Coco has settled in!

Coco the puppy is now an established member of the family and four times the size she was when she arrived. She appears, apart from the physical scars, to have got over her trauma of a couple of days ago when she was attacked by the neighbour's Staffie and be all well and good.

Yesterday, she finished puppy classes and by all accounts ought to now be able to sit, down, stay, leave, heel and come. Ought to be able to.

Coco is a thug! At each puppy class, she mugs a cute little cocker spaniel pup called Norman and terrorises a fluffy golden retriever called Orla who, being of a nervous disposition, wets and poos herself whenever this happens. Nothing I do will stop this behaviour; putting Coco into the ‘calm’ position, keeping her lead tight, giving treats, nothing. She is obviously intent on being the leader of the notorious  RH1 Doggie Gang (although of course Staffie down the road is presumably Boss Dog now, and sees his position being threatened).

Yet she has endeared herself to us in more ways than we could imagine. Despite the mess, smells, need for a vast amount of equipment and the trouble she has caused. The sheer delight with which she greets you when you have been out, her enthusiasm for games, her little character traits and idiosyncrasy and her simply gorgeous face all conspire to make her lovable.

The other weekend we took her round the local agricultural show, not without some trepidation at how she would react. But we needn’t have worried, she was an absolute star and even though it was socialising in a big way, loved every minute and new experience. Only two things worried her – the fox hounds en masse, and the motorbike display team. It took hours to go round; it’s unbelievable how soppy most people – including grown men - are about Labrador pups and every few steps someone would stop me and say “Aw, cute! Can I stroke your puppy?”

The one thing we haven’t yet cracked is her relationship with the moggies, all of whom continue to view her with suspicion. She, on the other hand, sees them as an untapped source of play and amusement and chases after them at every opportunity. She has had several scratches on the nose, none of which have deterred her, and the cats have resorted to slinking in at night for food and only coming in during the evening if it’s very cold or inclement. We need a good snap of cold weather to force the issue, I think, when the cats want to weld themselves to the radiator and the dog is too tired after a long walk to do anything about it.  

I’ve never really thought of myself as a doggy person, although I’ve never been anti dog. Lots of people think I am, but what I really don’t like are ill disciplined and badly behaved dogs. That’s why we have gone to puppy class, and our fault haven’t practised as much as we should have (these classes aren’t really for the dog, who takes longer than an hour to learn a new behaviour, but for the owners to learn the skills, gestures and behaviours to train their pet in their own time). In the coming weeks we will have to reinforce the good behaviour and standard responses that Coco needs to embed, as it’s a longer term ambition to be able to take her everywhere with everyone. She won’t jump up, eat food from the coffee table, scratch, bite or do any of the things which p**s people off about other people’s dogs. She will have exemplary behaviour as befits a Surrey Dog!

She already knows that the ultimate punishment is to be ‘sin binned’ which basically means being locked in her puppy cage for outrageous behaviour or failing to follow instructions. She hates it!

My daughter is looking after her when we are on holiday, and I am going to leave her a written sheet of instructions! She will also have to learn the commands and discipline instructions as consistency is very important. And no lazing in bed until noon, she’ll have to get up and do the early walk or clear up massive piles of poo!

When we come back Coco will no doubt have morphed into a wild wolf!