Life with a six month old doberman

As Bea is 6 months old on the 5th of May I thought I would do a little update on how we are getting on. I am not going to lie it has been hard work! There have been days I am in tears thinking why did I decide to get a puppy!! But the good days totally make up for the days she decides she wants to eat an elephant toy or chew Georges handmade bespoke dining table. She is my 'little' companion and I wouldn't be without her, I actually cannot remember a time without her and we have only had her for four months! She has for sure made a big impact on our lives.

About Bea

Over the last four months her personality has really grown and shone through. She is a sassy 'little' Diva who does like her own way but she is so so loving and probably the most friendly dog you will ever met ( probably a bit too friendly!!! as you will read about in the training section) She loves to great everyone we meet and looks super upset if she doesn't get to say hello. Being a Doberman she is VERY intelligent and often out wits us - there is no tricking her into going into her bed with treats! no no no she knows exactly what we are up to. 

Training 

We started Bea at a training school which actually turned out to be a very bad experience as the trainer seemed worried Bea would hurt the other puppies being she is a large breed we were matched with 5 other very small breeds which meant we were put in the corner and Bea wasn't able to join in which made her very frustrated and bored! I decided to return would be more detrimental to her development than good so we didn't go back. We started seeing a local trainer one on one which has helped massively! searching on the internet there is so much conflicting advice on how to train puppies.The trainer was able to Taylor a plan for Bea and her needs.

As she is super intelligent she picks things up really quick which has meant she is able to second guess what we are going to ask her! 

Getting her into a routine through the day has helped improve her immensely and gernerally made her a calmer dog (throughout the day) which enables me to actually work rather than play all day. This is made easier as I work from home and can stick to the same routine daily (bar weekends). Our day goes as follows -

6am I start work and Bea snoozes for one more hour 

7am pretty much on the dot she wakes up and pokes me in the leg to tell me its breakfast time!

7am- 10.30am - after breakfast sometimes she wants to play so we play ball for 20 mins or so then she settles back down usually on her favourite chair next to the glass door for another snooze or to bird watch.

11am - Most weekdays we walk around 11am with our friends Janine and her two dogs JoJo and Coleford who bea just adores! As she is so young its important not to over walk her so I find this time works perfectly for us between breakfast and lunch.

12-12.30pm is her favourite time of day! Lunch time!!

1-5pm Bea will mostly sleep/sunbathe/ play in the garden 

5pm - Dinner time

5-6pm George comes home from work and Bea has a mad hour of play and zoomies!!

7.30pm is when Bea starts to settle for evening cuddles before bed at around 10.30pm

Toilet training

She picked toilet training up very quick, she will normally jump and poke the back door keys to go out. It is very rare she has an accident, the last time she did was when it was raining outside so she did a sneaky wee indoors! she hates the rain!! 

The biting/nipping

This is getting better as time goes on , she is teething at the moment so can be a little nippy however she has learned not to bite down and doesn't break my flesh anymore! but there was a point I thought this would be something she would never get out of as she associated nipping with playing, whenever she gets a bit nippy we just walk away and stop play.

Food  

She absolutely loves her food! we RAW feed so she has quite a varied diet of meats, also yogurt, eggs, carrots ect. I also add in coconut oil , fish oil, and apple cider vinegar to her breakfast.

What I have learned 

 -Puppies are hard work! I dont think I could have ever prepared myself haha!! im not sure I will be having an actual human baby for quite sometime let me put it that way....

- Vets charge an absolute fortune! I have spent over £500 in vet bills already!! I want to avoid a trip to the vet as much as possible as shes being raw fed ect.

- Gastroenteritis - Bea eats everything in sight and picked up a bug so the vet charged me £70 for some paste and to say she will be fine in 48 hours 

- Eating a toy - £100 for the vet to make her sick and retrieve the toy

- Skin scarpe test - over £300 for skin tests as she has had a bad allergic reaction to something! we think from playing in dirty water on a walk

So along with her diet which is better than mine, insurance , training and toys she is by far my biggest expense! but most loved :) (  I wasn't saying that when she ate the tusk of her toy elephant!!! CRY CRY)

- Now she is starting to look like a proper Doberman and less like a puppy I have noticed that people avoid us on walks and are reluctant to say hello, which is a massive shame as she wouldn't hurt a fly! In fact there has been many times where smaller dogs have gone her for and shes ran away with her tail between he legs hiding behind me! shes a wuss really. 

Areas to work on

The two areas that need to most work is being able to walk nicely on a lead! she is getting stronger and stronger as the days go on and is up to 24kg at just 5 and half months! so we are working really hard with guidance from the trainer to hopefully have her walking lovely on a just a lead and collar. 

The other thing is jumping up! she will jump up and great everyone! Its lovely how friendly she is but not everyone wants a massive doberman jumping up at them, this will take a lot of time and patience as we have to remember she is so so young and everything is so exciting, im sure we will get there.

I hope you enjoyed reading this little update and im sure I will update again soon :) in the meantime if you wish to follow bea head over to her instagram I post daily onto stories to document her day too!  

Meet Bea - Life with a puppy six weeks on

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!

Renovation plans for the new house

New home means I get to do my most favourite task of planning the interiors! and of course having only being in the house for just two weeks I have put together a mood board for each room and I thought it might be nice to share my initial ideas so we can see what route we actually go for. The house is a large 3 bed detached cottage so there is plenty of space to play with! of course I will share each room before and after photos as we decorate.

