Settling in

How time flies. Our first 4 leavers have now been a whole week in their new homes. All our owners are enjoying their new arrivals and each of the pups is settling to it's new home extremely well. Andy and I are like proud parents cooing over photographs that have been sent to us this week. It is wonderful for us to see and hear how they are all coming along.

Here is the lovely Lily bear looking very relaxed and now the proud owner of every toy in Pets at Home!

Such a cutie and already posing for the camera

This is Elwood looking extremely chilled on his first night in his new home

And looking even more chilled in the snow this morning. Ian says 5 inches fell overnight. I am very envious, there is nothing in this world more fun than playing with Newfie puppies in the snow.........

Elwood, clearly having  a great time

Here is the gorgeous Rufus. Could he look any more relaxed?

Awww Rufus is so adorable

We are just waiting for a couple of pictures of Betty and will post them as soon as we get them. We have heard that she has developed a taste for Ugg boots! Hmmm, a liking for expensive footwear, where could she possibly get that from...........

And then there were three

Well things have certainly much easier around here this last week. Three puppies are so much easier to look after than seven. The pups all love it too as they get much more time upstairs in the house with Andy and myself. Three are much easier to keep an eye on than seven, although we still had the occasional accident! I think they wait until we are both looking in the other direction or occupied by one of the others.


So, all this week we have had three boys with us. Nemo of course, Ben - who will join his new family on 7th Feb and Jake who will left us yesterday. It has been funny to watch them as a threesomeNemo and Ben have paired up and become a real pair of monkeys ,always fighting and causing trouble . Jake has a much quieter nature and has always much preferred sleeping or chewing a toy to fighting with the others. But since being on his own with the two naughty boys he has really come out of himself and really enjoyied playing and fighting with them. To the extent of going biting their tails and trying to cause all sorts of trouble while they try to sleep.

Jess is really enjoying her pups now they are bigger and can play with her, there have been some fabulous tug of war games going on. Jess is amazingly gentle with the pups, she could easily win but she lets them pull her and think they are winning. She never affords me that courtesy!

Dogs can't count

Yesterday was the day that Andy and I have been "anticipating" for a while. The first 4 of our Pups left us to join their new families. It was with leaden feet that I dragged myself from bed in the morning to give them their last breakfast together. It was always a wonderful feeling when 7 expectant puppies came charging across to greet you in a morning and yesterday was even more wonderful than usual, as Andy and I both knew it would be the last time. So we fed them all and then got them all out of their puppy house and let them have a mad charge round for an hour to wear themselves out. A final play time for the 7 of them. As always we had some great fun and Jess came down to play tug of war with them.

Lily would be the first to leave us, and always a special favourite of mine, I was particulary dreading her going. We took her upstairs for an hour to get her used to being on her own. It was as if she could sense the anticipation in the air, the little monkey just refused to have a sleep and you could tell she was almost fit to drop.

Eventually, the time came when her new owners arrived to take her away. Rae, Neil, 4 daughters and their assorted menagerie of pets, were our first approved owners and therefore had the pick of the litter. They made a good choice as Lily has a lovely pretty face, and a great personality, but she can be a little grot bag when she wants to be. I did warn them that she would be a  handful.

Rae and their eldest daughter Bryony arrived and brought me a beautiful bouquet of Lilies, such a lovely thought -( but not a fair swap lol). As Rae and Bry left to escort Lily to her new home,  Jess consoled me while I cried.

One down three to go............

As Lily left we brought the next leaver upstairs for some time away from the litter. Elwood would be leaving for Northumberland to join Ian, Cath and their family just by the sea. A Newfoundlands dream. Andy settled Elwood in the car and said that Elwood was very relaxed as he set off for his new home.

Jess consoled me with a cuddle but I managed not to cry this time.

Feed the rest of the pups , quick trip to Tesco for supplies (Vodka is an absolute necessity after a day like this) and then back to pack Rufus off. Once again we spent the last hour with Rufus, playing with us and Jess before Paul , Jane and their gorgeous Retriever Keegan, arrived to collect him. For me this goodbye was a lot easier as Jane and Paul are friends of ours and whilst they live an hour and a half away, I know that we will be in constant touch with them and always be able to see  Rufus.

