Jacob a few weeks on...

Oooh, bad Beth. I havent updated this for over a month! Bad bad me! But because I have some free time now my science exams are finished, I have a bit more free time. Jacob is gigantic now, and is lovely and cuddly. He looks exactly like a flatcoat, but half the full size. He has lots of fluffy feathers on his legs and chest, and he does this very cute blinking thing to get whatever he wants now(which probably isn't a good thing!)
Jacob enjoys daily walks now, and still occasionally goes to puppy classes, but he gets bored easily at them. His tail is getting stupidly long, and is actually fully grown now. It looks a bit weird. He is still sleeping in his puppy cage, but I get up to him now at 6:30am, which is good.
Dad has finally bonded with him, and although at times Jake can be a bit wary of the rough boy games they play, he loves bouncing off the wall chasing him.
I am working to discourage Jacob from soem of his worst habits, which has been extended to inlcude: chewing everything, sleeping only on the sofa and howling when someone plays the piano. The piano I dont think I can help, and he is in trouble for the couch thing. Unfortunately, the house is starting to show the strain of constantly being chewed. I can't touch anything without finding a bite mark on it.
Tomorrow I have puppy class, but I will update this again soon (I have missed sharing Jacob with the 3 followers I have!) Goodbye for now!
Beth x

Ever Changing, Ever Eating and Ever Chewing Jacob

I am failng at updating my blog at least every week. But seeing as we missed puppy class this week ( Jacob was tired from meeting a tortoise called Paddy), I have got time to post a few photos and put up some info about The Puppy from Another Planet.

He is losing lots of teeth, and managing to kill my hands more than a litter of kittens chewing them. He is doing all his 'sits' and 'downs' very well now, and is currently sitting in front of his cage twitching his head. This is a funny habit he learnt. My mum taught him to twitch his head, hoping she could keep getting him to do it all the way round, as a spin. But he got stuck at the all the way round part, and now jut twitches his head when he is sitting down. Funny, but someone will notice and take him away one day...

But I have some pictures, as he is growing extra fast at the minute. Probably a combination of walking, eating anything he finds, and all that resting he does (on the sofa). Here are the pictures! Enjoy

Beth x

17 weeks tomorrow!

Jacob is big, bouncy, and a beautiful example of a thieving flatcoat! I havent updated my blog for AGES now, but that is only because Jacob has been so bad! Haha, not really, I'm just really lazy. Jacob is doing very well, and tomorrow he turns 17 weeks. If he was ever smaller than his brothers or sisters, you cant tell now. At puppy classes, he is almost catching Dixie up, and Dixie is a week older than Jake! So Jacob is now a big puppy, with gigantic paws he uses to hit me with when I dont feed him when he wants to be fed.
As of tomorrow, I start taking him for walks with my friend Susie from down the road. She has a black labrador called Josie, and we will walk them together on the old playing fields around the back of my house. Jacob has puppy class tomorrow as well, so he should sleep well that night!
We are having a slight problem with walks at the minute, as Jacob doesnt particually like them. In fact, he hates them. Its probably my fault, as I took him out once a day for a few weeks, if that. But I'm getting into a good habit with it, and he is doing better now.
He is also making improvements with his shadow chasing, which is good. He only did that occasionally, but some new toys and a good run around playing hide and seek has cured that. Unfortunately, the curtains suffered slightly when I hid behind them. Oooops.
I have a controlled assesment in English this week, which is going to make looking after Jacob slightly harder, with all my extra work. Also, open evenings and other school stuff means Maddy and Al have to look after Jacob a little more this week. But hey, its only for a few days, then I will save them from the mad flatcoated retriever puppy! He actually is mad, I think I can hear him growling at a puddle outside. Mad Jacob. Bye
Beth x

Puppy Class madness (and just general madness around the house)

Grrrr, I have not updated my blog for a week now! Very silly of me, but never mind, I have plently of news for you. Jacob has had his second puppy class two nights ago, and did very well, or very badly, depending on your opinion. He definately found his confidence, and made new friends in the Labrador Brad and big puppy Dixie. The little meriugue dog was there again, just as small and cuddly.
We were outside today for the first half, then we went inside for a while. Jacob had great fun, running around with other dogs, and eating moss. They put the big dogs on their leads, and just let the little ones run around at first. Jacob instantly seemed to feel more comfortable, and started to hide between other peoples legs, rather than just mine. He did his sits and downs very well, even having time to get Dixie into trouble by barking at him. Some dogs just dont change.
Retrieving did not go so well. Jacob did not have his own toy, so he didnt want to chase it. He did very well though, especially at recalls.

