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Thursday 17 September 2015

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



18 comments:

  1. It is amazing how fast children can overcome their terrors with the right stimulus. My first ESS was a very gentle boy and helped a few to overcome their fears, he was also a PAT dog for 5 years and loved his sessions at a local hospice.

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    Replies
    1. Absolutely. Dogs bring so much joy for people with illness and disability. Dexter has far too much energy at the moment to be PAT...xxx

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  2. Dexter is a beautiful dog. You still have many years to enjoy it. What a coincidence Maria, my persian cat Strike turns 15 years next Saturday.
    Hugs

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  3. Awwww, Dextie is beautiful, I do love Dalmations. I've got a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who's five, we got him when I stopped working too. Years of Eleanor nagging for a dog finally wore me down. Happy Birthday Dextie.

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    1. Your boy is lovely too. Little Miss wants us to get a smaller dog now...maybe when our fellow gets a bit older.xx

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  4. Happy Birthday Dexter...sending ear scratches

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  5. Happy birthday Dextie. Such a lovely post, my youngest was terrified of dogs when younger & my neighbour gradually introduced his border collie to him over a number of weeks. They became the best of friends. Dextie reminds me of my mums neighbour who had a dalmatian who really was the softest thing. He used to lean over my mums garden wall & let the kids colour his face xx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jo...big smiles here, do you remember dot to dot pictures for kids? Maybe the kids were doing that..ha ha , take ages to dot to dot with our boy! Xxx

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  6. Oh my, my heart is melting right now! There is so much sweetness and cuteness going on right now, my friend :) Happy Birthday to your precious Dextie. Hugs to you!

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  7. What a fine looking boy he is Happy Birthday :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dawn, as you tell I love him very much.xx

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  8. So cute!! Love the little heart spot :)

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    Replies
    1. He really is a sweetheart in more ways than one....xxx

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  9. Boris says Happy Birthday to Dexter.
    XXXXX

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    Replies
    1. From one handsome chap to another..cheers mate!! Xx

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