The first 6 weeks with Marley

To be honest the first week is a bit of a blur but I think it was good! Nights were little or broken sleep, although he did sleep better each night in his crate.  I chose to sleep on the sofa for a few days, near his crate, whilst he settled in. That also made it slightly less of an ordeal to get him out for a wee at 2am.  6 weeks later it feels like a good move....he can go 7 to 8 hours overnight without a fuss!

Week two was good. I took over the holiday shift and inbetween household jobs spent loads of time playing and a bit of early training. It was so hot though that the vigorous play was confined to early morning and evening.

Week three better still. Second set of injections in the second week involved a ring round of local vets to find one who stocked the same type of vaccination as his first. Got there in the end though and MyVets cane to the rescue. It was great to get out a week later exploring the local environment. He is so confident at home but less so out and about. I am sure it will come though.

Week four I was back at work and my better half resumed doggy daycare. Accidents became a little less frequent and he’s pretty much mastered sits, downs, paw, wait and a half decent recall. On the down side he’s a real biter. Hands and arms are covered in scratches and small bite marks. He is getting a little better but think it will be a hard task to stop him!

Week five was tougher...he continued to jump and bite more than wanted and several times was described as devil dog! We did lots of positive reinforcement training though which was good at calming him down.  Puppy classes were great too.

Week six has been better...the training is paying off!

Loving time with him though. Reminds me of Finney in lots of ways, all good, but he has his own character of course. Hope one day he will enjoy the moors and coastline of Lancashire as much as he did.