Anyway, last Saturday was a bit of a momentous occasion for us... with Merlin being shy at the puppy class, we decided to give him some "Shock Socialisation" and took him to our friends Louis and Corryne's house for the day. Louis and Corryne are the parents of
- Milo the Weimerana who is as mad as a hatter,
- Amber the Rhodesian Ridgeback who doesn't have a ridge but is still beautiful,
- Freya the Staffordshire Bull Terrier who is so docile, we are confused as to whether she was a cat in her former life,
- Nala the tabby cat and
- Aiden, their beatiful little baby boy, who seems to grow and change rapidly from visit to visit!
so, knowing that Merlin was less than shy of the puppies at our puppy class, we were a little apprehensive as to how he would react to so many different adult dogs. When we arrived, we were ready to join in on the midday walk, even though we had to carry Merlin as he hadn't had all his injections. Once the other dogs were outside, I gave Merlin to Corryne to hold while the other dogs greeted and sniffed him... Merlin didn't bark, or cowl, instead he let the dogs sniff him without struggle. We were really pleased and Merlin got a treat for such good behaviour.
We walked for a good hour and a half, all this time Merlin was keeping warm inside my gilet, sniffing the air as we moved from the fields to the woods and back again. On the last leg of the walk, he was getting really restless so Dan carried him for the last little bit until we got back to our car. We took his crate out of the boot and I placed his puppy pad down, almost immediately, he had a wee, right in the middle of the pad. Our little puppy had held his bladder until it was time to go... he got double treats for this.
Once inside, we set up the puppy pen for Merlin, but he spent very little time in there. Milo was the most curious of this new addition to his home. Merlin sat on a footstool and had great fun tapping Milo on the nose with his paw and trying to chew on his big ears. Amber wasn't too interested in Merlin so went to sleep on her bed and Freya seemed upset by the changes and kept a safe distance for the rest of the day. Nala wasn't too sure of Merlin when they initially met but Dan persevered later on and Merlin was acknowledged within the house without receiving any scratch marks! :-)
Later in the afternoon, Aiden was playing on the living room floor and Merlin went over to investigate his toys. As Merlin had never met a baby before, we weren't sure if he would be a little too excitable, but he was very well behaved, even when Aiden tugged on his beard. We left later that evening feeling really proud of our little puppy for being so well behaved as a guest to another packs house.
The following day, we took Merlin over to see Nanny Linda (my mum). He had a lovely time sniffing around this new territory... although we had to do some puppy proofing and move low level plants and large vases from the floor. He had a lovely time playing with his toys, showing Nanny his new tricks he'd learned and having cuddles with her on the sofa.
On Wednesday we returned to the Vets to have Merlin's second injection and another check up... he is now 2.75 kgs... and doing really well. After his appointment we stayed for the Puppy Party. This week, he was much more confident when meeting other puppies but still didn't seem to like Basil the Springer Spaniel... his energy is clearly far too excitable for him. As Merlin has had his second injection the vet nurses told us that Merlin can be walked on pavements but to stay away from grassy areas or still water for at least another week.
Our first trip outside didn't last very long as he appeared to be interested in eating the sycamore leaves on the floor, but perseverance paid off as Dan joined us later that evening and Merlin was trotting happily along side us and running to keep up with Dan. On the first couple of walks, he would do just that... walk, but yesterday, I am pleased to report that he had a poo and a wee on his morning walk. He was rewarded with treats but this will need a little more work until he learns to go outside all the time.
Here's to another exciting week ahead...and I promise to blog everyday!
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