I still needed a cuddle off Jess though as they drove away.

And finally, for yesterday anyway, it would be time for Betty to leave us. Betty spent her last couple of hours charging around our kitchen/dining/living room with Nemo. The pair of them had a ball, and when Betty's new owners arrived for her, they were both fast asleep, under a stool in the window sill. Bless. And so, Betty took her leave. I am really pleased that Betty has gone to a family who live very local to us and who very recently lost their much loved 12 year old Brown Newfie who was called Molly. Such a coincidence - particularly as Betty's new owner is also called Andy! Betty will fill a special place for Kim, Andrew and the boys. She is a wonderful pup, full of character, she loves having her tummy tickled! It was a difficult decision for Andy and I not to keep her - we would have kept all of them if we could, but being realistic the choice for us was always either Betty or Nemo. The circumstances of Kim and Andrew coming to us just made it feel so right for them to take Betty.

Isn't this the most amazing photo! All our owners were excited to take their puppies home but not quite this excited!

Jess got lots of cuddles yesterday - but then she does everyday!

I was worried about Jess' reaction to the pups leaving, I needn't have been. She watched everyone walk away with her babies and didn't bother at all. She just got on with the business of being Jess, whilst taking advantage of the excess cuddles coming her way and licking the tears off my face.

I wondered what she would think when she went downstairs and saw only the three remaining pups - would she fret about where her babies had gone to? No, not at all. And as Andy so very kindly pointed out - Dog's can't count!

We wish all of our owners the best of luck with their new pups. We hope you have as much love and happiness from them as we had in the short time they spent with us. And we hope you have plenty of poo bags!

A Spooky Story!

I think this is an amazing story and I just had to share it with you all.

One of our owners visited on saturday and there was some discussion about what to call their dog - No 4. Of course, as blog followers will know 3 and 4 have always had blue collars, they became the Blue's Brothers and then they became Jake and Elwood. The name Elwood was discussed as a possibility but it was decided that more time was needed before a decision was made.

On Sunday I received an email. I won't go into too much detail about what was going on, lets just say it was a little bit of spying on some, ermm, "dodgy" breeders. Anyway, as a favour to someone else, our owner was sending an e mail in response to an ad. Part of the process of response asked him to enter a verification code that appeared on the screen. Have a look at the photograph below...........

Wow! OK so it's a double L and we use a single, but that Dog was meant to be theirs and definitely meant to be called Elwood! Needless to say, Elwood it is!

Where have the last 7 weeks gone?

Time has passed so quickly since the arrival of Jess' little wonders. It seems like only minutes ago that we had these 7 tiny, helpless little creatures arrive and now they are 7 chunky barrels of fun and frolics, they can run, jump, eat solid food, they fight and bite one another, they have come so far in such a short time. We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that next weekend our little babies will be leaving us. We are both going to miss them so much, but in the last few days it is becoming increasingly clear that as the pups have grown and become more demanding, they now need more time and attention individually than Andy and I are able to give. So in some ways this thought softens the blow for us. The pups will each get much more love and attention than they are getting now, with their very own people. We are delighted with all the owners that we have found for our puppies and we know that they will all be going to loving, caring homes and will be very well looked after.

My blog updates have been a little sparse recently, due to boiler breakdowns and having to go back to work after the christmas break. So there are a few pictures and bits of news that although a little outdated, I thought I would share.


We started to wean the pups at three weeks old, and they took to mushy biscuits really well. Jess feeding them was gradually reduced down to once a day, in the evening and we put a stop to that at 5 weeks. At first Jess was a little uncomfortable as she was still producing milk, she also was a little sad at not being able to feed her babies. Andy and I had to come up with some way that Jess could have access and play with the pups, but they would not be able to feed off her.

She is possibly the only dog we know who wears North Face! But it works and it means she can still play with the pups and give them a good telling off now and again when they overstep the mark!

