Our little boy is growing up

Tuesday 28th August to Monday 3rd September.

Bailey has just spent his third week with us and his eleventh week on this Earth. A growth spurt has seen his body get longer and his beard is growing. His longer legs enable him to constantly break his personal best in the cross-garden sprint event.

Although interested in everything you do- kitchen roll work especially fascinating apparently- he is also paradoxically quite a bit calmer.Every day sees at least one falling asleep on someone's  lap and he does enjoy being combed and/or massaged. The come/sit/stay/leave it training is going well .His lead behaviour is noticeably better in a bit of space.I took him on a playing field last week (well away from any dogs) and he seemed to "get" the advantage of walking forward so you can get places. His regular walks in the outdoor Narnia start this weekend.

 This is because he's been back to the vet and had his 2nd injection. This should be fully effective by this coming weekend. He's also had his first flea treatment.  Before his first proper walk  though he starts puppy socialization/training classes on Thursday. I hope that he doesn't try to bash all the other dogs up! Also hoping for further improvement in the play biting area via these sessions.To be fair,his biting has mirrored the general calming down.

I heard a loud anguished yelp from Bailey on Thursday. He had pulled a large hardback cookery  book off the shelf on to his head. The book was in the Silver Spoon series- emphasising what a privileged little puppy he is. He has also entertained 5 little girls under 10 without anyone getting bitten or too over-excited.


A strong bond is forming between Bailey and 10 year old Jacob. When they run into the garden together I want to play Thin  Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town".

In summary it's been a good consolidating week for us all and classes and walks make next week even more exciting for a little dog. I can't imagine life without him now, despite the sleep deprivation and need for five pairs of eyes.

Learning good and bad habits

Tuesday 21 - Monday 27 August 2012

Another big week for a little dog. He has met many new (almost exclusively female) admirers. Without fail, the doe-eyed, wagging tail approach melted hearts. One of his female visitors Victoria was the first to witness the slight slipping of the Bailey halo. Victoria was wearing  a long jersey skirt and the little boy clamped onto it and was swinging in mid-air by his teeth.

Ellie's legs make a good place to sleep

 This is part of a bigger problem emerging this week - nipping and play biting. His tiny teeth are like razors and he's not always using them gently. A good example of this is when we make efforts to curb his other naughty habit- digging. The garden now has 5 or 6 areas protected by bricks, roof tiles and pieces of laminate flooring to prevent further expansion of holes he has already excavated. If JCB could replicate the digging action of the fox terrier's front paws they would be quids in..

For both of the problems - nipping and digging - all of the experts seem to recommend distractions with a chew toy, ball or Frisbee to get him doing something else. This tactic is about 75% effective.

Whilst complaining about the cute, little ball of fluff, I would also add the jumping at and eating of flowers - poppies and cornflowers are the favourite.

To be completely fair to him, the nipping and digging do seem to have calmed down to some degree, and we have hardly any flowers left to eat.

Continuing on more positive notes, he is also making good progress in many aspects of his development. To combat the nipping and digging we are employing a short-term Ukrainian hand feeding regime. All meals are fed from the palm of my hand. His mouthing for this is unbelievably gentle and you can almost see bonding taking place. The purpose of this regime is to improve attention, dependency, concentration, loyalty and trainability. He is eating up all his meals currently 30g three times a day and loves chicken, mince and stewing beef.

Eating the lead is better than walking on it

His sit, stay and come training are all going really well. His lead work less consistent but improvements are slowly happening. He has been on his lead to 'the other world' of the front garden, very exciting to Bailey. 

He is sleeping well and regularly goes 7 hours through the night in his crate, in fact he often puts himself to bed. We use my old tshirts to supplement his bedding and provide a reassuring odour in there, not sure this would work for everyone.

A lot of the above 'problems' are, I think, associated with teething. All of his chew toys take a right mauling from those sharp little baby teeth. At 9/10 weeks he is already mock 'humping' some of his furry toys, to Jake's amusement. Neutering is looking more and more likely Bailey.

Surprisingly for a little furry fireball of energy, he is happy to let us comb and brush him including his tummy and throat areas, classic signals of accepting our dominance, so I read.

We are still almost obsessively taking him out at least hourly for toileting but a few accidents of the liquid variety still occur.

He has been sick once after a meal but them tried to eat it again, most to Jake's disgust. We suspect that an auxiliary diet of grass, earth, twigs and flowers didn't help. He had also been wormed that day and has been fine since.

He is starting to be quite protective of the family home - barking at children playing nearby, BBQs, lawn mowers in adjoining gardens. Although the cleaner can let herself in and he doesn't make a sound. Ellie doesn't think his bark is very manly yet.

In other news, Bailey already possesses more ball control than John Terry or Ashley Cole (in a footballing sense of course).

Thanks to Ellie, Bailey has his own Facebook page with 28 friends. His relationship status is described as 'it's complicated'.

In summary, there are far more positives than negatives and we are working on the latter anyway.  Above all and of far greater importance, we love our dog and he loves us. We just seem to be more of a family with him than without him. It's hard work but absolutely worth it.

Arrival and settling In.

