Two weeks of Bertie, and it honestly feels like he’s been in our family forever! After a few hiccups in the first week, he seems much more settled now.
Thankfully, H-Bear and Bertie are getting on so much better. It’s still a playfully violent relationship at times, but they’re both learning limits, and Bertie seems to miss H-Bear when he’s napping or at nursery. Also, Bertie has learnt how to wind up H-Bear, and if H has stolen one of Bertie’s toys, then Bertie will go and find H’s sacred ‘Benjamin’ bunny and parade it in front of him until H-Bear drops the toy. He’s a clever little pup.
Busby is a firm favourite of Bertie’s though, and is always on the receiving end of many licks when she gets home from school!
Nick cleared out the utility room over the weekend, and we bought a stairgate for the entrance. We’ve put Bertie’s crate, bed, toys and food in there, so it’s now ‘his’ space for when we go out and at night time. He seems a lot happier being able to roam about – although we’ve had to put his crate right in front of the stairgate, as he’s still small enough to slip underneath (as I discovered yesterday when we were about to leave for the school run)!
Bertie has grown SO much over the past week, which is unsurprising really as he hasn’t stopped eating! Rice pudding and scrambled eggs are his favourite meals. He’s also rather partial to anything and everything H-Bear is eating…
Bertie also sampled his first puppy cupcake this week! A friend came over for coffee and cake, and had bought him his own cake from our local vegan cafe. He absolutely loved it, and as the cafe is dog-friendly, I’m looking forward to visiting with him once he’s had his jabs in a couple of weeks.
Bertie experienced snow for the first time last week. It sent him a little bit loopy, but I think he liked it! We have more predicted for the end of the week; I hope it will settle as I think he’s going to love chasing snowballs!
Toilet training has been so much better this week. Bertie has had a couple of accidents inside, but mostly when he’s been over-excited! He’s getting better at asking to go out – and is happy to explore the garden by himself now too (which is excellent, because it’s freezing out there!).
I have to be honest, I spent a lot of the first week wondering whether we’d made the right decision in getting a dog, but this week has shown me how much joy and value Bertie brings into our lives. And it seems obvious now, but he needed time to get to know us – and settle in properly.
I’m hoping to get a few photos of Bertie in his Christmas jumper for next week – so stay tuned!
Oh he is adorable. I remember when we got Ralph and he was smaller than my slipper with ears that looked way too huge for him. Now he is about 18 months old they still look too big for him and he treads on them when we are out for a walk and he is sniffing the ground. He is a funny thing but so loved and part of the family. We couldn’t imagine being without him now.