Magena's First Vet consultation!

Our little puppy has taken the world on with great gousto! He does everything at 100 mph (naturally I hear you say, he is a Spaniel!). I still marvel at the fast pace in which he runs, plays, eats, breathes, dive bombs his big sister, chases the cat and walks!

Our cat, Jon, has taken him under his paw! Jon is teaching Magena that cats only do things when cats feel like it and the subtle cues needed to fit into a feline world. Sometimes the cat wants to play and sometimes the cat will not want to, sometimes the cat wants a face rub and sometimes the cat will bite you if you are sitting in the wrong way! Magena is learning that cats are a bit different from dogs but that doesn’t stop him thinking Jon is his greatest friend. He explodes with happiness every time we hear the cat flap door and wants to snuggle with him on the sofa.

Magena’s other recent adventure was stealing a piece of fruit cake and eating some of it. Magena found out the benefits of having a Daddy that is also a Vet as he was quickly injected with something to make him vomit up said piece of cake! Raisins and sultanas are poisonous to dogs and luckily we could quickly get him the Veterinary attention he required. He felt a bit sorry for himself as he didn’t get to keep the cake!

It is a good reminder around Easter that fruit cake and chocolate are on the list of poisonous food for dogs and to keep them out of your dog’s way. If you are concerned that your dog has eaten something my advice would be to call your Vet as soon as possible with as much information about how much of the food and if its chocolate what colour and strength it was.

Magena has gotten over his ordeal and I am sure hasn’t learnt his lesson but then that is what being a baby is all about, learning all about the world and testing boundaries.

Now I had better go and mop the kitchen floor AGAIN!

Magena's First Walk

Magena is growing at a fast rate of knots, he had his second vaccination in his own home – the benefits of a Home Visit Vet and is now ready for his first walk. We have to be careful not to overdo his walking however excited we all are about taking him out as he is still a baby and he does tear around the garden at 100mph at least four times a day. When I watch him in the mornings I wonder if he will ever grow out of it!

We decided on Ferry Meadows in Peterborough for our first walk, there is a memorial garden for my Father there and I wanted to show our new puppy off! Magena is walking very well on the lead with hardly any training and happily walks along side me as we got out of the car! He wags his tail at hyper speed when he sees another dog, even if they are 10 miles away! I remembered how long it takes to walk anywhere when you have a puppy as everybody stops to talk to you and him.

For his second walk he ventured to Burghley House, the wind was blistering when we got out the car and we wrapped ourselves and the children from top to toe against the cold wind. Magena didn’t seem to notice and enjoyed running around me in circles tangling me and Grace up with the lead.

Grace, our 13 year old Englsih Springer Spaniel, is getting used to him, she even allows him to snuggle next to her in bed. Although she hasn’t taught him not to do wees and poos in the house yet, so I am waiting for that one to sink in. Grace is seemingly enjoying having another dog around the household as all of us are.

The woods were the third walk and Magena excelled here. I let him off lead as we had practised our recall commands in the garden and I wanted to try them outside. He came back every time I asked (in my high pitched squeaky voice) and even when there was a family of dogs going in the other direction (which I was happily surprised at). He liked picking up and chewing sticks and sitting on logs and tree stumps but his favourite game by far is chasing after the children which lifts my heart as I hear giggles and little voices saying “Come on Magena” as if they are all part of a little team going on an adventure, which indeed they are! Bring on the longer walks as he grows. I can’t wait to see what adventures lie ahead.

Magena's first night

We felt well prepared for a puppy. We had a towel with his Mummy dog’s scent on it, food, collar, an Adaptil collar and plug in – this is a pheromone to promote relaxation and helps with the uncertainty of a new home for puppies. We had a crate with a blanket over it so that he had a safe, warm place to sleep. We had a comfy Vetbed, toys to chew and play with, food and water bowls and a lead when he was ready to walk. Right! We were ready!