Entrance/hall

My initial ideas for the hall will be to keep it quite bright and white adding in some quirky art work for pops of colour , height from plants/ flowers. We also have a separate cupboard for shoes/coats and a good sized utility and toilet room off of the hall.

Living room

The living room is quite a big space with two big windows an old feature open fire place and ceiling beams, its got quite a cosy vibe already but I would like to add a modern twist with lighter colours mixed with the dark beams. Statement coloured chair in a little reading nook , of course artwork! One side of the fireplace I would like a little seating area built where we can keep wood underneath for the fire.

Dining room 

 I am thrilled to have a separate space for a dining room! In our last home I had one room to use as a living/dining/work room. The dining room is surrounded by windows looking onto fields and to one side a little courtyard which will be perfect for BBQs and dining outdoors in the summer as its such a cute private little area. For the dining room I am either thinking of using a navy or a nice forest green to compliment the fields and bring the outdoors in.

Kitchen/extension 

The kitchen will be a big renovation as eventually we would like to extend and add lots of glass to again make the most of the insane views. This will be one of the last rooms we renovate as it will most defiantly be the most expensive.

 The bathroom

The bathroom isnt actually that bad , I really like the tiles and separate shower. The bathroom is a really good size so I would really like to eventually switch out the bath for a free standing roll top bath. This will be one of the rooms we decorate first as I think we can make to our style pretty cheap with what is already there.

Main bedroom

The main bedroom is pretty big with beams on the ceiling and two windows. I am toying between using navy or the dark forest green - So its navy or green for the dining room and bedroom haven't quite decided yet!But I really like the richness of the green in the images below and how they bring a warmth and opulence to the room. I would also like to DIY a large wood headboard to make a statement and focal point to the room. Also I am on the hunt for a pretty dressing table to upcycle! 

Then we have two other bedrooms which will become guest bedrooms ( I haven't planned these out yet! haha) Then the upstairs hall which has large open walls and a big window over the stairs looking out to the fields - Definitely needs some big pretty artwork. 

Can you tell I am excited to get started?! Its going to be a long process as we have work to do structurally as well as some work to the outside. 

I hope you are excited to see the upcoming makeovers! 

What I learned selling our first house and buying our second

When we bought our first home three years ago I wrote a post about my experience and what I had learned so I thought some of you might be interested to read what it was like selling that property and buying our second. Now let me tell you selling and buying is a hell of a lot more stress than buying your first...

  Our new home! dont worry that playhouse will be going and George will be making a turquoise door asap!! 

So what have I learned

- DONT DO IT!! - well no do but prepare for one of the most stressful times. Everything seemed so much harder buying our second home than it did being first time buyers.

For starters selling your first home. To go with an estate agent or not? we toyed with the idea of using sites like purple bricks to save on fees but in the end decided that as it was a first time buyers home it would be better to sell through an estate agent as the buyer might feel more at ease with the process than if they had to deal with us direct. We got three valuations one was VERY low the other two were pretty similar and we ended up going for the agent that quoted the mid range just because we preferred the approach he had but we put the house up for sale a little more than he had suggested.

Looking back now I do question if we did actually need to sell through an estate agent as I really only spoke to them a handful of times, they did the viewings for us but our house did sell relatively quick (as I said it is a first time buyers home so was on the lower end of the market). Did they really warrant the £2,600 price tag?! Maybe this was an area we could have saved on and perhaps in the future we wouldn't use an agent.

- The mortgage - So once you have your house valuation this will give you a rough estimate what you are set to make on the property and use towards your next. Luckily we managed to make around £54k in the three years just through updating and decorating so this would give us a good start when looking for our mortgage top up. Long story short we ended up sticking with the bank we had our first mortgage with as it would have cost too much to end the contract, however if we were nearer the end of our term we could have got a lower interest rate else where (its all a lot of numbers!)

- Being self employed - Again as I stated in my previous post what I learned buying my first home being self employed adds a whole lot of paperwork and stress when it comes to applying for a mortgage. They see you as a massive risk if you are self employed so expect extra checks and longer wait times, we got there in the end and left with a rough price range in which to start our house search.

- FEES -  Paying stamp duty, solicitor fees can amount to a lot of money which we didn't really think about too much when we were viewing potential new property's. What I learned was that when you get your rough guide to how much you can afford deduct £10k-£15k from that estimate to allow for the colossal fees! we ended up with a final bill of £14,810.30 OMG crryyy cryyy! Those fees included stamp duty, solicitor fees and estate agent fees.

Selling our home - As you would see from my blog we pretty much redecorated and renovated the whole house doing most of the work ourselves. Now this saved us a lot of money at the time but when it came to selling the house we realised we needed fensa certificates! The problem arose from a tiny rotten old window to the side of the house which George replaced with a lovely new one after a lot of back and forth between solicitors (costing us money) it was finally agreed that we would pay an indemnity insurance on the window. This could have been avoided if we would have known that certain work you do on your property needs to basically be signed off and given a certificate to say that it is safe. Luckily this didn't hold the sell up too much but it could have gone on and on if the insurance agreement hadn't been finalised. Lesson we have learned is to keep records of any work and fensa certificates!!

I could go into more detail but I do not want to bore you! if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or send me an email :)

To sum up our experience I would use one word LONG ...
But we got there in the end and on the 5th of January we waved goodbye to number 8 fortview terrace and moved into our 'new' home! which is actually over 200 years old and is quite a big project but I think it will be so pretty when we are finished, I will of course be sharing our renovation journey with you all too.

Happy New year!

Emma x