The Puppy Diaries Week 2: Adopting a golden retriever puppy post 2020 Covid-19 lockdown

Bringing a new puppy home sounds simple enough, but as Bulletin senior reporter Emily Toxward found out, an 8-eight-old dog is no walk in the park. WHY THERE WERE TEARS.

NOTHING pulls on the heart strings like removing a sad-eyed puppy from its birthplace and everything it has known and loved since birth. Gulp.

But when the day finally came to collect our 8-week-old golden retriever Molly from our amazing breeders in Ipswich, I was prepared for an emotional farewell and whining the entire car trip home on my knee.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the first week of having her at home, thankfully it was the last week of the school holidays and I had a week off work so I had three happy children to help with all the duties that come with a non-toilet trained puppy.

She cried the entire one-hour car trip home.

Sussing out her new surroundings.

She slept for hours at a time when we got her home, waking for a short burst of cuteness only to collapse in a heap an hour later, which I’m not going to lie was great as it meant I could enjoy some down time.

Getting used to her surroundings involved her going from room to room, well the ones that weren’t carpeted and having a sniff. Meanwhile, Moby, our nine-year-old rescue moggy, was in the garage so he wouldn’t pack his bags permanently.

While the cuteness was overwhelming, she still looked sad and would gravitate towards the toys from her den. She would even snuggle into the Royal Canin professional maxi puppy active food bag, that was five times her height, about 20 kgs and only available through a breeder.

Pokey little puppy.

Licks for her new besties.

We set up a crate in a gated area that had lots of toys and an area with four puppy pee pads for her to wee/poo on in case we didn’t get her outside on time. And let me tell you, she did A LOT of business inside, and so there was plenty of mess to clean up.

Her first night away from her family was hard, with lots of whining and very sad and confused looking eyes. But I’d read a book called The Puppy Listener after a friend recommended it and it suggested spending the first night beside a new puppy.

So I slept on the couch next to her caged area and every few hours when she worked and whined I took her out for a wee by lifting her and taking her outside because her bladder control wasn’t great enough to make it four-metres from her caged area to the door.

Spot the golden hidden among soft toys bigger than she is.

Every time she woke and whimpered I reached over and said ‘Molly sleep’ and patted her. I’m not sure if she fell asleep first or I did but let’s just say it was a fitful night’s sleep.

Day two I also slept on the couch beside her also because I’m a bit softie and felt bad for her. She did less whimpering and I tried not to console her so she wouldn’t become used to having attention when upset.

We do have a crate but I couldn’t bring myself to lock her in it when she has no bladder control and I didn’t want her to feel abandoned. I’m not sure this won’t come back to bite me on the butt as she grows as I’ve heard great things about dogs who love their crates.

But I figure she’s still so little and I can crate train her when she’s older.

For now I want to make sure she feels secure and loved, which is quite easy since all the kids do is fight over who gets to spend more time with her before she passes out asleep.

As cute as a button.

8-week-old puppies sleep a lot.

Once she is asleep I’ve been letting Moby come out and sniff around the house and so far he’s not that worried but knows something quite horrific has happened to his quiet household.

Now on day three the wheels started to fall off my bike, partly due to a lack of sleep and partly because I was concerned I wasn’t crate training her, she was getting used to me sleeping beside her and I was worried that I was setting her up for failure.

There were tears and after much discussion it was decided to completely give up any idea of crate training and that it was probably best I did not sleep on the couch beside her.

But since I’m quite ridiculous, I decided that I couldn’t be two rooms away in case she cried and needed outside for a wee, so I slept in the lounge next door on the couch.

Her favourite chew toy, even though it raised a few eyebrows on social media.

Once she did her final toilet for the night I settled in for a night of TV and bad sleep. She only needed to go wee once in the night, then in the morning when hubby got up for work he took her outside for the toilet then back to bed.

Honestly I think we were a bit obsessed with making sure she knew she had to wee/poo outside and at times I wondered if she was just squatting to get the treat we’d give her every time she did business in the right spot.

But so far this week has just been lots of sleeping and quite frankly having such a gorgeous puppy is just so amazing. I’ve even had time to treat myself to a little bit of Lego building, a movable typewriter nonetheless!

The Lego typewriter (that has moving parts) that I managed to complete during Molly's first week at home and during a week off.

Bonding with my furbaby.

As for food, she’s not eating as much as I thought she would, she has a sardine with kibble in the morning, and a rissole-size 5-star beef mince with more kibble for lunch and dinner.

We’ve been making sure she doesn't jump about too much and have been lifting her everywhere so she doesn’t hurt joints, as we’ve been warned this can cause permanent damage.

I had to go out and buy some new chew toys because her razor-sharp teeth are into everything, particularly the kids!

Molly not chewing an expensive chew toy filled with peanut butter.

Asleep on a waterproof mat.

We’ve found that frozen peas and a wet face cloth rolled and then frozen also makes for a nifty chew toy. Those pricey Kong toys everyone raves about are too big for her at this stage and she doesn’t seem interested, despite me forking out WAY too much money for about five of them. But I figure she’ll destroy them one day.

Another thing I’ve been increasingly worried about is her lack of sleep, we’ve been told they sleep for about 18-20 hours a day, there’s no way she’s doing this, I reckon she has FOMO!

Those eyes....

We took her to the vet a few days after we got her just to get her checked out and she was mitten with our incredibly silky smooth golden, who licked her to death. We’re still not sure about pet insurance, but we’ve got 6 weeks cover thanks to our breeder so we’ve got some time.