We try and bring the pups upstairs one at a time, to spend some time with us and away from their litter mates. They are all quite confident now and love running about in the big space. They are very inquisitive around Molly, but she doesn't hang about long enough for us to get any photos of her anywhere near a pup. They just have to give her one sniff and she's up and off. It's surprising how fast she can move when she wants to, the old girl!

Of course when they do come upstairs, we can't resist giving them lots of cuddles, they are all big softies when they want to be. The picture above is no 6, he is adorable and loves to be around people. He still gets stuck into the puppy fights but as soon as you walk into the room his eyes are on you and he is the first onto your knee if you get into the pups crate.

Not sure which pup this is but I have posted it so I can look back and remember when they were as big as the skirting board! It really is amazing how fast they have grown, Andy and I tend to notice it more when we weigh them - always a shock how much they have put on, although considering how much puppy food we get through in a week, it shouldn't be! It is always funny when people who haven't seen them for a week or two come round and they are always gobsmacked to see how huge they have grown. There have been some very surprised looking owners visiting this weekend, ha ha. Be warned, they have a lot more growing to do yet.

The pups are now enjoying completely dry food. We started gradually making it less and less mushy until eventually at the weekend I started them on dry. They had no issue with it at all, they all got stuck straight into it. I think it is much better for them actually as they have to give it a good chew and it makes them all eat a lot slower. They do look very cute whilst they are eating it. They take a mouthful and then sit down whilst they chew, it's really funny, and Jess used to do exactly the same.

It's Snowtime!

We still haven't found the camera, so Andy's latest video will have to do for now. Enjoy! The puppies did!

An exciting time for the Pups!

Our boiler decided to give up the ghost at 4 pm last friday afternoon. Typical. A freezing cold day and too late in the afternoon to have any chance of getting it repaired. Andy did manage to get a Heating Engineer out at 6 pm but he just gave us the bad news that it was the main circuit board and he could do nothing further until Monday. So, no heating, no hot water, 7 pups and 2 dogs (who actually could not care less about the heating), what shall we do?
We are in the very lucky position of owning a second property that we rent out as a holiday cottage, in a village called Esholt (used to be Emmerdale in the soap), about half an hour from here. (www.oldhallbarn.net  - website is still under construction but there are some photo's on there, and it's rented via Hoseasons for anyone who is interested, might as well get some advertising in while I can !!!!)
As luck would have it, it was free last weekend, so we took the decision to up sticks, pups and all and move into the barn until the heating was back up and running. Sounds great, but it was actually a logistical nightmare getting everyone down there.
First trip was puppy crate, clothes for us, dog food, dog bowls, anything else dog related we could think of and Molly and Jess. We got them installed, ensured the heating was on then we had to set up an area for the pups to live in. We set the crate up with their bedding and set it in an open bedroom doorway with the door open. We gave the pups the run of the utility, which we filled with sawdust as a toilet area, and the run of a small corridor which we then fastened up with a baby gate. Enough room for them all to go about their puppy business. Once this was all set up, it was back to Ilkley to pick up the pups. We had no box or crate that was either big enough for them all or would fit in the back of our landrover. The only solution was me and seven pups in the back, and I had to try and contain them all and keep them all safe.
Well, the pups were all a little nervous as we set off, and there was a lot of jostling for position along the way - all of them trying to get as close to me as possible. When we arrived everyone of them was sound asleep. Their first car journey and no hassle at all. Well not for the puppies anyway, Andy and I were stressed out, all the hassle of the move, making sure the pups were ok and did I mention this was all in the middle of a blizzard?
The pups were safely installed in the barn and we let them out into the downstairs hallway for their first meal. They loved the stone flagged floor, they ran about like little maniacs and had the time of their lives! When we finally put them to bed, Andy and I looked at each other and realised it was 9.45pm and we had no food and no chance of getting anything delivered in a blizzard. Poor Andy had to go out again and get us a take away, there goes the new year diet. I stayed at the barn with the red wine - that was another resolution out of the window! Needs must!
The pups enjoyed every minute of their time at the barn. We had to take them out of their area for every feed and they really made the most of it, bounding about and fighting with one another for at least an hour after every meal. They came on leaps and bounds - quite literally! Of course the whole village had to come round at one time or another to see the pups, feeding time became a particular novelty. (I think we could have got a good rate for tickets).
The boiler was finally repaired on tuesday afternoon so I took the day off work yesterday and we made the return journey back to Ilkley. The pups were a lot more confident in the Land Rover this time, most of them went to sleep straight away - apart from No 2, who was a little monkey the whole way home!
We are all happily settled in back home now. It was quite funny seeing the pups back in their "house" here. They have all grown so much and in height, rather than width for a change. Although they have also been piling on the pounds. No 3 weighs 9 kilos!!! They are eating us out of house and home now, 15 kilos of puppy food last no time at all.
I will post some up to date pictures of them all just as soon as we find our camera, which has been misplaced during all the excitement..........

