Hebersghyll Newfoundlands: A busy week

It has been another busy week, even though we are down to two! The pups have settled into their new routine of living with Andy, myself , Molly and Jess. They have very quickly become accustomed to sleeping in the crate and we have had no overnight accidents, they do bark me up at 5.30 -6ish when they can hold it no longer! I don't mind though, as they are both doing so well. It's always a mad rush to get them onto their leads and outside before they burst. Nemo is a master at getting himself outside but sometimes Ben just can't wait that long and leaves a trail of wee behind him, poor thing.

Andy and I can now both fully appreciate why it's not recommended to take two pups from the same litter. It is a constant battle to stop them fighting and training things like sit are really difficult when there are two of them. We adore Ben, he is a gorgeous pup, we will miss him sooo much when he finally leaves us, but it will be nice to concentrate on training Nemo. It will be a shock to Ben too, leaving Nemo behind. They adore one another, even though they fight, Ben will need lots of love and attention in the next week - I have no doubt he will get it, the Clarkes are extremely excited about finally collecting their puppy.

Molly will breath a sigh of relief when we are down to one puppy. Poor thing she has had enough of them both this week. They of course, are obsessed by her and want to sniff and bite every inch of her whenever they get the chance. In desperation Molly has taken up residence outside on the top step, come rain, snow or shine, she gets outside at every opportunity and absolutely refuses to come back in. Poor Moll.

Jess is enjoying her pups. She has been a fantastic mum throughout and just has endless patience even now with Nemo and Ben. She loves playing with them and tempts them to play by bringing their toys over to them and nudging them. She really is an amazing dog.

As much as she loves the pups, Jess still likes some attention, this is her nudging me and saying Oi! Give me a cuddle!

Jess and I have been getting fit together again this last couple of weeks and have been on some great walks, just the two of us. We walk up the Ghyll and onto the moor. The walk up the side of Hebers Ghyll is really steep, it's a killer at the best of times. Jess just flies up, no bother. Her recovery from having the pups has been superb, you really would not know that she gave birth to 7 pups just 10 weeks ago. She has however just started to blow her coat. (Something our new owners have to look forward to, particularly those who have never owned a newfie before). Her coat is falling out in lumps, you can just pull it out by the handful. She now needs brushing every day to try and get it out as soon as possible and to try and keep it off the floor - impossible task.