Jacob is growing up very fast; I feel like such a proud adopted mother! He has lost a tooth, and is now teething. Unfortunately this means he will chew anything, including my GCSE art sketchbook, and my laptop cable is looking a little chewed. And he stole my toast! Im still annoyed about that. Got to go kno, bye! Grrrr, my toast
Beth x

Bottom of the class...

Well, the good news is Jacob survived his first puppy class, but the really good news is he gave me something interesting the write about! Do you want to hear about cowering between my legs the entire time, running around the back of the hall to eat moss twice, or being the worst in the whole class at recalls?
The dogs in the class are funny. We were outside a village hall, and some weeks we will go inside.The dogs I remember most are Stanley-huge ginger German Sheppard puppy, Meringue dog-too small for even Jacob to be scared of, and the naugtiest Golden Retriever puppy ever, Dixie. There was also a Sky Terrier called Rosie, a weird mongrel thingy, and 600 black labradors, all still going to puppy classes. First thing we did was let the dogs off their leads, at which point 5 huge dogs came and cornered Jacob, leaving him only with a hiding place of between my legs. Not particually funny, especially when Jacob started squealing.
Then we put them back on their leads to walk them around a bit, but naurally Jacob would not move. The leader told me to take him off his lead, and just walk him round. But Jacob strangely found his confidence as I took his lead off, and ran away round the back of the hall to eat some moss. I got him back, and surprise surprsie he ran off again, even quicker this time. I put him back on his lead, and walked him round.
Sitting and lying down went very welll, as did the vetinary check(when you look at their teeth, eyes, legs and ribs to check health), but when we got in a circle to do recalls, Jacob decided he had lost his confidence. He cowered next to my leg until it was out go, when he fell over because I moved my legs. I went to the opposite side of the circle, and called "Jacob!" alot. But Jacob was now cowering against the teachers legs, and did not want to move. In the end, she had to drag him halfway, then get me to come meet him and run off so he followed. Ooops! I dont think he knowws his name.
Class finished with us joint bottom place with the a beagle, Maisie. She ran the wrong way when she was called. Dixie just ran off, but at least they moved. Anyway, must go, school soon! Bye
Beth x

The World of Puppies and Sunday Morning Football

Jacob has been for a nice walk with Murray this morning, and seemed to enjoy going out onto the playing fields and watching the Sunday morning football. He just lay down in the (wet) grass and rolled around, getting a bit wet. Then, on the way back, he found The Puddle. It is a huge puddle on the side of my road, that is always there, no matter what the weather. He was jut having a splash around, when suddenly he lay down in it, much to my amusement. Murray didnt find it so funny when Jacob shook all over him. A very funny morning.

Jacob really needs a bath now, but I will just add a photo of when my friend Emma was over, and we took some pictures of the puppy out on the patio. Here you go, enjoy! Beth x

Juggling Life, Schoolwork, and The Ultimate Naughty Puppy!

Argh, school is harder than I remembered! Jacob has woken me up at 5:50am every morning this week, and has normally left something smelly for me to clean in his bed. His prefered method of waking me up is barking, but howling works well just as well. I let him out with Murray, then while they are charging around, I settle down for a little nap on the couch, normally to be woken up by Jacob curling up on my lap with a huge tuft of Murray hair in his mouth. Dad shoves me off to get dresses around 6:30, when I go and walk Jacob to the corner of my road, and back again.
Then he has breakfast, a sleep and a run around with Murray before I go to school. When I get back, I have a fat happy puppy shoved into my arms, usually accompanied with a shriek "Take it! I cant handle him anymore!" from my mother. I think she has more trouble looking after him than I do. I jut accept naughtiness, she tries to clear it up, much to Jacobs amusement.
He is going to puppy socialising classes as of Monday, which should be a whole new adventure. He has only met 2 dogs apart from Murray, the dog across the road, and the one that takes its owner for a run every morning, which we see most days. He normally barks at them. Mum is going to come with us to the classes, and as I am the only teenage handler, she will tak over if I need her to. Which I probably will, as he can be more than a bit naughty when he wants to be.
I have to go now, Jacob is trying to add my laptop cable to list of destroyed items.
Beth x

