Winnie the New Puppy
Puppy by the Water Race
Meet Winnie, our new black and white Border Collie puppy. Writing about her early in the morning is a breeze! I'm all dewy eyed over her cuteness. Later in the afternoon, after she's collected and de-laced three of my shoes, chewed a sock, and completely dismantled the dog couch - not such a good time! Hmm...
A Brainy Puppy...
Winnie is a brainy puppy (obviously, being a Border Collie), and so cute - the symmetry of her black and white face, those sweet little puppy eyes, pointy ears, and white paws. And, being a Border Collie, she loves to chase tennis balls, go for walks, and generally be out and about doing things. We love going to the local dog-park, or walking around the garden and orchard, usually giving one of the pheasants the fright of his life.
We are always going for garden walks. I've never enjoyed seeing my garden as much as I have these last weeks. I've seen every new rose and perennial flowering, thanks to Winnie the puppy.
Puppy Winnie eats Flowers!
Sometimes it seems like she's already taking direction from me - what a brainy puppy! A good way to train a young dog is to latch onto natural behaviours and put a name to each. For example, Winnie will 'wait', go 'this way', and will 'drop' the tennis ball. Already at four months - wow! But only when she wants to, hee hee...
Puppy Snoozing in the Garden
Watch her at the dog-park when she's not ready to get back 'in the car'. There are squeaks and howls of toddler protest, and she's gently dragged out by the collar!
Winnie the Puppy by the Water Race
Dear Rusty the red Border Collie (shaped like a coffee table, oops) has spent ten happy years bumbling about the property being the dog of the day. So now, when he's mature, slightly arthritic, and likes nothing more than a snooze in the sun, he is presented with an annoying, yappy little sister. How fair is this?
Dear Rusty...
Rusty did his very best to ignore the puppy for a week, then gave up. And now they play well together. Actually, Winnie plays and Rusty tolerates, showing incredible patience as the pup charges towards him and leaps up and over his back. Mind you, big dog is always pinching her tennis ball. And he will never, never, ever give it back. No way. Never!
Oddly, the nicest thing about the new puppy is the extra fun we all have as a pack, in which I am the BBB (AKA the 'Big Bad Bitch', oops). I love having two dogs. This is the very first time I've had two dogs to boss around. Perhaps we'd better leave it at that for the moment...
Winnie the Puppy - Four Months Old