It's been a busy week for Miss Maddie as she continues to settle into Dora Road.
She remains a bit scared of going out of the front door and into the car – big unknown places, but is very much making herself at home in the house. Not many casualties of the sharp teeth yet (barring my thumb, as we were playing with a ball and one razor tooth took a large chunk out by the nail), although the widdling indoors sadly continues. Especially when excited..
Had a couple of lunches where she behaved very well, one with Curly at Dora and another at a pub halfway way Soph's abode near Marlow, with Nicky too. Always v good to catch up with the girls..
Margo came over with the kids (poor Mikey off working in Nicaragua), and we'd kept Maddie a surprise from Patrick in particular, who was very fond of Scrumpy and sad when she died. Cue a great reaction when he realised that the wriggly puppy was our new dog, and some instant bonding. Slightly reduced when Maddie then curled out a huge pile of poop in the kitchen… yes, she does that quite a lot. Clearly puppy kibble metamorphoses into mega dumps pretty darn effectively…
Also – gulp – I also introduced Maddie to big bad Finn, Pam's rescue dog who is huge, with monster jaws and is not entirely predictable. I was v worried that he would literally eat her – not a great scenario – but luckily it was a boiling hot day and he prefers the ladies to boy dogs, so was okay with her. Was also nervous that Maddie would puppy-annoy him into a response, but the heat got to both of them and after a bit of sniffing, and Pam cooling Finn down with a watering can bath, they both crashed out. Phew!
And last night was finally her first puppy gundog class. In a field in Banstead and, thank god, not in the pouring thunderstorms that were predicted. Mostly very good at learning and lots of keenness, interspersed with some hole digging and sniffing treats in the other owners' dog bags.. But she is definitely smart – just need to harness it all for the good! And at least she is now firmly in the utility room at night – the first 2 weeks of having her in a crate in our room were not conducive to any sleep – so hurrah for sleeping through the night and Mummy getting some shuteye herself. It took 2 years to train Scrumpy to a decent point, place your bets now how long the Maddie Marathon will be… x