The Summer of Jacob...

School tomorrow. Which to me, only means one thing. The Summer of Jacob has come to an end. I have had fun with him this summer, but now schools starts again, and I have to balance coursework and GCSES's along with the worlds naughtiest puppy! I will still be getting up at 6 to see to him and letting him out, but I will go to sleep at 10:30 now, and someone else will put him to bed instead. He is fed 3 times a day now he is 12 weeks; 7am, 12noon and 6pm. I dont want to have to leeave him, but Mum will be able to look after him (I hope!).
Jacob has taken Worlds Worst Puppy to a whole new level. Althought he is obviously completely adorable and has an air of pick-me-up-and-hug-me, he just eats ANYTHING! Murray's fur, clothes, cat litter, plants, carrots, hair, anything. Oh, and he tore apart one of my Dads sports socks this morning. I hid the evidence in Jacobs bed, where absoutely no one ventures, so it should be safe. Poor Murray is looking a little frayed at the moment, due to Jaocb literally hanging off him.
We took them on a walk together on Thurday when the weather was quite nice.
Jacob doesnt quite understand the concept of walking. A lot of the time he sits down and stares at you, until you produce a piece of puppy kibble and throw it about 2 metres in front of him. Then he goes to it, eats it and sits down. Nothing works. If you pull him, he pretends to choke. If you pick him up, he just licks you until you put him down.But he walked very well with Murray, apart from having to be carried a little bit on the way back because he was tired. Murray is very protectiv of him, and barks at other dogs. Sweet, but a bad habit that must be broken.
Anyway, school tomorrow (yawn). Leaving Jacob for 7 hours with only Murray and Mum to wear him out. That doesnt sound bad to you, but I can imagine the wreckage I will come back to tomorrow. Hehe
Beth x

Over 3 months old!

Jacob was 12 weeks yesterday, which means I have a 3 month old puppy! He has been for 4 walks so far in his (not) very busy life, and he has enjoyed all of them. He isnt scared or frightened when we take him out, he just sits down a lot and stars at you. He doesnt go very far because he is only very young still, but he looks very grown up in his nice new red collar and lead. We dont keep his collar on him all the time, only when he is out for a walk. Knowing Jacob, he would just get stuck trying to get throught the fence.
He has changed to 3 meals a day, but they are bigger meals, and he seems to like it. He has grown again, if thats possible! His head is still quite small, earning him the nickname "pin head" with my sisters. Very cruel, but slightly funny. He ha a very adorable face, and I want to take him to puppy socialising classes soon, which will be nice and probably embarassing on my part.
But for now, Jacob will just be walked twice a day, fed, and be chased around for 3 hours a day!
Beth x

Almost time for a walk

Jacob will shortly be commencing the "first walk" stage of his puppyhood, and he seems to be looking forward to it. He has a smart red puppy collar and lead, and enjoys walking around the garden with them on. I can only take him for short walks to start with, which hopefully means by the time he can walk great distances, I will be able to as well!
Sadly the house training is a little harder than it was with Murray. Being a flatcoated retriever puppy, everything must take 10 times longer, unless it doesnt involve him(then it has to be 10 times faster!). So if you take Jacob outside, he comes back inside, to show everyone how he wants to wee on the floor. Sometimes sharing is not the nicest option.
He has grown even more, something my sister delighted in telling us when we visited her on Saturday. We took the puppy, complete with cage food, down to Cheltnum for the day. He didnt like the house at first, for it was a bit too clean for him. But after a while, he settled down and decided that he would just make it dirty, cream carpets included. I dont think Laura was pleased; she is trying to sell the house at the moment.
But other than all that, Jacob is fine. We are picking up some worming tablets later, and a new toy for him, seeing as he has destroyed the gravy bone. He has learnt to jump onto the sofas' now, and I think I need to go get him off one of them. Bye!
Beth x

