Day Three

6am start, but what a fab puppy, no mess at all - more than could ever be said at this age for the able bodied ones. Poppy is really bright this morning, bouncing around. Ate a very hearty breakfast, on the newly rigged up raised dinner bowl. A "herby-treat" pot, from the horse, with the lid on, and with a large plastic feed bowl on the top. First time I have seen Poppy eating from a standing position. 100gms of Purina Puppy went down very well. She has a tiny bit of "meat" on top like the others, so she feels she is a big dog.

Abbie goes out for her walk first every morning - her aim in life is to play ball. So the walk tends to be a bit of a drag Mum to the "open space" and then wait patiently for Ball to be thrown. Well this morning, a small one was in the way - very keen too to get out. I am always of the opinion that to train a puppy you need one-on-one walks, so reluctantly we shut Poppy behind the gate and went for our normal walk. Half expecting to find a worn out puppy when I got back, I was surprised to find a very alert pup still. So lead on, and off we went - she loved it! No problem with the lead, and lets bunny hop most of the way! We did put in some nice "sits" at the kerbs, and it is obvious that she has never been on a lead, but she was not the least bit concerned - if the big dogs can do it, so can I seems to be her philosophy.

Just a walk as far as the "Open Space" so about 200 metres in total, but she still came back with energy which was great.

She is now settled with a plastic bone, and does seem to be tired, but that is over 1 hour of constant "on the go" playing and walking without tiring, so very positive news. I am hopeful that as this week progresses she will appear more able, as stress is another factor which fatigues a dog with Hereditary Myopathy of the Labrador Retriever (HMLR), and the change of home must surely have been stressful, even though she had stayed with us for the weekend two weeks ago, and definitely seemed to recognise where she was when she did arrive on Monday night.