She is bringing so much joy to our family though and we all just look at her and our hearts melt, and she’s also starting to become quite attached to us, sitting on us to sleep, bringing her chew toys to us.

We’re definitely growing on her.

So far, so good – yes it’s like having a newborn but having this time off work to bond with her is just amazing. And no regrets..... (yet)

NEXT TIME: Why having a new puppy took me back to my sad and lonely newborn baby days + what you do and don’t need to spend money on when you buy a puppy!

Molly the golden retriever at 8 weeks in new home

THE PUPPY DIARIES WEEK 1:

Adopting a golden retriever puppy post 2020 Covid-19 lockdown

August 9

AS a self-confessed former control freak, when I was told our purebred golden retriever puppy would pick us, and not vice versa, it kind of sent me into a head spin.

When you’re forking out decent coin and have waited on a list for 365 days, you expect to have more of a say in the matter.

But alas, I let it slide and thought I would not ruffle feathers unless it was warranted.

We’ve decided, and not unanimously, to call our puppy Molly and after waiting seven weeks to meet her the day finally arrived.

Meet Bruce and Molly, the purebred golden retriever parents of the litter of puppies that we are fortunate enough to be getting one of.

Driving to Ipswich were three very excited children and one anxious soon-to-be furbaby mother.

You see, last year during the first Covid-19 lockdown I thought it would be great to get a puppy because the kids were home to help. But it didn’t end up happening because there were no golden retrievers for sale at the time.

Life carried on and while I thought about it occasionally, when the kids nagged me for a dog, I didn’t actively search for a puppy.

Then a few months ago I got a call from a breeder, who kept my details from last year, asking if I was still interested in a female golden retriever puppy.

Of course I was, but I had to convince the bean counter in the household.

It wasn’t hard though, I just made him feel like it was his idea and got the kids to sign contracts agreeing to clean up poo and walk the dog and VOILA!

Okay, it wasn’t that simple, but let’s just say I got it over the line after weeks of begging and guilt tripping.

This little puppy decided that we were the family for her.

Anyway, back to the day we got to meet our puppy in person.

Sure, we’d seen photos and videos of the puppies through social media, but seven weeks is a long time for kids to wait for anything.

A few days before we were due to meet the puppies, I asked which exact dog was ours so I could stalk more closely on social media.

It was then that I was told she ‘pick us’, which I found an extremely difficult pill to swallow because I just wanted to know.

I love surprises, but not of the dog kind.

I was already anxious about getting a puppy but I know it’s going to be like having another baby and after a few weeks and the gloss of a puppy fades I will be doing EVERYTHING.

But anyway, when we arrived at the breeder’s house in Ipswich it was chaos, with seven other nervous wannabe dog owners carrying soft towels and blankets from home for the puppies to sleep on.

Molly greeting my daughter.

More snuggles.

The breeders said if we left something of ours with the puppies they would cover it in their scent and when we collected them at eight weeks of age the smelly item would help them settle into our homes.

Upon arrive there was puddles of wee, fluff and tiny crazy puppies bursting to be let outside – it was one big furry mosh pit!

We all sat on the concrete in a caged area and eagerly awaited them to “release the hounds” or tiny fluffballs in this case.

The second or third dog to be let outside was the smallest and whitest puppy I’ve ever seen. She appeared a little more awkward than her siblings, not as boisterous and half their size.

But the first thing she did was trot over to my family, lick me on the face and then proceed to sit down and look at my son with her big sad-looking eyes.

Have you ever seen a sadder looking puppy?

I overhead the breeders tell another couple which female puppy was theirs so that was that, this tiny pokey little puppy – quite obviously the runt of the litter – had chosen us.

I'm not going to lie, she looked half of the size of the others and seemed very sensitive and quiet compared to her bedmates.

After being shown how to clip nails, trim hair around their paws and lots of other information that stressed me out even more, we bid farewell to the furballs and left.

As we were preparing to leave I did wonder if we should have chosen a male puppy. They seemed miles ahead in every respect.

Now I’m really questioning whether she is maybe a little slower, sensitive or quieter than the other days and will that mean we’ll have an anxious puppy who’s scared of everything?

Have we bought a lemon? Am I meanest person in the world for thinking that? Quite possibly, yes.

Our puppy Molly at just 8 weeks old. The week before we were able to take her home.

I’m sure she’ll be fine and maybe it’s just because she’s had to compete for everything that she just seems so far behind her siblings.

It’s just one week until she arrives home and while I’ve got a crate, cage and enough toys to sink the Titanic, I can’t help but feel a little worried we’ve just spent a pretty penny on a dog that’s not quite right in the head.

I’ve been busy reading up about puppies and how they will be super anxious for a few days but now I’m even more worried because everyone else is collecting their puppy two days before us.

Will being without her siblings make her more sensitive and anxious?

Molly at 7 weeks

Our pokey wee puppy Molly.

I suppose I should just enjoy my last few days of having only one animal in the house. Poor Moby, our rescue cat, he won’t know what’s hit him when we bring a puppy home.

Last time a stray dog got lost I kept it in our yard for a day and Moby nearly spontaneously combusted with fear.

Let’s just hope having three fun-loving* children will make the transition to our home easier for little Molly.

Well, I suppose we’ll know in a week’s time.

* noisy, boisterous, loud, cheeky and prone to play-fighting

Follow @emilytoxward

Originally published as The Puppy Diaries Week 2: Adopting a golden retriever puppy post 2020 Covid-19 lockdown