MONDAY August 13th was the big day. Steve Joe and Ellie went back to the Malvern Hills to collect our new family member. John was our intrepid driver. Linda and Jacob were preparing our puppy's new home and were excitedly awaiting our arrival.

Bailey was one of four puppies who had not yet gone to their new home. He was the first to come to us and definitely had the waggiest tail ! 

We  set off with a little trepidation-visions of howling puppy and canine car sickness had haunted a few of my dreams. In fact there was no need for concern. He commuted on the back seat between Ellie and Steve's towel-draped laps and slept for about 2 of the 4 hours' journey. He even obligingly went for a wee in a Deryshire service station car park. We were busy texting and sending photos to friends and family-I think Linda asked me 5 times how far we were away. We finally got home at about 7pm-a  nine hour round journey and a tribute to John's superb driving skills.

Jacob was waiting outside to greet us and inexplicably dived into the path of the oncoming car! A further demonstration of John's driving skills ensured that Bailey's first hours of life in Hull were not spent in A & E.

Bailey went for a long nose-led inspection of the garden. He ate a little food .He also quickly discovered how to hide under the shed! This somewhat set the tone for ALL future use of the garden. Remarkably, for an eight-week old newly removed from his parents,siblings and home,there was a confident strut to his garden tour. This also set the tone.

However the little vulnerable  boy obscured by bravado was revealed during his first night. I was amazed  that puppies don't howl/whine when seeking help-they cry like distressed human babies. It took all my resolve to follow the advice of every dog owner and dog book-if you comfort them on their first night they will never settle.

TUESDAY August 14th was quite a revelation. The dear little chap seemed to instantly forgive the evil family who had locked him in a crate and left him to weep. He played with Ellie and Jacob for most of the day-Jacob being particularly inseparable. He sleeps a lot between play sessions. He ate a bit of his puppy food, but wasn't particularly bothered. He did enjoy his scrambled egg though.

He seems to be a remarkable little dog who has adapted very quickly to his new life and family. We make sure he has access hourly at least to the garden so that toilet needs are met. But other than that he really doesn't make massive demands. He even voluntarily goes into his crate-dragging in his favourite toys to make it more like home! What a dog!

WEDNESDAY August 15th and THURSDAY August 16th were more "normal" days.He handled car journeys well and was very excited when visitors came bearing gifts.Training on "Sit" and "Come" are going pretty well. But I suspect that the fact that Cheddar cheese is, apparently, the greatest food in the world helps this process greatly. He is still, by and large, a very clean boy.

He now treats the crate as his "nest" and designs it by moving his toys , chew-bones and blanket about. He often sleeps in it during the day and seems to accept his nighttime incarceration.

FRIDAY August 17th The VET !!!. He took this experience, including injection and being intimately examined with great aplomb. He weighs 1.93 kilos. His second injection is booked for a fortnight's time after which he can go out for walks-as long as he accepts being put on his lead. Not keen so far!

SATURDAY August 18th and SUNDAY August 19th. His weekend involved lots of play in the garden with the various kids who were here. Every day we are doing some training with him. He (usually!) comes when called and (usually!) sits when instructed. He kind of accepts the collar but for the most part sees the lead as either a new chew toy or as a signal to stand stock still.

WEEK ONE SUMMARY..We are absolutely delighted with Bailey's progress. He is a very loving and sociable little dog and has already become an integral part of our family. I find myself frequently gazing at him in wonderment that something so small, furry and cute can inspire such strong feelings in all of us. I can wholeheartedly recommend this experience to non-dog owners, with the cautionary note that you need to research extensively beforehand and that you have to be prepared to put time and effort into making it work. He has enhanced all our lives!

 

Bailey at 9 weeks

Bailey at 6 Weeks

Bailey is now 6 weeks old and he joins our family in 2 weeks. My grandchildren Ellie and Jacob are very excited about this, but I'm afraid that the most giddy is me, at nearly 61!  Very few hours  pass without me thinking about our new arrival and planning, anticipating etc. I've read about the breed and books on training - this project won't fail for lack of trying.

The pictures of the puppies show that they're very active and playful now. Can't wait !!

Bailey at 4 weeks old.

This is Bailey at four weeks old.

This seems to be the age when they start to explore.

Introduction.

At the age of 60, Steve Scott is about to take on ,for the first time in his life,the care and training of a puppy.

Steve,his wife Linda,son Joe,daughter Tamsin and grandkids Ellie and Jacob are about to welcome Bailey the wire-haired fox terrier into their family.He is 4 weeks old now,and will be joining us in 4 weeks time.We are all very excited and have already spent a fortune at Pets At Home and ordered stuff off Amazon.

This blog will tell how these exciting times work out and are partly designed to help other first-time dog owners.

In this picture Bailey  is 3 weeks old. He has a distinctive white blaze down his face and large black splodges by his right shoulder and left side ribs.Although still tiny and barely able to walk he seems to be quite a calm little chap.
He is one of 11 puppies born to Flossie and Nellie. He is one of Flossie's 4 boys and 2 girls. His dad is a rascal called Dill.They live on the Worcestershire/Herefordshire border overlooked by the Malvern Hills.