5 weeks old pictures and updates

We are snowed in at Hebersghyll. I have been working from home for the last two days, which is great. On Monday when I went back to work after the Christmas/New Year holidays I was almost in tears at leaving the pups behind for a whole day, I really missed being here with them. It felt like the longest day ever. I think I am feeling Jess's pain, I have to wean myself off them just as we are weaning them off her. We are well underway with weaning the pups now and Jess is sometimes a little sad as we have to restrict her interaction with them to prevent them keep suckling on her. Poor Jess she has been a fantastic mum to the pups and really loves them. On sunday I gave her a pigs ear - her most favourite treat in the world and she raced staright off with it. I presumed she had eaten it outside in the snow but Andy found it in with the pups. The next day he gave her another and she went straight to the pups crate and threw it in to them. Bless her, she clearly thinks we aren't feeding them enough!!
The pups are definitely feeding well, they are all good little eaters and piling on weight quite nicely. They are currently fed 4 times a day and are now on semi dry food - just a small amount of water added to the biscuits to soften. We have given them a few pieces of the totally dry food from the bag as little treats to chew on and they can eat it quite well and seem to enjoy it. Typical newfies they all drink loads of water, it's quite funny as they seem to do it en masse. One of them goes for a drink and they all think ooh thats a good idea and next minute there are 7 pups trying to cram around the water bowl.
All the pups use the sawdust for the toilet quite happily, although we still have the occasional accident. Outside toilet training has been somewhat hampered due to the excessive anmount of snow and the severe cold but we will get on to it as soon as we can.
The biggest change in the pups this week is the way they play, they started playfully biting each other last week but this week it been taken to a whole new level and Andy and I are starting to think we have 7 wild savages. Wow, they don't half bite and growl at one another and then they yelp when they have been hurt. They get each other back though. When Andy and I are with them, they nibble at us but with nothing like the intensity that they go at one another, we have noticed that they don't growl when they play with us, just when they are playing with each other. Rascals the lot of them!
OK I won't keep you waiting any longer, here are the wonderful pups!

No 1 enjoying having her tummy tickled. Such a fabulous picture, she looks like she is smiling. I love the white flash on her chest, it is quite big and is an easy way of picking her out from the crowd. Full of fun as always although recently she has started to pull my hair, which is fun for her but not so much for me! A brave little pup who enjoys exploring when we bring her upstairs

No 2 also having her tummy tickled, little sweetheart she is. She has a slightly smaller face than No 1. Personally I think she is the most like Jess of the two girls. Her white spot is exactly the same as Jess's. No 2 has turned into a cheeky little monkey and will attack any of the other pups when playing - she has no fear. When we bring her upstairs she is not quite so fearless, she is a little overawed by the large open space but still manages a good wander round although she might squeak a bit if she gets unsure. She has also taken a shine to pulling my hair - must be a girl thing!

