 years, and 3 years ago!) and then I had serious "what have I done?" But it passed quickly, and I can honestly say, not a day goes by when my dogs don't make me smile and laugh at something they've done. Enjoy every second, as everyone says, one day you turn around, and they aren't a tiny pupster anymore

Look forward to puppy piccies!

[Liz F]

Hi Alison & Deter

I believe tomorrows the day  , Congratulations have fun with your little
Look forward to seeing some pics of the little cutie, thats when you get a minute away from cuddles  
Have fun and enjoy puppyhood its over too soon  

[cockers rock!]

Aww bless you - it's lovely it means so much to you

I was really like an over anxious mum when I got my Hector - panic if meals were rejected etc...

But the main tips I'd give are

Make sure garden is cleared of anything toxic (foxgloves, slug pellet etc)
If you have a gate or gap in the garden make sure pup can't squeeze through - we tested ours and was surprised to see Hector wiggle through the gaps on a wrought iron side gate - approx 5 inch gap!!
Buy plenty of kitchen roll & carpet (if relevant) sanitiser for accidents
A crate is very useful


Other than that enjoy they are fantastic fun and you are clearly a motivated owner

Hope to see the piccies soon

[SkyeSue]

How could I have missed this  Gosh, you'll have your wee pup by now! Must check photoboards 

Owning a puppy is a nightmare on the one hand, and a magical fun time on the other! I know one should not make comparisons with having a puppy and having a baby, but you can't help it...and imo, there wasn't much to choose between the two in terms of challenges 

Welcome to COL (from me and my two year old baby  )

[mooching]

So, is he home? How's it going? Where's the promised deluge of posts??!! 

[ali-claire]

Thanks all, it was lovely to read your replies and receive such sound advice. Yes he's been here 5 days and it seems like he's always been in residence, bless him. He's so adorable (we all say that, and we all mean it, right?). A 3 hour journey home and he didn't have any accidents at all. He has adjusted so well, is bravely exploring all aspects of our (fully puppy proofed garden) and has had very few "accidents" inside. He's got a good appetite, loves to play tug and his Murphy the Moose toy (which is as big as him, haha) is his favourite. He seems to know his name already (i'm so impressed), not to mention how to move his playpen across the kitchen  (see my earlier post re crates and pens). Not great on the separation anxiety front but maybe his over anxious mummy isn't exactly helping matters  I took this week off to try and settle him in to using the crate and pen when I'm not about - hmm, that's not going so well  He does love sleeping on my shoulder on the sofa though.....

Had his 1st jab yesterday, plus certain glands in his behind emptied (which clearly was not enjoyable, poor thing, he virtually leapt off the vets table into my arms yelping for 5 minutes!) and he has earmites so it's eardrops twice a day til we get rid of those nasties. I have only managed to post one pic as I need to get the hang of resizing photos but he is a lovely little boy, and I'm very proud of him.  Just need to get the nighttime sorted.

Thanks again, everyone.