Lots of life changes recently, of course one of those being selling our first home and moving to our new home! But there was also another rather big change.. The day after we moved into our new home we actually collected our first 'little' puppy!!
Why a doberman?
Anyway let me start at the beginning with a little backstory on how we decided on the breed and also the breeder. I have always grown up with dobermans, I feel they have a really bad reputation through films ect and I know with our last family dobie Sophie, people would actually pick up their small dogs and be quite frightened of her but in fact she was the softest dog ever and was probably more scared of the little dog than it was of her!
We moved into our own home three years ago and Ive wanted a dog since then but it just wasn't practical with the breed we wanted and the size of the property so when George and I knew that the purchase of our second house was going through and that it was the perfect home for a dog we started to look for a reputable breeder.
How we found a breeder
I do think if you can rescue rather than adopt then that is amazing, we have rescued most of our family dogs in the past and they have been incredible! we decided that this time we would like a puppy as it was the perfect time for me as I work from home I can properly train her but In the future we would always rescue and have even thought about rescuing a little friend for bea in the future.
Finding the perfect breeder can be a nightmare and there are so many horror stories out there! So we started by making a list of reputable doberman breeders from sites champ dogs and Kennel club which only allow reputable breeders to advertise litters. After numerous phone calls to different breeders I just had a really good feeling about Patricia, she sent photos answered all our questions and invited us to meet the puppies as well as the parents. Lucky for us all but one of the 11 puppies had homes and only one naughty little black and tan girl was left - It was love at first sight!! I instantly knew she was the one. Her mother had such a lovely temperament and was so gentle and calm cuddling into us whilst bea terrorised her little brother! hahah . Two weeks later we collected our little Bea!
Meet bea
Bea is now 15 weeks old! We picked her up at 9 weeks and in that short amount of time she has grown an insane amount also just couldn't imagine life without her already!
A little about Bea, she is super sassy , insanely intelligent and very loving. Her personality showed the moment we met her, she was so confident and playful with a mischievous side, As soon as we got her home it was like she had lived here for years. Now that we are able to take her out and about and socialise she is quite nervous of dogs at first and tends to hold back or hide behind us but then plucks the courage to come out and give them a little kiss! She absolutely LOVES people she wants to great everyone which means getting anywhere takes a lot longer hahah! she has made good friends with the post lady and even cries when she leaves!
Training - Toilet/Sleeping/Socialising
As with any dog it is important to set rules and start training straight away, we have been lucky that with toilet training she has been a star pup! very few accidents and if she has then its mostly our fault for not recognising the signs , now she will cry at the door to go out for the toilet.
Sleeping we haven't had a problem with , the first night I think she cried for a few minutes but soon fell fast asleep! Now by 10pm shes pretty much asking to go to bed. I warp her up in her bed and she stays put until 6am when we get up. We decided not to go down the crate training route just because I didn't feel very confident with it but I hear that it can be a great tool for training and providing a safe and calm place for the dog.
From before her vaccinations we would take her out as much as we could , just holding her in our arms so she could experience the different smells , meeting people from that young age. I really think that helped immensely as at 12 weeks when we were able to walk her she was a little scared at first but then she really just loved meeting everyone and really started to enjoy her walks.
We have been lucky that a friend of mine lives nearby with two dogs and another friend has a puppy only two weeks older than bea so we have been able to regularly socialise her with dogs of all ages and she really does love them! its so cute seeing her run up and greet her pals! haha
The BITING/NIPPING!
Bea would be the perfect puppy if it weren't for her nipping and biting! at first she would constantly want to bite us! in fact my hands are in a right mess from her pesky little shark teeth! there were many days were I would say to George shes the devil she hates us! I thought it would never stop! But slowly she is starting to understand that human flesh is delicate and its not right to bite. You read so much information online of how to stop biting and all very conflicting, we literally tried everything! it felt like nothing was working. I think the technique that works for each puppy could be very different but for Bea yelping and saying NO just caused her more excitement - she thought we were playing and would bite more! The only thing that has started to work for Bea is putting her out of the room in a kind of time out, that or just walking away not saying a word and ignoring her. Sure enough over the weeks we have noticed we are putting her in time out less and actually go through entire days without a bite! SUCCESS! haha
Puppy Proofing the house
Ok so put everything up high! Bea will find and steal everything! She loves shoes and we regularly find her in her bed chewing on one of our shoes that shes pinched from the cupboard. I left her for 20 minutes came back and she had eaten/shredded an entire kitchen roll! We use stair gates to stop her getting up upstairs even though age 10 weeks she broken one down and we found her starring at herself in the bedroom mirror!!
Feeding
We are raw feeding bea so lots of meat, bone and then slowly introducing some fruit and veg! She loves banana and carrot!
How I feel now
Having a puppy is A LOT harder than I thought it would be its not all cuddles and kisses! I really do not know how people have puppies and dont work from home! its literally a full time job in itself. However hard work its so lovely to have my 'little' companion to keep my company though the day and to have that little face so happy to see me in the morning. We are working hard to train her and make sure she is the most lovely adult dog she can be! Hopefully we can crush some of the stereotypes of what the breed are thought to be and share the really lovely nature they have.She starts puppy training this week so maybe I will write another post in a month or so and let you know how we are getting on.
Bea has her own instagram if any of you would like to follow her! Beas insta!