Enjoying a quiet moment of reflection here is No 3. I think he is currently the biggest of the pups, he really enjoys his food and is quite often the first to finish his bowl and he then tries to push his way into everybody else's food whilst Andy and I run around trying to catch him and stop him. His white tail tip really makes him stand out from the others. I think it is so cute. No 3  likes to be cooler than the others and is often found sleeping on his own in the coldest spot he can find. We did pop him out in the snow the other day and he loved it - he immediately lay down in it. I am sure he would have gone to sleep too had we let him

Awww Gorgeous picture of a very gorgeous and cuddly No 4. A fabulous fun puppy, he simply loves toys and when everyone else is fighting with one another he is off to one side chewing on one of the many toys that the pups have amassed. He weighs just slightly less than No 3 and also enjoys his food, it's a race to the finish line for the Blue's Brothers! Another brave little soul, he explores everywhere upstairs and was the first to pee on the kitchen floor!

No 5 just adorable, the purples still maintain their complete affection for people. Completely identical to No 6 it is impossible for Andy and I to tell them apart, thank goodness we have used the numbered collars from birth! I like to think I can tell the difference between them as I think that No 5 has a slightly different coat to No 6, but when Andy picked them both up yesterday and held them together, there was no way I could tell which was which and I guessed completely wrong!

This is No 5 and No 6 completely unfazed by their visit to the big wide world upstairs and just getting on with the business of being savage to one another (No 6 is on the bottom)

Here is our No 6 getting a big kiss from Mummy and as you can see he is quite clearly enjoying it. No 6 has got a new nick name from Andy and myself this week - Waggytail Pup - he wags his tail all the time, no matter what he is doing, playing, or walking around sniffing, wag, wag, wag. Sets his eyes on one of us as we walk in the room, he bombs across wagging all the way. he really has a happy nature. But then all our pups will have a lovely nature as Jess really has a fabulous temperament

And here he is, our lucky no 7. He used to known as fat pup, but he is no longer the biggest pup, although pretty stocky. I am now calling him Grumbly Pup, because he grumbles at you if you pick him up when he is not in the mood, and he grumbles himself to sleep when he is tired. He loves exploring and would much rather be doing stuff than getting cuddled.

Andy and I have finally taken the decision to keep No 7 and we are going to call him Nemo

New Year, New House!

The pups have moved into their new fully extended des res. They were getting far to big for their whelping box and there just wasn't enough space for them to have a good play in. So, Andy spent most of yesterday constructing a wonderful new home for them. With a large sleeping area, a play/eating area and a toilet area, it is quite the perfect pad for our little rascals. They are very lucky pups!

The pups love their new spacious accomodation and have taken to it really well, particularly the new toilet area. We have a hatch at the toilet end which opens to the door so we can let pups outside for house training which can now commence in earnest. Andy is also making a pen for outside so they can run inside and out.

Happy New Year

Our pups don't know what year it is, but it is significant for them as this year and in just a few weeks they will be going to live in their new homes.
In the meantime life goes on in the puppy way. Lots of play fighting, wow, have they upped the ante on that game, sometimes I get quite worried, but it is all part of puppy development and they have to learn not to hurt one another. They have all been wormed for a second time, much easier this time as we added it to some puppy milk and they all lapped it up. Poor things really hated it the first time around. Nails are in need of clipping again. I have a battle scar right on my nose where no 7 playfully batted me!
The pups now seem to have loads more energy and expect to play out every time they wake up, they love a good old explore, climb onto mine or Andy's leg and off again, play with the toys, bite the puppy next to you. A couple of them are just finding their running legs and it is so funny when they put on a little spurt of energy and come bouncing over to you. Their new run and pen is under construction so they will be moving very soon. Then they will have lots of freedom to play at any time they want.

Feeding time is always fun as the little monkeys get tucked in to their grub, any visitors always think this is really cute, and right here on this photo it does look cute, but after two minutes they all decide that everyone else's dinner must be much nicer than their own and start to play musical chairs. Andy and I run around afer them bringing them back to their own plates to make sure they eat enough food - total madness

As you can see the pups have no fear of the hoover! I can hoover whilst they sleep, they don't even look up. I have even hoovered around them whilst they slept on the rug, a couple of them bothered to get up and came up to the suction head for a closer look

Play time and ouch thats my leg!

Lying by the front door, enjoying the draft aaaah!