Sometimes pups suffer from travel sickness but Magena just slept on the car journey home. I was dreading the first night however, as I knew he would not want to be left on his own but he only cried for a little while. I laughed to myself as I crept to the toilet in the dark so as not to wake him in the night and in the morning we woke to little whines. A blistery cold morning welcomed us as we watched Magena tear around and around in the garden, marvelling at his energy so early in the morning (and slightly envious). We had survived the first night with only two wees and poos on the (easy to clean, stone) kitchen floor.

After watching Magena run around chasing the children, snuggling with Grace our older Spaniel and then falling asleep on my chest I realised the one thing I wasn't prepared for was how much love I would have for this little puppy. Magena is a beautiful addition to our family and has truly made our family complete.

Magena, A Puppy Dog's Tale Part One, By Rebecca Westwood

After much consideration, we have opened our hearts and home to a puppy. We have sadly lost our beloved Molly Mango, our Sebastian, our Clarabelle and Sophie Dog and we felt the time was right for our Grace who is 13 years old (but thinks she is 8). Our thoughts behind this life changing event were that as our young children grow they would benefit from having a puppy in their lives. A puppy would grow with them, they could learn how to nurture a baby dog, learn how to feed, walk and love it, learn what it needs and how to look after it. All in all a puppy would teach vital life skills to our children.

Having a puppy will be easy we thought, Mark is a Vet and I am a Veterinary nurse with qualifications in dog behaviour and running puppy parties. I bred my English Springer Spaniels, I have had dogs all my life. I spend my career advising owners how to raise well rounded, behaved puppies. I know how to socialise and desensitise them, I could even write a book on the knowledge I have acquired!

And then along came Magena! His name means Moon in Native American. He has big pawprints to step into. Our dogs before him were calm, obedient and loving, well rounded individuals. Grace works as a Therapy dog with Pets As Therapy and when she retires he will need to continue her good work. He has to be able to be handled by anybody, he can’t be noise sensitive or fearful and he has to be able to cope, as Grace does, with wheelchairs, hospitals and lots of people touching him, talking and sometimes shouting. He would need to allow children to grab him as they learn how to respect dogs and not respond in a negative way. So I had my work cut out to find and train a pup. The first step on this road was to find a pup and his parents.

I spent months talking to breeders asking them all the right questions. It frightened me how little knowledge some of them had and how many were doing it just for money. I wanted a puppy that had the following: calm, obedient parents and I wanted to meet both of them as puppies inherit behaviour traits from both parents and if the puppy was to be aggressive for example, I wanted to look both parents in the eye to make sure that wasn’t apparent. I wanted it born and raised in a house environment so they could hear household noises. A puppy’s socialisation period lasts up to 16 weeks of age so the sooner a pup is exposed to things the better. A socialisation period is a during in which you need to expose a pup to noises, stimuli, people, animals etc to reduce the likelihood of them developing a fear of anything later in life. I didn’t want a fearful puppy, I wanted a bold, confident individual that would fit into my family, with all the comings and goings of 2 working parents, 2 children, another dog and a cat. I wanted it wormed with the correct treatments from a vet, vaccinated at 8 weeks and microchipped but most of all I wanted a breeder that ‘felt right’. Then I saw Luna, she was a beautiful Bitch that was pregnant. Her owners Sally and John are caring and were not breeding for money but for the love and it felt right when I spoke to Sally on the phone. We had found our breeders.

Mark wanted a girl but I did not mind having had both dogs and bitches before. I thought I would leave it up to the universe and Luna!

Luna and her pups were 5 hours drive away! So with 2 young children, Grace, plenty of drinks and sweets we made the long journey to Devon. On our way to Luna, we stopped and met the sire of the pups, Buttons. He is a handsome, beautifully marked, obedient boy with kind and loving owners. It was paramount for me to see the father, as I so many times have told owners to do so when choosing puppies. He is a delight, so having that box ticked we continued on our journey to the other side of Devon to meet Luna and her pups.

The pups were 5 weeks old when we met them, Luna had 3 pups. 1 liver and white girl, 1 liver and white boy and a black and white boy. We were second on the puppy list and the first person chose the bitch so a boy it was! Mark wanted liver and white so we picked the only liver and white boy. We fell in love with Luna and her pups straight away. I always advise clients to ask lots of questions to the breeders before you visit the pups because how can you say ‘No’ to a pup when you see it! Good breeders will want you to ask questions and will, in fact, ask you about yourself and what kind of a home you can offer their pup. Sally had done just that and we ticked all her boxes, luckily.

