Happy Holidays

Well we humans are just back from a festive trip to Disney World, Florida - rather a shock to the system to return from 85° heat to it snowing here!

The boys have been off on their holidays too. The retrievers stayed with my parents and their two dogs and had a fab time by all accounts.

The brown boys went off to their first ever stay in kennels, to a lovely place in Cornwall where they were well looked after and appear to have had the time of their lives. So much so, it took a good while to get them into the car to come home - they much preferred playing with the kennel owners and trying to get the other dogs to come out and play!

Now they're back, it's all systems go to get ready for Christmas, though we have decided against a tree this year - Busby and Christmas trees doesn't seem like the best combination!

The gifts from their Secret Santa have arrived though and are being kept in a VERY safe place for now...

The Many Faces of Busby...

Throw the ball - I NEED the ball!

Aha, got the ball - try and get it back now...

Mr Serious - the kitchen isn't for playing games, it's for preparing food, my food.

Things have been super chaotic here as of late, but Busby continues to take everything in his stride. We have been keeping up with training and Busby is really proving himself to be a boy who can win over a crowd wherever he goes. In the new year (if things ever calm down here!) I may consider applying to Pets As Therapy with him as he has such a calm loving nature.

His nickname of Midget sadly no longer appears fitting and he is now known as the "Buzzmeister" - who knows why, but it's a bit more macho hey? He's almost as tall as Yorkie now, but he has a fair bit of filling out to do yet.

He is currently working hard reviewing toys for the shop, so best get back to see how he is getting on..

Love n licks to all

xxx

Well things haven't stopped around here over the last few weeks. Can't believe pups are now almost 8mths old - time has just flown by!!!

Busby is growing into quite the happy chappy who is keen to be bestest friend to anyone and everyone. The only thing he loves more than people is his ball - bit like his Mum me thinks! His favourite thing is to play fetch with the big guys - he's the fastest of them all and always wins, then does his very own victory lap :-)

Sadly no picture updates as the memory card on my digicam has become corrupted and I've not quite gotten around to buying another - shall update as soon as I do!

Six months old - already?!

Wow - I can't believe my little "baby-busby-bumble-bum" is 6mths old already! He's starting to look so grown up.

He's becoming such a smashing little man. He's best friend to everybody and loves nothing more than his walks around the park, sidling up to everyone he knows and giving them a big sloppy kiss. He loves to play with other dogs and has a pretty good understanding of which ones are up for a game and which ones aren't.

Busby's bestest friend in the entire world is Ceefer (Cee-Fer-Cat *sighs*) - he thinks she is the most beautiful charming lady in the entire world! He loves nothing more than following her around and bathing her, or just making her roll over with his nose. Whilst Ceefer has always tolerated these big dopey dogs, she's never really bothered with them much til now. All of a sudden this 8yr old grumpy rescue can't get enough of Busby and will often go and wake him up just to play!

We "de-crated" both Yorkie and Chief at about 5-6mths old and so have been attempting to do so with Busby, but he's not having any of it! He doesn't care how comfy that big boy bed is, when it comes to bedtime he wants to stay in his crate. Who are we to argue?!

We have lots of little adventures planned for the rest of the summer for this little guy and the gang.

Sin Bin

So why is this lanky lump sulking?!

Because he got sent to bed with no TV for the night!!! As did the rest of us...

Somebody decided to chew through the wire for Sky TV, not mentioning any names...

BUSBY!!!

In other news - we have mastered the retrieving from the washing machine!! He now removes anything, as soon as you put it in... Totally in love with this boys sense of humour! He's lucky he gives the best kisses and cuddles, his nickname of the week is "Mr Lover Lover" which just sends him even more kiss and cuddle crazy.

Waterfights and lollipops!

Every year we buy a paddling pool for the dogs, and every year Rocky manages to put a hole in it within hours - not this year! Our paddling pool has stood up to the test of four dogs for an entire week (with the help of a blanket covering the bottom - genius)! As you can imagine, we're very proud of it.

I think the heat is getting to us all at the moment, even super early morning walks are too hot and all the boys really want to do is either splash about, or come inside and lay on the cool wooden floors. So we've had a bit of a "chilled out" and lazy week for the most part! Moments spent by the (paddling) pool with the humans enjoying real ice lollies while the dogs enjoy their homemade carrot filled ice block treats, the smell of burnt sausages wafting in the distance. You could almost convince yourself you're in a land far away...

Until you have to drag yourself in to get some work done of course!

Rainbow Bridge

On our daily walks we meet a lovely little gang of three. 14yr old Roger the bernese mountain dog mix, 8yr old Rose the who-knows-what-but-she's beautiful-mix, and greedy Puds the 4yr old Great Dane.

