My pupster is 5 today

Happy birthday Dextie xxxx
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If you look closely you will see Dextie has two spots so close 

They are below his eye

Together they form a love heart

I love that heart

nature made him that way

he is VERY spotty like his mum

Some Dally's in comparison hardly have 

any

Yes I am bias but he is such

A very lovely part of our family.

I cannot believe he is 5 today.!!

Well this is the tale of how we got our boy.

One day when Little Miss was about 4 we 

We're walking in the park and a naughty , cheeky

poodle jumped up and stole her ice cream.

That little act would cause absolute misery for my little 

girl and us for over 3 years.

She refused to go to the park unless she was in a pram,

and when she saw a dog would hide under blankets.

I could be driving along and suddenly she would scream out

in fear if she saw a dog

very dangerous as the outburst would be sudden 

and could distract my attention..

One day I feared I would have a accident

I too found myself always looking for dogs.

Her fear and it was an absolute terror

of dogs had to be addressed

and somehow we had to get her 

used to dogs of all sizes.

So , like everything that the kids don,t like or understand

I had a plan, in a controlled, gentle

way introduce the offending subject.

I had tried visits to an animal rescue place

distressing for her and the dogs..

Not the answer.

Dogs quite rightly so are everywhere.. 

This  problem was not going to go away 

it just could not go on..

thankfully Little Man was fine 

but would he soon develope a fear of his own! 

DH had always wanted a Dalmatian

I always had dogs 

mainly lab/German shepherd crosses and a poodle.

But when we got married we decided not

to get one because we worked long hours

And we're often out of the house

up to 12 hours

and that just would not be fair

on any pooch.

But

with me now at home full time ,

now was the time.

We decided at the weekend to start looking for a  

Dally pup .  My plan was Little Miss would get used to a small dog 

(Pup) and then get used to bigger and bigger dogs as the pup grew

into a large dog.

Luck was on our side ..

I kid

you not , we  found on Monday evening

a litter of 9 had been born that weekend!

We contacted the breeder and they had 3 dogs and 

6 bitches 

DH  wanted a dog not a bitch.

The breeder lived 30 mins away and lived

Near Hever Castle one of my favourite places.!!!

How lucky was that? 

We had expected to have to travel 

To different counties...

We always planned to meet not only 

The mother but father too

I wanted to see the temperament 

Of both

that's why we didn,t get a Heinz 57

We had to be as sure as one can be 

The pup would have a good temperament,

if not our problem 

would only worsen and it was not

Our plan that we would then have to 

give the pup back for re homing.

This was the first picture we were sent .

Dexter's mum "Twiggy" is a liver/white dally

Here she is with the pups only a few days old.

All the pups turned out black/white

they are born white and the spots develope 

during the following weeks

(Dexter is still developing spots !!)

Dexter is at the top left of the above picture

He obviously was always going to be "top dog"!!!

He has a row of slanting spots that start

just above his nose...

Here is our little chap on the day we picked

Him, he was 4 weeks old 

Unlike his two brothers, he was a very

Confident , nosey little boy 

And he seemed to respond well to noise

Unfortunately Dally's 

Are prone to deafness and deaf pups have to 

Be put to sleep

But our boy passed his hearing test  with flying colours.

He has full hearing in both ears, his brothers only 

have  hearing in one ear , but that is fine

But you can,t breed from them without full hearing though.

This handsome chap is dad,

"Gunner" 

We visited his owners too as we wanted to check out

His temperment too.

His owners are part of the Dalmatian Club of GB.

What they don,t know about Dalmatians is not worth knowing. 

When we visited I felt we were being interrogated!!

They were lovely but wanted to know that we knew what we were taking on !

Dalmatians are very strong minded 

dogs, they can become quite a handful

If you let them..

Dexter was no  different .

Thankfully having dogs all my childhood , 

I had the experience to know what he was up to 

and play him at his own game!!

He was a stubborn pup

he tried to be top dog over us 

no chance  pupster !!!

Finally he found where his pecking

order was and it was not top dog! 

but we picked well

he is a very affectionate chap 

 a great house dog 

and so protective of us 

but that is all in his breed.

Dalmatians used to protect stage coaches 

they are faithful and loyal

and "working" dogs

They are full of energy and need 

Lots of exercise.

Dextie  brings us so much companionship,

and love ... and when a 38kilo 

wants  to sit on your lap

for a cuddle 

......

You know about it believe me!!!

Little Lady was part of everything when we decided  

to get our boy, 

the breeder was great 

Sending regular pictures and updates.

Little Miss helped make a blanket 

for the new pup

and yes she was nervous for a day or two

when he arrived ,

but within a week she helped feed him, 

played  in the garden with him.

Then his first walk in the park in the snow 

was amazing. ...she

wasn't in a pram, dogs of all size  everywhere

And 

She was fine, fear gone

problem solved

And 

we had a much loved new addition to 

Our family.

Off now for a birthday walk...

Happy Birthday Dextie xxxxx

See you soon

Xxxx