A dog's life

13th April 2025

The end of our first week with Peggy and I think I can safely say it’s gone very well – or maybe it’s just that by the time the weekend rolled around she realised that she wasn’t going to get shut of us so might as well make the best of the situation. Anyway, she’s gradually making herself more at home, and progress has been made: Monday morning it clicked that she could actually get in the dog bed in the dressing room (on the small side, admittedly, but that has since been rectified and she has a new, bigger one with a cushioned insert) before ending the week following Harry’s example and sprawling on the sofa in the back room. It is a bed settee, after all.

We took her to see our nice vet on Tuesday evening, so he could give her the once over, with some interesting results. The first was disparaging the vaccine record given to us by the lady on Saturday. Not only did he dismiss the administering vet (“I know him,” he said, airily) but then went on to say that the serum was the same as James Herriott used in the 70s – but maybe, as a charity organisation, that might be a matter of cost. He was also scornful when we said she was two or three, saying she was not much more than one (the age given on her official record, as we found out when the organisation emailed it to Stephen the next day). So much for not getting a puppy.

He gave her a worming tablet and took blood samples for analysis, saying that he was a little concerned about what she might have picked up from living outside. As for anything else (like restarting her inoculations), that needed to be left till the results of the blood test came through and we had built up her strength, as she looked a bit undernourished from being in the kennels and having her puppies. He gave us a freebie of some Royal Canine puppy food to start us off, and a 15kg bag is on its way, so that should keep her going till she moves on to the adult version that came in the same order as the bed.

Stephen was at home on Wednesday afternoon and took advantage of the fine weather to cut the grass. Harry gave him a bit of a hand then Peggy ventured down afterwards and the pair of them played for ages, running around and rough and tumbling. They obviously like it, as they’ve taken to repeating it at various occasions since. She is also coming more readily to the lead when we gather at the gate for our walks and in the evening, after a few days of uncertainty, now happily chews her after dinner Dentastix. Piano, piano.

The weekend has been devoted to family time, sticking around the homestead to get a few things done and build bonds, including doing a spot of grooming on Peggy yesterday morning. She was quite acquiescent when I brushed her and cleaned her teeth with a dental finger pad, suggesting she is not unused to such things. The day was hot and dry, so plenty of opportunity for play while I sorted next week’s lessons and Stephen gave the cars a good clean.

Unfortunately, it was a complete turnaround today, with grey skies and, to Stephen’s disgust after his hard work on the cars, sandy drizzle. Maybe he’d have been better sprawling with Harry and Peggy on the settee… if there’d been room for him, that is.