Sadly yesterday Roger wasn't on his usual walk. Deep down I knew why before I even asked - the heat from the day before had brought on a fit, which resulted in a stroke and paralysis in his entire body except for one front leg. His owner made the sad decision to say Goodbye.

I can't imagine how sad his owner must be feeling after the loss of his trusty friend. He'd often tell us stories of Roger's naughty ways as a pup and Roger himself would stand there with a mischevious grin on his face as if remembering the good ol' days! He was a total sweetheart, he had a wag for everyone he met and everyone who met him couldn't help but walk away with a smile. I'm happy to know that my four boys have all had the pleasure of knowing him from puppies, he was a wonderful role model for any puppy and had the patience of a Saint, even when they did want to dangle from his ears.

Run free Roger, and keep your eye on those pesky squirrels xxx

Chuckle Brother

We've had another busy week in the land of Busby!

Friday saw his first ever train ride and he was a little star. He has let me know in no uncertain terms however that he does not *do* steps! I had to carry him down a flight of 15 steps and up on to the train with a few chuckles from passersby. Funny now? Wait another few months, think we're gonna have to do some "steps training" before then!

We've also been working on his training, we figured it'd be fun and quite helpful to teach him how to take things out of the washing machine. We've cracked it, almost. He strictly only takes dirty socks out of the machine. Nothing else, ever. Our attempts to get him to help with taking dirty bedding out of the bedroom when we were changing it failed miserably too. He takes it, jumps up on to the bed and sits there with it - bless.

The basics are there, we've just got to fine tune them I think, for now he is officially known as "The Hinderer" ;-)

We had another vet visit today, boy can he turn on the charm when he arrives there! Fortunately they've agreed to leave him be despite his testicle still not descending as of yet.

He and Yorkie continue to enjoy their walks together - they're a bit like the Chuckle Brothers. Yorkie carries his frisbee everywhere, and Busby has now taken it upon himself to try and help him. Sadly the size difference isn't really working out so it's very much "from-me-to-you"!

Post Walk Bliss

Where there's a big brown one, there's a little brown one not far away...

Handsome pants

Lake Windermere

We took Busby upto Lake Windermere on Sunday, what a scorcher of a day! We had a lovely day out, met lots of people and doggies and enjoyed some fish and chips along the front. Even though we couldn't do much walking and playing Busby was on his best behaviour throughout the day and really made us proud. He even resisted the urge to help any passing kiddies with their ice creams, though his eyes told me he reallllly wanted to!

Sadly we didn't get to enjoy a boat trip out on the Lake, it was just too busy. Something to do with it being a Sunday during half term and the hottest weekend so far this year... Think next time we'll go during a school week and enjoy things at a little more relaxed pace!

What I'd do to have this place on my doorstep! One day...

Busy busy Bus-Bee...

What a lovely bank holiday weekend we had! For the first time in a while we got to really appreciate all the lovely walks we have no more than twenty minutes from us. Sadly for Busby he wasn't invited on them all, but he still had lots of fun!

Busby's weekend began with a bit of a naughty incident including Yorkie. I'd accidentally left the food cupboard door slightly ajar and the two of them decided to help themselves. The pair of them looked like they'd both swallowed footballs whole for the rest of the day and lazed around feeling rather sorry for themselves. Had to laugh when I read Molly (mum) and Alfie (brother) had recently been trying out the same trick!

Sunday was super hot, so we went for an early walk around our regular park before it got too busy. Then Busby came home to some real hard work - clipping the hedges, boy was he tired afterwards!

Monday saw us on a lovely little 20min circular walk with gorgeous views (it goes on much further, but the 20min route is ideal for puppy walks) and a small pond in the middle at the bottom of Winter Hill. We had Busby and Yorkie together - talk about partners in crime, anything Yorkie does, Busby quickly follows. When Yorkie suprised us all by jumping into the pond without the need for a ball to be thrown in, Busby suprised us even more by following him! He quickly swam back to the edge with a look of "what the..?!!?" He braved one more try a little later on, but seemed happier to paddle at the side and watch big bruv!

Today we had a check up at the vets, his first time "walking" in. It appeared to be a busy morning, and towards the end he found it rather overwhelming but kept wagging away to all he met. The vet was very pleased with him, he weighed in at 13.7kgs and was on his best behaviour. One of his testicles still hasn't descended, so we're booked in for another check up next month.

Suffice to say, we're knackered! Little man is currently snoozing on my feet as I write this...

Growing UP

I think somebody is sneakily feeding Busby Miracle-Gro! In the last week he's shot up so much it's untrue...

He is going through the cute gangly stage and at the moment he's very much all legs and gums as he starts to lose his baby teeth.

His training and socialisation is still going well and we've had a lovely week of walks meeting alsorts out and about. His favourite was a group of 20-strong primary school children. His least favourite was a group of donkeys, whom he had a few choice words for! However with a little coaxing (food!) he was happy to be around them and even snuck his head through the fence for a cheeky kiss.