Little Puppy, HUGE Puppy

Jacob has grown a lot! He is almost too big to pick up now, which is unhelpful in a lot of ways. But it does mean that he can no longer fit through the hole in the patio gate, therefore hindering his ability to get onto the lawn. Which will save us a lot of time getting him back.
He was with us 2 weeks yesterday, and is doing really well. He is playing well with Murray, and they get on well. Food is still a cautious subject around them, as Murray doesnt like other people near his food. There are 3 bones in the house at the minute, 2 belonging to Jacob, and 1 that is Murray's. But that was about an hour ago, it will have changed by the time I have posted this. They steal each others, and Jacob likes hiding all of them in the curtains for Murray to find. Its very funny to watch their faces when the other steals their bone.
Jacob is visiting our sister tomorrow with us, which includes a car journey, which will be good for him. We are taking his puppy cage, and he will stay in the kitchen for a few hours while we are here.There arent any animal, so he will be ok with his injections and everything. I took him around the garden on his lead today, and he behaved very well. We have also started clicker training him, and he can sit now, which we make him do when its food time. He is very naughty, but very sweet and lovely (when he is asleep!). Goodbye for now
Beth x

A bath, a new friend and whole lot of puppy food!

Jacob has had an interesting few days. On Friday he had a bath for the first time, and seemed to enjoy it a little bit. He liked the water, just not the idea of being expected to stay still in it! He was all clean and shiny, with soft fur, until he decided he needed to rub the moss covered tree trunk in the garden. And turn his head green.
He met Murray yesterday for the first time without being held, and they got on like a house on fire. They play games, eat each other and seem to enjoy just having each other to chew. Murray is disciplining him by giving him the occasional nip, which is good for teaching the puppy respect. Jacob scares Murray a little though, and they have an interesting game of Murray jumping and running away from Jacob, normally onto the couch.
Unfortunately we lost a guinea pig on Saturday, and her sister followed today. Its a pity after Jacob made good friends with them, but we still have two more, which he seems to like just as much. And that brings me to 6pm, time for food time, which I think Jacob knows. He is trying to get into the food bag.
Beth x

1 week Summary

Its been a whole week since we got Jacob, and it feels so much longer. We have had a traumatic(for us, not for the puppy) car journey, and couple of bad nights sleep. And chewed hose and a startled cat, but its been a good week. He is sweet,adorable and gorgeous. And slighty energetic, which is just a nice way of saying he is mental and very hyper.
He has settled down nicely, and has found his feet in the family. Now he has returned to his hyper state he was in when we collected him from the breeders. Completely wild. He is lovely and pretty, and he is really lovable. I love Jacob a lot, and I cant wait until he is older and bigger. But for now I am just going to enjoy his puppyhood, while he is still small enough to pick up.
Beth x

The Promised Pictures

I said I would put you some photos on, so here you go, photos! I need to take some more really, but these are the ones from his first week with us.

This is Jacob on his first evening with us. He still loves the plant pot, almost a week on!

Toys keep him entertained most of the time. Well not really, chewing us does. He chews everything, even the internet cable a few minutes ago. He didnt get very far though. He didnt even get to the cable.

The next pciture is my favourite.

Fast asleep in his cage, and compeltely out of it. I think this was his first full day with us, but it could have been his second day. He is going to the vets to get his second i

njections tomorrow. He had his last jabs two weeks ago, and his 2nd injections mean he can go for

walks in one week. Yay! I can walk him and havbe everyone tell me how beautiful and adorable

my darling puppy is.

