Buddy takes a bath

We gave Buddy a bath today, he doesn't look very impressed, but at least he smells nice now. Because he is mainly an indoor dog he doesn't get very dirty or smelly. So far we have found that if we bath him properly about once month it is enough. Although if he has played in mud at the park we give him a quick wash in between times. We also have a professional groomer once every three months, so he gets a really thorough washing then.

Grooming Butterscotch

Butterscotch is a pretty easy dog to care for. He doesn't shed at all but he does need grooming regularly. We have bathed him at home a couple of times and he seems to enjoy playing in the water. And we have also used a great mobile groomer called Your Critter Sitter.

Since grooming is something that we are not that good at keeping up with, we have decided to have Buddy's coat cropped short once the weather gets a bit warmer.

I have never owned a floppy eared dog before and I didn't realise that you need to clean inside their ears. Luckily Buddy is so placid he will let us do this without making a fuss.

Chewing, Biting,Teething & Nibbling

We haven't really had any problems with Buddy chewing up things. He will rip up any paper that you leave on the ground though, but he has his own toys to play with, like Mr Squeaky here, which was a present from Cody.

When I was a kid we had a Labrador who chewed furniture, seriously chewed, turning chair legs in to match sticks. So I have been pleasantly surprised that Butterscotch has not been destructive at all. He will often drag our shoes around the house but he doesn't bite them, and we try to make sure that valuable things aren't left on the floor.

Is having a dog hard work?

Our kids have wanted a dog for years. We finally gave in, but only after extracting promises that they would all help us take care of the new puppy.

In our realistic moments we knew that it would be mainly the parents looking after the dog.

Two months later and it hasn't been so bad, the kids do help with some dog chores and Buddy is a pretty low maintenance dog. It hasn't been anywhere near as much work as we thought it would be.

There is a good article on the Pookinuk website about why pets are great for kids too.

Toilet training (part 2)

Buddy is an inside dog (he is allowed on the couch) and toilet training was something we were a bit worried about. It was a lot easier that we thought! Dogs pretty much toilet train themselves because they have a natural instinct to want to keep their den clean. This means that they actually prefer to go outside to the toilet.

At this age (3 months in this photo) Buddy mainly had accidents when no one was home to let him out. Or sometimes when he was heading for the door but didn't quite get there on time.

PS at 4 months he was almost totally reliable with going outside. Now (at 6 months) he knocks at the door to be let out when he needs to go to the toilet. (smart dog!)