Puppy love

After being the proud owners of a lovely mild-mannered Springer Spaniel for the past ten years we decided to take the plunge and have a new puppy so he could learn the ‘Milo way’.

We did look at other breeds, but we have been spoilt with our lovely Springer Spaniel as he his obedient, loyal and was great with our two daughters as they have grown up so we decided to go with what we knew.

So a couple of months ago as we were on our way to a family wedding near Nottingham we visited a litter just two weeks old and made our choice of a little beauty that we have named ‘Mack’, a little tricky to choose when the pups hadn’t even opened their eyes, but we loved his colouring so the deed was done!  Not as easy as you think to choose a dog’s name as our family were split between ‘Jack’ and ‘Max’ so we joined the best of both worlds and made a slightly unusual ‘Mack’.

Then we had to play the waiting game for the next seven weeks and tried to puppy-proof’ our home before the trip to go and collect him from his family.  Fortunately our youngest daughter came with us and made the four-hour car journey home so much easier as she was ‘entertainments officer’!

I must confess I had forgotten that taking on a puppy was like having a new baby and my goodness me he is a pickle – don’t be fooled by the innocent looks and the big spaniel eyes.  The older dog Milo is a bit indifferent but is slowly coming around to a new kid on the block and I am sure in time they will become firm friends.

We also have two cats which we had before Milo so are ‘dog savvy’ – at least the sides are even now!  So in about three years we might regain sanity in our household again after all the madness as that is how long it took for Milo to settle down.

As I type this blog both dogs are curled up at my feet – just a man’s best friend? I think not – they are everyone’s best friend!  At least when we go on our next cruise – we will have plenty of volunteers to look after them for us!