Taking on a puppy is a massive commitment that needs a lot of consideration and dedication. It is for life. I have seen so many adolescent dogs rehomed because they have not fitted into a family. These breakdowns are no fault of the dog. Potential owners need to do their research, budget the costs and make sure they can commit to a puppy. We were ready to commit. We could offer a home with a large garden, good diet, Veterinary care (from home!), healthcare, insurance, lots of exercise and most importantly, a loving family.

When we had met Luna on her own we asked her if she would show us her babies and if we could touch them and she agreed. We lifted our little new family member up and looked into his eyes. The children stroked him and gave him gentle little snuggles. I promised Luna and Magena that I would give him the best home, full of love and runs in the countryside and we left him to continue to grow with his Mummy dog and siblings until he was old enough to come home at 8 weeks of age. It was very hard leaving him but Sally kept me updated as to how he was progressing.

After Christmas and the New year our little Magena was ready to be collected, and he was already the best Christmas present that Mark and myself and the children could have hoped for.

And now he’s home the fun begins.

A Puppy Dog's Tale

There were so many things happening all at once, a rush of light, sound and sensations. My body was being washed roughly and with some urgency I would like to add and I had this enormous urge to pee! Then the warm smell hit me and I felt tingly with love and compassion. My tummy had a strange feeling inside it and my paws started to move continuously. I took a breathe, a breath all by myself, I think it had something to do with the wooshing and washing but it felt great and I connected to something much bigger than myself and I liked it.

Shortly after this I felt my limbs moving and then the best bit happened, something took hold of my whole body with both pleasure and necessity. I learnt later that it is called MILK and Mummy dog’s milk is the best! Whooah. I just love it whatever it is called!

Things settled down a bit after all that but the love and compassion and warmth stayed. I heard them say that I am a big boy and my Mummy Dog is called Luna and she is “a good girl” and she did a “good job”. I wondered if I would be told I was a ‘Good boy’ and that I have done a ‘Good job’.

One day, I started to see shapes and colours and I could hear from the sides of my head. It was a confusing and interesting day. But I saw my Mummy dog for the first time, she was quite simply the most beautiful thing I could ever imagine. I had imagined what she looked like from the sounds she made but she was breathtakingly stunning.

Days passed pretty much the same after that, shapes got bigger and changed and noises got louder. There is always lots of MILK which I am very grateful for and Mummy dog’s smell makes my heart sing. My Houmans are always moving me, weighing me and the other day I had to drink a different liquid. Mummy Dog says it is to stop nasty things called worms growing in my tummy and I should expect more of that as I grow. My Houman Mummy says it is fine and that I am going to live with a Vet and a Vet nurse and they will make sure I am “well looked after with preventative healthcare” - that just sounds like a big mouthful to me, but I was told I was a ‘Good boy’ which I was hoping to hear so I was happy about that.

I thought life was pretty much the same until my Houmans and Mummy dog told me about my special visitors. Mummy dog told me that I was a ‘lucky boy’ and that my new owners were very nice and would take good care of me. I didn't know what new owners were but I hoped they provided MILK and smelt as good as Mummy dog.

I heard them before I saw them, they made cooing noises and then I was lifted out of our ‘Whelping box’. I looked at this new Houman, she smelt good and was making soft noises and she had kind eyes like Mummy dog, then I saw another Houman and some little ones. They were all very gentle and Mummy dog liked them as she gave them licks. They sat and watched me and my brother and sister for a long time and stroked Mummy dog which she seemed to like.

Mummy dog says I will be happy with them as they live in the countryside and already have a Springer so I will have a friend and play mate. I am excited about that but for now I will just carry on drinking my MILK and growing as both Houmans and Mummy dog says that is important.

I have a name now as Mummy dog says that is part of being in a Houman pack. My name is Magena, it means ‘Moon’ in Native American and this is my story.