Looking into the litter in Cobhram we found that they had both the parents living there as well as chooks and they puppies also went out with the pigs a couple of times. There were 8 puppies in the litter and they all looked adorable. We couldn't decide wether a male or female but there had already been a hold on a couple of males so we decided to do the same that way when we travelled over there later that week we would still be able to change our minds but definately had a male (thats what my partner wanted).
What an exciting week I wanted to leave that night but it was Tuesday night & we had to work so that week we discussed puppy names and brought a couple of puppy toys as well as a leash.
Finally I finished work on Saturday afternoon and Brett drove through the night to arrive not far out of Cobhram. We slept in our wagon (6 whole hours) & it was then I decided that I wanted a girl puppy!
Waking up that morning it was the best day of our lives we got to go & meet our little bundle of joy. We waited patiently till 8am and rang Joy then, we were just too excited to wait any longer!
When we got there Joy had brought the puppies into the office there were 2 boys and 2 girls as well as 2 stumy tail healers (we could have taken them home too). They all came up to greet us but then got distracted and walked away, except for one boy (they had blue collars on boys and purple collars on girls). I decided to go and see what the girls were up to but as I went to walk away the little boy was sitting at my feet & pawed or 'shook' me. Right here and now I decided that I couldn't go past this this little boy had just picked me as his new mummy!
Brett gave him a big cuddle & he was a little sooky, nothing compared to what was coming... bath time! Joy said that coz they were outside she would give them all a bath before they left so thats what we did. This little puppy sitting in a little sink with his sad face on was just so adorable. Then when the water was poured on him to wash away they bubbles he just sooked, the little might! Then he got a blow dry and everything was all better! :D
Next it was outside to say goodbye to his mum & dad. This was very sad Blondie & Benny were checking us out and making sure everything was ok the chooks were even in on it. We still had to name our new puppy too, over the week we had many names picked waiting to see which one matched our puppy. With our cat called Maurice (shortened to many things Moey, fitsgibbons etc etc) we knew we wanted a long name that we could play with. Benjamin was one of the name on our list & when we found out that his dad's name was benny we couldn't resist!
So we stood outside with Benny Snr & Jnr not wanting to say goodbye. When we finally did I needed to go to the toilet before we embarked on our journey. being on a farm the rooster who had been taking care of the puppies followed me.. it was as if he was checking me out to make sure this puppy would be ok with me!
It was a wonderful experience and we knew that our new puppy was coming from a loving home. I had decided that from the start we were going to have tough love with this puppy, everything that we had been told & not to mention the size this puppy was going to be we were going to have to be strict. But this poor puppy was just a little bit sad so in the car we got with the puppy on my lap, he had a few whinges but i patted him on the nose & he quickly fell asleep xoxox
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Maremma NOT for you!
As we were doing our research we were told by many family & friends that we should not get a Maremma. They will not live in the city (we are actually in the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide with a decent sized yard) and they will just bark ALL the time. They think for themselves, you will have nothing but problems with them etc, etc.
This made me sad I kept doing research and lots of sites spoke about the Maremmas being farm and guardian dogs but not many about companion dogs. We have the space that if our dog did need a flock we could get it chooks to gaurd, but also thought that we also have the time and energy to put in to ensure this dog had a good home.
Still being told by almost everyone was a little bit scary.... this was an event that I had waited for my whole life!
This made me sad I kept doing research and lots of sites spoke about the Maremmas being farm and guardian dogs but not many about companion dogs. We have the space that if our dog did need a flock we could get it chooks to gaurd, but also thought that we also have the time and energy to put in to ensure this dog had a good home.
Still being told by almost everyone was a little bit scary.... this was an event that I had waited for my whole life!
Which dog to get????
After many years of dreaming it was finally time to make these dreams come true!