Snapshots

Click to make it larger.

(did we mention we're in love?)

The fast and the furry

We've been enjoying lots of walks with Busby recently, nothing too long but just enough for him to have some fun and burn off some of that energy - boy does he have that by the bucket load!

His puppy nipping is getting much less this week, though we're about due to start losing some of those tiny puppy teeth, so I'm sure there's still a bit more to come!

Depsite having been in the car almost every day since he came home, Busby has always been sat on my knee. This week we decided he was just too big for that anymore, so it was time for him to be like the big guys and wear a harness in the back. We were a bit worried he may be like Chief, who hates doing this with avengeance but alas, he couldn't have cared less! He loves his trips out in his harness, the back of the car is a much more comfortable place to snooze after a fun walk.

We've been trying to catch some good shots of him on walks, but sadly he's not one for hanging around in front of the camera when he's out.. I'm sure we'll catch him soon - I hope so anyway because the blurry bum shots aren't so nice!

Oh dear, we've sprung a leak!

Wahey - Busby is now officially allowed out for proper all four paws down walkies, rather than me lugging him around - thank God!

This morning we decided to take him to Pets At Home to meet new people, have a look around and to choose some new chew toys as the ones we already have don't seem to be hitting the *spot*.

He took to it all so well. Within 30seconds of being in the store he tried to climb up a rather large pile of wagg dog food. Once he realised that he wasn't going to get far he popped his head in a dog bowl hanging off the shelf to see if there was anything in there, he wasn't so impressed when it fell off the shelf with a loud din, oops! Off we went over to the toys and let him pick his own, straight away he made a beeline for a nylabone puppy pacifier - well that had to be the one we'd buy, all the others only seemed fit for toy breeds.

We decided to have a quick look around the aquatics section, not that we have any fish, but they're good to look at, right? This was when Busby disgraced himself. After introducing himself and befriending everyone in the store - he took to the aquatic section floor and sprung a leak! Yes, he really tinkled on the floor and he took full blame for it, he had to, there were no other dogs in the store! Fortunately, he has magical puppy kisses that make anyone forgive him anything.

He's spent the afternoon in the garden, tossing his new toy around and chewing it senseless - our limbs may very well now be safe from puppy teeth!

Group photo - yeah right!

Chief decided he wanted to be behind the camera at the last moment!

The countdown is on!

Busby visited the vet for his second vaccination and microchipping this morning - to say the vets was a little chaotic would be an understatement! We were 45mins late being seen for our appointment, however Busby didn't care, he'd made best friends with a 14 week old yellow lab in the waiting room and they'd enjoyed playing "bitey face" as we tried to keep a hold of them in our laps.

He had a good once over again, his testicle seems to have dropped a little more now, but still not fully. He's also gained another kilo in weight, so he's 8.7kg now. The second injection didn't bother him, but he was not impressed at all by the microchip - we're just glad to have it out of the way! Only one week to go 'til we can go for "big guy walkies"!

We've been moving on with his training, not only do we have now have the perfect sit, we can lie down, leave it and wait. We're on to six consecutive days of no accidents too, though overall he has only had a handful - what a little genius!

Meet The (Grand)Parents

Busby had his biggest challenge so far today - we went to Southport to meet the Grandparents! He had a lot of weight on his young shoulders, as my parents look after them all each year when we go off on our holidays - he had to impress!

So after a long hours journey to Southport through chaotic amounts of traffic with Busby being a bit of a wriggle-bum, we finally arrived! In he went, calm, cool and collected... Introduced himself, christened their garden as only a puppy can and.. went to sleep!

Yep, he just went to sleep.. For most of the day. He played for a while with the other dogs, but he much preferred being cuddled by my younger brothers and falling asleep in their arms like a baby.

Everyone thought he was so adorable they were even able to look past his occasional urges to nip them.

Result!

Again, Busby has charmed the pants off everyone he's met. I suspect the cute little "zip" on his nose has super heart melting powers.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

From this...

To this...

Happy Birthday Yorkshire Pud!

A whole week of puppyhood

Well Busby has been here a little over a week now, and what a week it has been - it's totally flown by!

It's been lots of fun just watching the world through his puppy eyes - generally if it's puppy height, it's good to be chewed! Fortunately with the help of the "no!" command, his love for chewing anything is getting less and less by the day.

As we couldn't stop working once puppy arrived, he's had to get used to us carrying lumps of stuff about the place and realising that not every toy he sees is for him. He's not quite getting the jist of helping yet, but he'll get there I'm sure...

This was his best try today - he took great care of the empty tube from the bubble wrap!

Slave labour

Well since he's had time to settle in, we decided it was time he got down to some hard work with the rest for us!!