Beth x

9 weeks yesterday

Happy Birthday Jacob, you were 9 weeks yesterday! I did not forget, as assumed by my mother, but I was so busy trying to keep Jacob entertained that I actually could not post it on here. There is not enough time in the day to go on the laptop, update this, and still persuade Jacob to go to sleep at night.
And just for the record, Mum is excellent at looking after the puppy. So excellent in fact, she is going to look after him for the whole day and give me a day off (joking Mum!). As cute and adorable as Jacob undeniably is, he can be hard work at times. Eecially when he decides your nose looks like a chew toy. Ah, he is falling asleep... bye.
Beth x

Hiccuppy Puppy

I think Ihave said the phrase "Oh no, the puppy has hiccups again" 700 times in the last 3 days. When you pick him up, when he wakes up, when you feed him. Its very funny, but a little scary. Especially when he gets them in his sleep.
Jacob is doing well, and is clearly a highly intelligent puppy. So far he has only destroyed a plant pot, crushed mum's bean plant, discovered the hole in the gate onto the lawn, and chewed a number of small holes in the hose. But I guess they are things I know about. There are probably millions more things.
He didnt sleep very well on the second night, but he slept well last night. I get up at 6 every morning and le him out, and then give him his breakfast at 7am. Normally I am on my own with him for about 2 hours, while the others continue to sleep. Then someone comes down and stays with Jacob until I come back downstairs again. Its very tiring looking after him, not at all like it was with Murray. He stayed in his puppy cage, slept a lot, and played normally.
But Jacob isnt. He doesnt like being shut in his puppy cage, and will only go in if he wants to, which isnt often. He eats violently, attacking the bowl and throwing the food around. And he only sleeps for 5 minutes at a time. But he is so cute, with a face just like Tilly. His eyes look like hers. Anyway I have to go, Jacob is chewing my feet.
Beth x

Sleepy Jacob... or not!

Yes, Jacob seems to have a few issues with sleeping inside. When growing up, I think the breeders kept him outside a lot in the day, so now he only wants to sleep on the patio. If you take him outside now, he either plays with your feet , bites your feet, or falls asleep on your feet. I think he likes feet.
He didnt sleep too well though last night. I am currently downstairs on the sofa bed at night, because my sister is sleeping in my room while here this week. He was ok , just sleeping and occasionally whining, until about 3am. Then he seemed to decide that I was nicely asleep, and needed to be woken up by his howling bark. And yet again, he succeded. I am now really tired, but I am updating this while he is fast asleep in his cage.
I need to let him out when he gets up, and then give him some more food. Ah, my time is gone, Jacob is up! Damn, I hyave to go now. Bye
Beth x

Jacob comes home...

Jacob is just as sweet as I knew he would be. At the moment, he is asleep by the side of his puppy cage, depsite the fact he should be in the cage. He is so tiny and cute, and quite naughty as well, like any good flatcoated retriver. We found out today that his grandfather was called Jacob, which is nice.
When we got to the house, we went round the back of the breeders house, and as they greeted us, we spyed the puppies. 6 left, 1 ours, and one staying with them. When we told them we were picking up Blue Puppy (Jacob), they picked him up, and gave him to meing e. He was a little bigger than when we went to visit them, but still smaller than the others. Not by much, and Dad seems to have fallen in love with him like any other sized puppy...
We were at the house for a while, sorting out paper work and stuff. He needs to be wormed and have his second injections at 10 weeks, and can start going for short walks at 12 weeks. The worst news? I have to get up at 6 in the morning! He needs letting out and then feeding at 7am.
Jacob had his blue collar taken off him, and we were given a toy for him from his Dads owners, and a box full of pedigree puppy kibble. He ran around for a while, burying stuff and being generally loopy.
When we got in the car though, things got difficult. He howled for 20 minutes, even tiping his head back to let us really hear how loud he could be. He succeded. He is the loudest puppy I have ever met. And that includes his brothers and sisters! But he settled down after we stopped at a service station and let him wiggle for a bit. He was then asleep for the rest of the journey, occasionally barking or whimpering. But mostly he was ok.
Thats Jacobs car journey, but how was he when he got home...?
Good actually. A bit scared of everything, but thats natural. We gave him food and water, and showed him his cage. He liked his food bowl, but I dont think he is used to not having to share his bowl with 9 siblings. He kept taking the bowl away. And storing the kibble in his mouth. Very odd. I think he was storing it. Well thats puppies for you...
At the moment he is running around outside with Al and Milly after his 3 minute beauty sleep. He has had another wee, and the theory that flatcoats have huge bladders is now proven true. Right nowI need to feed him again. Murray comes home tomorrow, so that should be fun...
Beth x

Tomorrow is Puppy Day!

