Jane: Raising a Puppy

Sammy

Heard of the saying “It’s a dog’s life”?  I have always understood that to be a fairly lazy life that consists of food, exercise and hours of sleep.  In May 2012, I acquired a rather handsome (have to say that!) longhaired dachshund puppy.  He turned one year old recently.

I read two very good books on how to train a puppy.  Sammy knows what is not allowed but no amount of gentle (OK, some wallops with a rolled up newspaper from time to time) punishment stops him. 

At great expense, I installed a handmade gate to go between the kitchen and living-room.  He reaches the handle with his mouth and opens it.  He leaps up and pulls all t-towels, handtowels, aprons off the wall hooks.  I spend my time sewing the ties back on the towels.  He has learnt to pull over my waste-paper basket and I spend my life picking up bits of paper from under the coffee table. He loves to lick feet under the table.  Leaping on the sofa to nudge the poor, tolerant cat whose perch is up there is huge fun.  In fact, leaping ON the cat is his favourite pastime.  Pulling strands of wool out of the carpet is also a good one.  But, the game he likes best is destroying my glasses.  Two have had to be replaced and this week, I just caught him in time before my new pair were rendered unusable.   However, the final straw happened yesterday.  My electrician and I were having a coffee.  I was constantly watching Sammy but in five minutes, he had chewed a tear in the hem of the electrician’s coat which was hanging over the back of a chair.  My electrician (aged 63) is quite dapper and likes his clothes!

Everyone warned me that owning a dog is expensive.  The replacement glasses set me back a few hundred euros and well, I am not too sure as yet what I will need to do re the electrician’s coat!

Motto of this story:  A ‘dog’s life’ is not what you think it is!