Back last summer something pretty special happened and just incase you missed all the photo's on my instagram and tweets and general excitement on my part- We got a puppy!!
I've grown up with Border Collies and I've wanted my own dog for such a long time so when my other half slipped into a conversation with some friends the words 'we would probably have time for a dog now' he came home from work the next day to around 15 tabs open on my computer showing him all the puppies in the local area.

This was Haku when we first went to see him. We went back the next day to collect him.

I really love dogs and the fact that you can create this bond with an animal and they don't care how you look, what you wear or what you say. They only want love and looking after and they love you so whole heartedly in return.
It's been a little dream of mine that I'll be working from home, with a lovely doggy companion and we'll be able to go for long walks together, and not have that stress that comes sometimes with other people -- A bit sappy I know.

Unfortunately things did not go exactly to plan, a few days after we bought Haku home he got really sick, couldn't keep any food whatsoever in and eventually stopped eating altogether. Being such a young puppy this was not good news and we spent every day in and out of vets, no-one could tell us what was wrong with him other then it was probably just a bug and hopefully it would pass so we opted for giving him some time to see if it was just a bug and it would pass over.
He was so weak, he would just go outside onto the grass and lie in a corner of the lawn and not move.
It was heart breaking, neither of us could work or sleep, and think straight.
It only got worse we had to go to the emergency vets one night as he hadn't eaten for around 3 days, barely drank and he just stopped responding to us. He got injected with a fluid boost and we were sent home again, all we could do was wait.
After just over a week the vets suggested he may of eaten a pebble or something that had blocked up inside of him and if still no better the next day it would be x-rays and perhaps an operation.
Of course we had no insurance since he hadn't been able to have nay of his jabs yet so all the costs soon mounted up and the vet advised the costs of those procedures would be £600+ so not only were we sick with worry about Haku, it was about whether we could afford to carry on.

Then..that same night, around Midnight, Haku took some food from one of us! It was a small miracle and we still had to be careful incase he took too much and it upset him again, but he was very much on the road to recovery!

Good news! He made a full recovery and after such a horrible week and a bit, we suddenly realised we very much had a puppy on our hands!
Boy was it hard work!!
We were setting alarms for every 2-3 hours throughout the night so we could take him out, cleaning up poo and wee, washing so much bedding, and of course, lots of saying 'leave that, no and not that!'
I won't lie, I'd forgotten how much hard work having a puppy is.

After around week 12 things started to get more 'normal' Haku had learnt to go outside, so no more accidents indoors, he knew what to chew and what not to chew, and was well on the way with his training.

Having Haku has made such a positive impact on my day to day life. I have to get out and take him for a walk every day meaning exercise, he doesn't allow for those stormy moods to last for long and he still does the bum wiggle when he says hello to me!

Haku is now 8 months old, and we still have a little way to go on the *training front, but we are getting there :) Lots more adventures await for our little family!

Lou xx

*For training we used 2 great books - The complete puppy and dog care which is a great book, covers what dog breed would be right for you, toys, crates all the way through to training walkthroughs.
The Culture Clash A brilliant (if a little wordy) book on dog training, the mentality dogs have and how we perceive it. Includes some great tips, like a list of all things you need to dog to see before he is considered 'socialised' , rainy day games, training exercises and so much more.