Here's little man mastering the "sit" (excuse the "lipstick", he has no shame!)..

What a busy 48 hours!!

Well Busby has been a busy little bee recently. First we introduced him to the clicker, and he loves it - we've mastered "sit" already, hugely helped by the fact he sits when you're talking to him naturally.

Then he went to the local shopping centre to kick off his socialisation - he was just carried around mind! He got to meet alsorts of people, toddlers, mums, "the older generation" etc and he wasn't phased by any of it. If anything he found it a little boring - when we sat down to rest on a little bench he tried to have a sleep! He'd much rather have been on the ground wrestling that pesky lead!

Next up we introduced him to the joys of the Kong.. He tried his best, got some of his soaked food out, but then decided it was all too much like hard work and "can I have just have some of my rice pudding please? Thank you."

He is currently enjoying a nice sleep in his crate while the "big guys" finish off their kongs (and his) in the sun.

A few pictures...

Is it a monster? Is it a monster?

Well Busby had his first trip to the vets this morning and boy did he turn on the charm!!

He was weighed at 7.7kg - I think there may be a huge monster in there trying to get out! When the vet disappeared to get his vaccination he took the opportunity to get himself comfy on the table and try and have a snooze. Little man didn't even notice anything happening. The vet was very pleased with him and said we have a very healthy little pup! The only slight concern was that one of his testicles is yet to descend, however she didn't feel it a serious problem unless we planned to breed from him (which we don't).

He's also had a little visit from two nephews today and boy did he like them. They had SO much fun in the garden he needed a good snooze afterwards, bless him.

Making himself at home

Wow, this little puppy is too easy!

He's been home 24hrs now, all toilets have been in the garden and he's taken to his crate quite nicely. He's getting to know his brothers well, and loves to steal toys from them so they'll chase him - talk about cheeky and confident!

However, he did get a bit of a telling off on his first night. Chief (golden retriever) has a beautiful feathering to his tail and was stood watching TV. Busby decided that when he grows up he wants to be just like Tarzan, so decided to use Chief's tail for a bit of practise!! Needless to say Chief was less than impressed - I think Busby's dreams of Tarzan may have been dashed already - oops!

Puppy has landed!

After a rather long journey we made it to Nottingham to pick up puppy today. After being stuck in traffic we were a little worried about the journey back with a small pup, but he was a little star. He watched the world go by for an hour, then he went off to sleep until we got home.

He's had a good explore around the garden and introduced himself to the boys. We also finally decided on a name!

Meet Busby

Meet Puppy

Roll on Saturday!

Introducing the "brothers"

First up we have Rocky AKA Jelly Belly Rocky Dog (who knows why, but all our dogs have numerous nicknames).

Rocky is an almost 4yr old Golden Retriever, he came to us in August of 2005 as a cute and cuddly 8 week old. He quickly turned into a nipping monster and seemed to be torturing us as he teethed! Thankfully he soon settled down and grew up to be a gorgeous boy. Though sadly he's not had it easy as at 18mths old he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and had to undergo a right hip replacement shortly after his second birthday. Luckily it was a success and since his recovery he's truly believed he is a puppy again. He's generally found dragging Chief around by his ears or showering people with kisses.

Then we have Yorkie, our chocolate labrador AKA Big Brown Clown.

What can we say about Yorkie? He came to us June 2006 and he was/is a total star, nothing phases this boy. His favourite things in life are eating and sleeping, in that order. He loves to spend his days lounging around, usually in a quiet corner until it's dinner time - then he's up faster than a very fast thing. He also finds it great fun to behave like the perfect dog, but then do something really silly when others are around - just to embarrass us! He has a brilliant sense of humour and never fails to make us laugh out loud on a daily basis.

Finally, we have Chief another golden retriever AKA Skinny Winny Long Legs.

This guy is a funny little man, he arrived in March 2007 and really made his mark. He loves to play, he and Rocky spend most of their days rolling around together. He's a total genius, but he hides it well. He's also an amazing little athlete, he's like lightening and given the chance wouldn't ever stop!! He loves to run, he loves to jump things, he loves to fetch - the only thing he doesn't seem to really get is swimming.. He gets half way and then seems to get bored so stops kicking and then panics, so for now we've given up on that sport!

Time is a ticking...

Having been looking for the "perfect pup" for the best part of a year, we finally found "the litter". Both Mum and Dad had the looks, the health tests and super temperaments - what more could we ask for? We were very lucky to be offered a boy pup after meeting the breeder.

And now.. We're counting down the days til pups arrival, only 11 days to go and so much to do to prepare!

We already have three dogs, two golden retrievers and a labrador - we think adding another labrador to the family is really going to be the perfect mix.

We've decided to keep a blog to share how "little man" grows up.

Next time we'll introduce the big brothers...