Our friends have a Maremma called Rory & she is just beautiful although for some reason we decided to look into other breeds. I guess I still wanted to adopt an older dog as I did not want to go through the puppy stage & have always just dreamed of a bigger dog that I could take for walks.
We started researching Bernese Mountain Dogs who look just beautiful but when we went to their family fun day we found that their rescue program really wasn't available and that the dogs were not the brightest sparks. We were also VERY turned off when they wanted $2000 for a puppy. We quickly got out of there!
That afternoon we went out to the RSPCA just to have a look but all of the dogs there were complete mongrels who were all smaller sizes, these are not the dogs for us. Although we did find a cat that looked exactally like our beautiful stray and thought that we could give it a home. But again after further investigattion we found this cat was FERAL. It was big and strong & had a really bad temper. This cat could not live inside but the RSPCA were wanting $250 for this cat that should not be going to find another home so after that experience I found that the RSPCA were just money hungry & I did not want to adopt from them.
At home we kept researching. Gumtree adoptions but most were staffy x's that my partner wasn't happy with & a bit of researching into Great Pyranees. Still nothing that was jumping out at us.
Then we went out to visit our friends & Rory again. We talked about the breed & I completely fell in love. We saw photos of when she was growing up & I decided that maybe I could make an effort to be a maremma puppies mummy.
Our friends have a Maremma called Rory & she is just beautiful although for some reason we decided to look into other breeds. I guess I still wanted to adopt an older dog as I did not want to go through the puppy stage & have always just dreamed of a bigger dog that I could take for walks.
We started researching Bernese Mountain Dogs who look just beautiful but when we went to their family fun day we found that their rescue program really wasn't available and that the dogs were not the brightest sparks. We were also VERY turned off when they wanted $2000 for a puppy. We quickly got out of there!
That afternoon we went out to the RSPCA just to have a look but all of the dogs there were complete mongrels who were all smaller sizes, these are not the dogs for us. Although we did find a cat that looked exactally like our beautiful stray and thought that we could give it a home. But again after further investigattion we found this cat was FERAL. It was big and strong & had a really bad temper. This cat could not live inside but the RSPCA were wanting $250 for this cat that should not be going to find another home so after that experience I found that the RSPCA were just money hungry & I did not want to adopt from them.
At home we kept researching. Gumtree adoptions but most were staffy x's that my partner wasn't happy with & a bit of researching into Great Pyranees. Still nothing that was jumping out at us.
Then we went out to visit our friends & Rory again. We talked about the breed & I completely fell in love. We saw photos of when she was growing up & I decided that maybe I could make an effort to be a maremma puppies mummy.
Background
My name is Lauren & I have wanted a puppy since I was about 7 years old. Growing up I lived out of town on a few acres and my mum never wanted the responsibility of having a dog. I always wanted a Kelpie & then when I met my partner we decided that we would get a boxer. Then when we moved to Adelaide & into our first house we decided that we wouldn't have enough room for a boxer and decided on an Australian Bulldog. The dad's name was grumpy & we went and visited him & were just waiting on puppies. Unfortunately they never came and we were thinking of moving overseas in the coming years so having a dog again got put on hold.
In 2009 our lives changed when my mum was finally diagnosed with GBM brain tumour and I felt that I needed to move back to our home town for her final days (turning out to be months). This time exhausted us in many ways financial and emotional but brought us closer to our cat & my partners family.
In the months surrounding mum's death (& still to this day) I suffered pretty bad depression, but something that always made me smile were my pets. So in November 2011 I finally decided that there would be no more excuses on why we should not own a dog.
In 2009 our lives changed when my mum was finally diagnosed with GBM brain tumour and I felt that I needed to move back to our home town for her final days (turning out to be months). This time exhausted us in many ways financial and emotional but brought us closer to our cat & my partners family.
In the months surrounding mum's death (& still to this day) I suffered pretty bad depression, but something that always made me smile were my pets. So in November 2011 I finally decided that there would be no more excuses on why we should not own a dog.
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