Tomorrow we pickup the puppy, and he will be Blue Puppy! We got back from Devon today, and no sooner had we walked in the door as we got a phone call saying the Blue Puppy had been put aside for us. There are 6 puppies left, one more going tomorrow as well as ours. They are keeping Pink Puppy, and so she will be there, but porbably not Yellow Puppy. Someone will have taken the big puppy, but my dad seems convinced no one will want the little runty Blue Puppy, but he isnt the runt!
Tomorrow I get my puppy, and as you can imagine I am very excited. He is the best thing ever, and I cant wait to have him in my lap tomorrow night and I might even put a picture on here for the people who are following Jacob! Goodnight
Beth x

Goodbye, Rainbow Puppies

Today we say a communal goodbye to Jacobs brothers and sisters. I dont know how many will be left when we pick up the puppy (eek!) on Thursday. The breeders are keeping the hyperactive Pink Puppy to breed from. So it could just be Jacob and Pink Puppy!
We are all very excited here. Im still in Devon with my family, and just to prove our general excitement, we bought a little name plaque to put on his cage. Very sweet. When we get home on Wednesday, we will have less than 24 hours to flat coat proof the entire house. I honestly dont think we will manage it. At least we have the puppy cage set up!
Today Jacob is 8 weeks old, and it really seems like yesterday we got an email telling us there was a little black puppy sitting waiting for us. The adventure of Jaocb commences soon! Even though we are not at home, we will still light a candle and sing to him on his 8 week birthday
Beth x

PS. It is perfectly acceptable to call me mad for singing to my puppy, because I think its weird as well!

Ah the Devonshire Air

Today I am in Devon, and will be until the magical day of Wednesday, the day before I collect my lovely puppy. Last night I had a dream - mainly reliving Tillys last minutes, but also worrying about Jacob. What if he falls ill? What if he dies? What will I do? I dont want to go through it all again. But then I thought about it.
Jacob is Jacob, and however long he lives, he will be happy. He isnt going to sit worrying about being a flatcoat and being a breed that normally falls ill. He will just be happy to be alive, and therefore I will be happy to know him. And own him. Lovely dog.
Its only 5 days until we get him now, and as everyone is moaning about, I am comstantly taking about him. Jacob this, Jacob that, Jacob will eat that, Jacob will chew this. Ah well, soon I will have an acceptable excuse. Because he will have eaten everything! I got the puppy cage out yesterday before we left for the holiday, and had to clean it. Getting it out was a whole blogs worth of trouble in itself, so I wont go into the details. I'll just say wasps and sheds dont mix.
Jacob has been microchipped and has had his first injections, so when we pick him up we will be able to give him his second injection soon after. Did I tell you the ood news by the way? The breeders emailed us to ask us which puppy we wanted most, so it can be reserved for us. We said BLUE puppy, YELLOW puppy, and then ORANGE puppy. So maybe we will get my blue puppy after all. I have to go, Devonshire ice cream is calling.
Beth x

1 week and 3 days to go!

We have only 10 days to:

1. Find the puppy cage and check it doesnt fall down when it is stood up.
2. Buy food for the puppy. And Murray actually, as I dont think he gets fed a lot.
3. Buy chewable, fireproof, waterproof and flatcoat proof toys to keep the puppy entertained.
4. Flatcoat proof the garden. Mum does not want all the plants destroyed.
5. Prepare mentally for the arrival of a mad puppy that will mean waking up at 6am in my summer hoilidays!

So much to do, so little time. I better sign off and go find that puppy cage. Or maybe give Murray some food. No, I'll find the puppy cage. He doesnt look hungry.

Goodbye

Beth x

Blue puppy or Orange puppy?

