Bringing Bella home was an exciting car journey. Not only due to having a teeny little big eyed puppy in the back but also our son had no idea we were bringing her home that weekend :) She was very good and as long as I kept my fingers inside the crate for her to lick and nuzzle into she was good. However there is only so long I could bend my arm round the seat to do this so inbetween licking and napping she would do the cutest little howl/bark. We also found out she quite liked Kings Of Leon so we knew she would settle in well with us! After a quick loo break (for all of us) and lots of cuddles we headed on the final leg of our journey.
Her first evening she slotted straight in as if she had been here all her life. Our son was blown away with excitment when he came back from nannys and Bella fell totally in love and they have been inseperable ever since.As you can see she took to him straight away <3
She looked so small on my old dogs large bed and would lay there flat on her back with her legs in the air, and a teddy was given by our son for her to snuggle up with and she was the same size as him (although now he is tiny in comparison, or should I say was as he is now no longer with us after being de-stuffed by bella during a playful day!)
The first few nights
The first couple of nights, understandably were hard. She needed a wee several times a night and got a little lonely downstairs in the kitchen but after moving her cage into the living room she slept soundly from 11pm-6am and by 10 weeks was sleeping from 10pm through until 7am without needing a loo trip in the night :) way to go Bella. I do remember one night, I think day 3/4 with us she whined a few times in the night and I ended up sleeping on the sofa with her snuggled up under my chin and although I was shattered just being snuggled by that little pup who had the beautiful "puppy smell" about her was a wonderful feeling.
Now I cant really recall many moments since then as its been 6 months which is why I wanted to start this sooner than now as I knew I would forget but I'll try and remember.
From 11 weeks she was vaccinated and able to venture outside on walkies and the fun really began. We joined a local dog training class and Bella did really really well and I found it invaluable and recommend every new owner finds a local class. The socialisation for puppy and the tips you pick up became life lines and we found bella loves all dogs regardless of size! From the huge 16 week old great dane to the chiuahua on the same course lol! She just had no fear.
Sadly we didnt finish the course as Bella caught Kennel cough and so needed to be in isolation from other dogs and bless her it was a horrible cough she had. My top tip from the vet warm some honey and a little lemon in warm water and let her lap at it to soothe her throat and it really seemed to work (although honey seemed to give her a sugar rush lol!)
Back out in the world again we had many a joyous walk and plenty of training thrown in daily which meant by 12 weeks Bella would sit, stay, wait, lie down, leave a piece of chicken on her paw without touching, and we began using a long line and a harness to practise recall. Recall had always been a scary thought as beagles are known for having zero yet constant training meant from 16/17 weeks old I could let the long line trail behind her without holding it and she could run about and we would stand 20/30 ft aoart from one another and get her to recall to one of us then command her to go to the other. We can now say on a walk "find daddy..find mummy...find jordy" and she will know who to return to :D
Teething kicked in around 15/17 weeks ( i think ) and it was SO funny when she had one pop out. She would bark and paw at the tooth on the floor and look at us and howl as if to say " what on earth is this mum??" Ive now got 8 in a little box put away as mementos. Looking at her adult teeth I cant believe how teeny they are!
During the teething stage she would chew and chew and my poor sofa took a bit of a bashing but thankfully frozen carrots became more tempting and the sofa got left alone. By 21 weeks or so the teeth had all come through, well all except one baby tooth which is still there and next to the adult tooth it was meant to move out the way for but during her spaying op the tooth will be removed.
As bella has got older her colourings have changed quite dramatically. She came home pretty much black and white with a brown right leg to her sock. Today she is mostly brown and white with a small black section on her back. Her face has also gone from jet black to tan brown. Her ears have also now become in proportion to her face where as for about 6 weeks they looked too big for her body bless her tooo cute!!
She also hit 7 months and became much more relaxed and the loony zoomies as we called them-the mad 30 mins before bedtime started to stop and she is now happiest lying down in front of the fire or recently lazing in the sunshine. She also has a fab routine of waking at 7am, going for a 30-40 min walk and home for breakfast before she goes for a sleep whilst I go to work and I return at lunch time for another walk and then we chill all afternoon until 3pm when my boy comes home and play time begins!! She then has tea about 5pm and sleeps whilst we have tea and then a final walk about 8pm and home to relax/play/train until bed time at 10pm. By doing this she has no seperation anxiety,doesnt howl on leaving alone, hasnt once destroyed anything in her cage whilst inside, and is basically a chilled out pupster. <3
So I want this blog to highlight all a beagle qualities and prove they ARE trainable, they are loveable and to be honest the best breed out there, contrary to most information online/in books which only seem to list their negative traits :(
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