hiya

I know how much you have been wanting a dog and have replied a few time with what I hope was helpful advice using experiences from my old springer Max who I got at around your age

Well - as you have probably seen I got my new puppy Biggles yesterday

oh....my.....gosh

I had 2 hours sleep last nightt

I have scooped far more poop than *any* puppy can produce

have mopped an ocean of wee

ache all over

am exhausted


why oh why did I want a puppy? oh and this is with my mum and big brother helping where they can and it's only one day so far

Now I know it's going to get better, especially once he's housetrained and vaccinated as I can tire him out with a walk before bedtime and I can move onto training him

Then I will have all the times when our training is either going no-where or backwards which will probably have me on here weeping in dispair

I know it will be alright in the end but right now whilst sore, tired and with a headache still from his howling earlier? if I hadn't prepared for this I would have been in for a heck of a shock

Even with preparing for it I have had a shock as there I was all smug going "I know what to expect, I have prepared with x/y/z" well - x, y & z didnt work and he howled for hours last night - my rosey-glasses are smashed and I am ready to carry on with the hard work part now

The puppy play and cuddles do make up for an *awful* lot of it though

But if you did get a puppy that needs housetraining - I have had to pick up like 8 poops today - never mind the wee mopping - if your parents aren't willing to help your pup is going to be sat in their own mess all day when you are at school which can lead to horrible skin problems

I think I was insane when I bought Biggles...

*waits for the I told you so's*

oooh puppy *runs off to try tire him out before I go bed*

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Well, you probably tthink if I do manage to get a puppy/dog that I wouldn't be saying this, but I'm still not deterrred! If I was allowed one, i'd get it in the summer hols wher I could start on house training without interruptions.

Oh how i feel your pain,

If its ok i would love to add to this,

When we got Dora 15 months ago, She was pretty easy, although i didnt sleep for a week, picked up mountains of poo and scrubbed the carpet untill it wore away, She was trained in a week.

We decided that the puppy lark was not too bad and that we knew what we were getting ourselves in for, so got another,Our little Otis, We bought him home on the 30th December, Wednesday this week was the first time i have had a unbroken sleep, Before that he woke up every hour and barked, he would not stop until i visited him , So up i got trotted in to his room trod in numerous piles of dump on the way, He saw me and went back to sleep, This was EVERY hour !!

He has a massive voice and barks at random intervals ! he digs, he chews , he bites, he scratches, He snores, He farts,

We have just started taking him for walks ....should i say on a lead spinning around and barking at the front gate. We will get there with perseverance and patience,

I think what i m trying to say is its very much hit and miss, you could get a perfect pup that obviously will still bring tears to your eyes with training , but you could get the damien of the pup world which will leave you crying your eyes out for hours on end with poo between your toes

Owning a puppy is in no way shape or form glamorous or easy

ps sorry if this does not make sence im still suffering sleep deprivation and otis has farted so i am typing with one hand the other is covering my nose

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oh god yes... the farts - Biggles can melt glass! can't wait til I have him on decent food!

you have my deepest sympathies

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i thought this was gonna be a thread with some puppy pics

I was desperate for a puppy all through my childhood and teenage years, and I finally got McKenzie nearly 18 months ago (I'm in my late 20s).

I love Kenzie to pieces and wouldn't change her for the world. She was actually a really easy puppy, apart from that she took several months to fully toilet train, for a variety of reasons. In fact I love her so much I paid several thousand pounds to ship her to the other side of the world when I moved.

BUT there are times when she is a 'bind'. When she was a puppy I had very special circumstances which meant she could be with me all day while I worked. I've decided to go back to uni so there are days when I'm out all day and send her to doggy daycare, which isn't cheap. If I go out shopping, or to lunch or dinner with someone, I have to make sure I'm not out more than a few hours. I don't even go to the movies any more because it means leaving her for too long.

At my age it's not so bad - I've had my 'fun' and don't mind spending most of my time at home. But I think when you're younger, you need to consider these things. If you are a young teenager then you're going to want to be going out with friends and things, not spending your whole youth sitting at home because you need to care for the dog. And it's all to easy to say 'I won't mind, the dog's more important than going to the movies' and that's how you'll feel at first (especially with a puppy) but after time you settle back into the real world and, however much you love your dog, you do sometimes want to go out and have fun, especially when you're young because that's what young people should do! It is very much like having a baby that never grows up.

Phew that turned into a bit of an essay. All I meant to say was that young people have their whole lives to get a puppy and they should make sure that the time is right

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awh sorry!

here's a couple







there's tonnes more at my other thread He's Here! Meet my new baby! (lotsa pics)

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Ok I have to add as well.

After living away from home for two years and buying our own place and my gorgeous westie leaving us last January we picked out lovely little Donnie for a little of 8 puppies!!! Gorgeous little snuffly fluffy cuties.

Oh... My...God.

First off the night we brought him home he was sick all over OH in the car so I had to pull over on a dual carriage way clean up puppy clean up fiance in the dark then carry on driving.

Got home put him on the floor her promptly pee'd all over the landing, and as I was cleaning up wee he decided to release the biggest poop I've ever seen come out of something so tiny and god it stank. But it up call the same.

The next task was bed time - He cried for 3 hours on the first night until both me and OH were on the verge of tears we caved his crate came in the bedroom where he settled for two hours, then cried for one, then settled for two, then carried again - this continued ALL night. Come the following morning at 5am he cried I got up like a zombie. Hoping the next night would be better, how wrong was I he cried for the 2nd night for an hour or so then finally settled but still woke every few hours and cried. Finally I got some advice from my cousin before I put my head through a wall and she suggested to leave his crate open so we did only issue a 9 week old puppy is not house trained. So hourly wake ups throughout the night for poo and wee breaks if he hadn't already emptied himself on the bedroom floor his aim for the puppypads and newpaper was shocking.

He had the sharpest teeth and claws known to man I swear. I had scratches and cuts up my arms over my hands over my feet. His stomach worked in overdrive when he was young poo and farts were like someone had let of stink bombs in the living room.

He ate our kitchen door frame, and as he was growing taller he ate our food by pulling it off the kitchen side, one most memorable being a whole packet of malt loaf and I was then outside at 4am the following morning as he had the runs.

We've been back and forth to the vets in his short life because he's eaten things he shouldn't, he's stuck his face, paws and other body parts where they shouldn't go and he's also cost my a small fortune. Oh and because we havve no garden he sees me as the person to go to when hes not feeling well and has been known to vomit up at my feet while I'm trying to get out in the mornings.

That is just his puppy days, that doesn't cover his ongoing training, his monthly health costs or his yearly vet fees, and his socialisation.

I love him to bits but he is SO much hard work. And I think he might actually be the devil in a cute dogs body lol. But I would never, ever have managed to cope with him if I was younger. I was a mature child, and am more mature than most my age now lol. Any my essay is it will seem like the thing you want right now and you might think the disrupted nights sleep, and clearing up will be fine but honestly it does at times get too much.

EDIT: Oh and here is his highness in all his puppy glory - still a completely and utter pain in the bum though.

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