Yesterday I met Jacob for the first time, and he is very cute! I dont actually know which one is Jacob, but we met all ten puppies and they are all cute! All the puppies had paper collars on, each a different colour. Personally I liked the blue one; cute, small and loved to bite my fingers!
We met the puppies, the mum Molly and the grandmother Indie. Then we met the other flatcoated retrivers such as Darcy (big bouncy male). About 5 puppies didnt actually wake up in the hour or so my parents failed to drag me away, due to the fact they had been fed just before we arrived. I liked the ones that did wake up though! This includes Oranges Puppy, Yellow Puppy and my little Blue Puppy. Like I said, I want to get the Blue Puppy, but there is indecision in the ranks. Dad and Al are in love with fat Yellow Puppy, and Milly has fallen for the cute Orange Puppy. Mum is undecided so she obviously wants the blue puppy, like me! Or she will soon...
Jacob is going to be very cute. To be perfectly honest, I will be annoyed if we dont get the blue one, because he just was Jacob! The breeders are going on a first come, first serve basis, so if you called first, you get the pick of the litter. We should get one of the ones we liked, even if its not Blue Puppy! Ah, Jacob is cute. I love him, and that is a fact.
Beth x

Happy 5 week old birthday Jacob!

Happy Birthday Jacob!
Ah, you are 5 weeks now. We are over halfway through your 8 week puppy stage until we collect you. On Sunday we will get to see you! The video we got sent last week has been posted on Facebook, and everyone loved it! You are really the cutest puppy I know, and I havent even met you yet. Soon I will have, and I will take lots of pictures to show everyone on here. Hope you all enjoy them when they come!
I really wish Jacob was here. I miss Tilly so much, and even though it will be a year soon, I still want her here. Its so unfair she died, and i still really miss her. Jacob isnt to replace her, it is to make me feel happier and more posisitve. I am a bit worried that when we see the flatcoats are the kennels on Sunday, I will cry and get upset. But I have to remember that Jacob is what matters now, not the past, but the future. And the future is Jacob

4 weeks and doing well

Today, Jacob has reached the 4 week milestone. We got some pictures a few doays ago of them, and they already look like a lot of trouble! There are 10 puppies in his litter; 5 boys and 5 girls. As far as I now, they are all healthy and strong, and already too much for their mother to handle!
So, happy birthday Jacob. You may only be 4 weeks, but I love you a lot. Thats saying a bit, as I have never even met you! However, in the pictures, you looked sufficently cute sitting in a bowl with puppy porridge all over your face! I will put some photos on soon, to show you just how cute(and possibly troublesome) flatcoated retriver puppies really can be!

Introducing myself

Hello, I'm called Beth and in August 2010, I will be collecting my new puppy, Jacob. He is a flatcoated retriver, and is currently 3 weeks and 6 days old. I have been promised a puppy for almost 6 months now, and in 5 weeks time, I will be collecting him.
In September 2009, our last flatcoat Tilly got put down with a heart problem, leaving our mad bearded collie Murray alone, apart from 2 cats and a handful of guinea pigs. In our house, animals are just a natural part of life, if the amount of vets bills and dog food is anything to go by! Feeding time is like a ceremony; organised, well attended and full of excited animals. Jacob will be our 3rd flatcoat over the years, and this time, we may actually take him to puppy training. But on second thoughts, maybe not. This time he will be my puppy, so I am responsible for training, feeding, poos and most importantly, the dreaded word "walkies". As a part birthday present, exam reward and long promised puppy, Jacob will be just as mad as any other flatcoat ie. very mad!
If you have ever had a flatcoated retriver, you may know what I am talking about. They eat everything(including walls and doors), chew everything, and poo on everything. Personally, I think this will be a great adventure, and that is why I am choosing to share it with whoever may stumble across this blog. My parents, although they love flatcoats, are holding their breath in suspense with the carpet cleaner looking to the first thing he wees on. Probably them, knowing flatcoats. Jacob is our 2nd male flatcoat, and we are still waiting to see if he is as bad as the first one, Jack. Jacob will be an adeventure, which is my optimistic way of thinking about it. Until I next write
Beth x