Hello everyone & welcome back to my blog!I have some very exciting news for you all! We got a puppy! Meet our adorable little Luna. How cute is her little face please?! After originally all of us thinking my dad was joking about getting a dog, I can't believe it has been over 2 weeks already since Luna graced her adorable presence in our home!I thought it would be cute to make a little series on my blog of little pup-dates every now and again to show how she's been getting on, how she looks after so many weeks, etc. I think it would be really sweet to look back on over time and see what has changed and what has stayed the same. So here is the first installment and hope you all enjoy reading!
PersonalityLet's begin. I love how even as a puppy I can already see elements of her personality come through. Obviously she's very curious as is standard with puppies, she loves sniffing around and feeling around different materials and textures with her paws. She's fascinated by the outdoors when we've taken her out in the garden. She likes trying to pick up little twigs already, I can tell when she's older she'll be that dog that rocks up with a giant stick in her mouth wanting to play fetch haha. She's a gentle soul and very laid-back, she very rarely barks or makes much noise unless she's barking at her toys, she wants something, running around the garden or if she's sleeping haha.
She's also on the very odd occasion got a mischievous side when she's full energy mode where she'll occasional pinch one of my dad's slippers or tries to play fight with you but for the most part she's very obedient already when retrieving objects from her mouth and listening to when she's not allowed to do something but for the most part she's quite calm as opposed to her being boisterous like I thought she might have been.
She's also surprisingly independent for only being almost 10 weeks old. She loves doing her own thing and I find I can usually have a quick wander to another room shutting the door behind me and she just plays with her toys peacefully.
Small recap: Curious, Gentle, Laid-Back, Independent and occasionally Mischievous.
SleepingSleep wise, apart from the first night where she slept 4 hours, she has slept all through the night every single night since which is amazing so early on. Even those 4 hours the first night she wasn't howling the place down or whining etc either which I'd been warned about well in advance and even been prepared with earplugs at the ready haha! I have been pleasantly surprised by how well Luna has settled in already. She sleeps next door to me in my parent's room so I was expecting her to cause absolutely chaos but she has been really chilled out. One of my absolute favorite things is when she's feeling tired and if I'm already sitting on the floor with her, she comes over and plonks herself into my lap, cuddles herself in and falls asleep. Dog snores = cutest sound ever. And she'll quite happily snuggle into my lap for a cuddle or lay by my feet whilst I'm doing my work. Melts my heart!
I was also surprised by how much puppies slept. Might sound naive but I always had the assumption that puppies were full of energy 24/7 and hardly slept. She sleeps a lot and her energy peaks and troughs where she's suddenly this huge bundle of energy and then she's zonked out for hours after. Especially when she's in the garden, she comes in and ends up completely tuckered out. Sometimes she can be quite energetic where she happily plays with her toys, then other times she's peaked and she's darting around all over the living room or the garden like a Luna-tic -see what I did there? I know. Terrible pun.
Potty TrainingThis one was my biggest concern as I'm not the most patient person in the world. As predicted she had accidents the first couple days which I was mentally prepared for and I was worried at the start of the week we brought her home as she didn't really take to the puppy pads much at all, she'd either run off with them or lie down and try to chew them haha. But since we started taking her outside to do her biz instead after 3 days of her being with us it has been so much better and accidents have been virtually none existant. And in turn has helped to ease my frustrations over it. She's caught on already to go to the door to be let outside when she needs to go which is brilliant. Never thought I'd find dog's biz something I'd be happy over haha. But we do still have a few puppy pads in place as a back up which funnily enough she has started to understand to use them properly. Hooray!
EatingAs I recently discovered with labradors, I was told they are a greedy breed of dog but she's not tried her luck yet or been sat begging whilst we're having our dinners. There was the first full day with us on the evening where she didn't eat one of her meals much but turns out this was normal and she soon enough was scoffing her meals every day since. One of the cutest things is sometimes after she's finished her food she looks up and she still has some leftovers on the end of her nose. So cute! She also began the first few days with a habit of drinking from her water bowl and then dipping her left paw into the water haha. No idea why she did this. Any dog owners/ dog experts who the answer to this one?
ToysFor toys, I tried not to go too crazy for the beginning so I'd bought her a pink/lilac soft rabbit, a pack of 3 brightly coloured tennis balls, a rope toy & a rubber toy both in a shape of a bone, another rope toy in a shape of a teddy bear, a multi textured monkey and caterpillar. When I bought them, the tags listed what those toys were good for; e.g. sensory development, teething etc. which I thought was incredibly handy for a noob like me. She also has two of my recycled plush toys that I never had a use for which are an orange Yoshi I'd got in a subscription box and a lion I'd bought from Tiger a year ago. I've seen a few more suggestions online for different toys to get so I'm sure they will be added in due course haha, but for the moment she's very content.
Very recently, when we have been in the garden, she has started to understand the basics of playing fetch too. She doesn't quite drop the ball into my hands yet but she drops it next to my feet which is close enough for now haha. The second she finds the tennis ball when we're in the garden, she picks it up and looks at me with those big brown eyes as if to say "Can we play fetch please?" - So sweet!
Things I Love So Far (8-10 weeks)
*Being able to pick her up. She's so small and it makes me emotional thinking that one day she'll never be this small enough to pick up again. I'm making the most of it!
*Snuggling into my lap when she's tired. Again very similar to above, she's the perfect size to cuddle into at the moment.
*Her little face. She's got such a small little head and she sometimes just sits up and looks at you with her big brown eyes and it melts my heart so much.
*When she snores. As previously mentioned: Cutest. Sound. Ever.
*Coming home and knowing she's there to greet me with her tail wagging.
*When she falls sleep next to me. Whether that's at my feet when I'm sat at the desk (current situation) or when I've been sitting/lying on the floor with her and she cuddles up to my legs for a snooze.
*Opening my arms wide at her and watching her run towards me with her ears flopping about.
*When she's scoffed her food and she gets some of it on the end of her nose.
*How excited she gets when she receives praise.
*When she grumbles at her reflection in the glass kitchen door thinking its another dog.
Hope you enjoyed the cuteness overload in this post & as always, thanks for reading!Feel free to share any tips or advice on looking after a new pooch below, I'm all ears! :)
