A relaxing night on the couch

After the noise of the previous night I decided on a different approach. I put the radio on in the kitchen throughout the evening when Vio was being fed and coming and going with me into the garden and had everything set up for sleep time. We decided to settle her down before we went to bed so that we were just the other side of a door talking and watching TV as she settled. Vio, was settling to sleep after a meal and some play in the garden so we moved her to her bed and watched her fall asleep whilst tidying the kitchen.

All was well for a full 5 minutes....then the howling, barking and scratching started. After 10 minutes my wife and I decided another night of interrupted sleep for the kids and both of us would be counterproductive, but we weren't taking Vio to bed with us. I waited till Vio stopped barking and was quiet before walking into the kitchen and reaching for a bottle of ice cold cider. Vio was laid a few feet from the door on the lino and was immediately yelping and bashing herself against my shins. I just carried on as normal and went back into the living room; Vio followed. After a late night watching TV and drinking cider I curled up on the 9 foot sofa to sleep. Vio just laid out on the carpet. I needed the loo at 3 am (cider can do that to you!) and sadly my timing was out...by the time I came down from the toilet Vio had woken and had her 3am wee. Still I took her outside with the floodlight on and stood in the wind and rain in case she needed to go any more...Nada..so back in and onto the couch and Vio onto the floor with her head thrust into one of my trainers.

At 6 am I woke to the sound of Vio unlacing my trainers and I swapped it for her rope chew before taking her outside (still raining and very windy). Vio performed her ablutions in the garden as soon as we went out and I gave her loads of praise. I went to clean it up and got involved in Vio's 'pounce on the poo' game. She has no interest in what she's done till I go to pick it up then she deftly jumps her fore paws straight on top of my hand and kitchen roll as I attempt a swift pick-up. So far I've managed to get the paper over the poo so no paw cleaning for Vio...so far.

Vio's feeding instructions from the breeder were for Nutra Large Breed Puppy food, plus a little scrambled egg, some raw beef mince, and some goats milk. I know that the complete foods say no other supplements are needed, but the breeder has produced some beautiful dogs so I guess she knows what does best for them. The good side is that Vio only needs a little scrambled egg....so I get the rest on toast. Much nicer than shredded wheat!

Vio loves the scrambled egg. We give it to her in a little plastic bowl which she picks up and throws in our direction as soon as she's polished off the egg (well she's done it twice...and she's had the egg twice).

After a good nights sleep, we've all got more energy and the kids and Vio have been amusing each other between her regular puppy naps. We have found a little problem in the garden that she's picking up the stones around the garden edges and trying to eat them. I've introduced a mini rugby ball and a mini football to the garden and she now focuses on bashing the balls with her paws and picking the football up and carrying it around.

Will have to wait and see how tonight goes. I introduced her to her collar briefly yesterday with no problems and she wore it for half an hour today, including a play in the garden without signs of discomfort or trying to get at it. No doubt this will change when she goes to the vet tomorrow for her checks, first jabs and microchip. I'm also a little concerned that her eyes look a little swollen and red. They were like that when Vio arrived home, but the puffiness and droopy bottom left eyelid come and go; certainly no worse than when she first arrived and not appearing to deteriorate.

Let's see how tonight goes....