My little sausages...

Oh they are just adorable. I call them Sausage 1 and Sausage 2 (which isn't confusing for them at all!).

Last night Archie woke us up a couple of times needing to go out which I don't mind because at least he is letting us know. He does seem to have taken a backward step in terms of sleeping through the night but I think it might be down to the fact he had his second lot of injections on Saturday and he was quite a poorly boy so I reckon that explains it.

This morning when I left the house to go to work Angus was in the crook of Rich's arm, on his back with his paws out front (I really should have taken a picture, he loves that position) and Archie was snoozing on his lap. They all looked very cute (and comfy!) and I wish I could have stayed with them!

That's just one of the problems of owning puppies (or indeed having children I would imagine, not that I have any experience of this) you just don't want to leave them, for any time at all.

I'm missing going home to them at lunch time this week (although my car isn't missing doing the mileage!), Rich has taken over the responsibility as he is around and works closer to home. I think he enjoys spending time with his boys... I often see him having a quiet conversation with Angus, he whispers in his ear then won't tell me what he's said. That's love isn't it?

Will update later and put some more pictures on.

Angus and Archie have their first bath!

Well what a lovely weekend it has been, weather wise and just generally. I was out on a hen do last night, 23 girls, was great fun, especially when I managed to get two free bottles of Moet from my friend Mike who happened to be the duty manager at the pub we were at! Amazing. The night finished off with a ride in a limo so pretty much a fantastic night out all round.

Rich was away most of today at the British Superbikes so I had the house and the boys to myself, wow it was a hot one. I had to get the hose pipe out at one point and spray the boys to cool them off a bit. Also tried to make them have some quiet time so that they didn't overheat, tricky when they're two rumbunctious puppies!

Rich came home looking as red as a lobster, silly boy had been in the sun all day with no protection :-S I did tell him! I have been extremely tired but managed to go swimming this morning which I was quite proud of considering I didn't get to bed til late last night.

So this evening we thought it would be a good idea to give the boys a bath, considering how hot it's been and all that. We stupidly put them in the bath at the same time... which ended up being a rather wet experience for everyone involved ha ha. Angus took getting wet and soapy like a man, he only tried to get out once or twice but Archie was a whole different matter! He tried and tried to get out and then when I eventually managed to stop him jumping up he started squealing! He is such a baby! He didn't stop until I pulled him out and wrapped him in his towel, what a wimp!

He seems ok now, he's under his blanket on his bed. Angus is being thoroughly spoilt and is lying on Rich, being cradled by his arm. I do despair sometimes!

Another fun weekend in the Angus and Archie household, back to work tomorrow, booo, I'd much rather be at home! I thank my lucky stars every day, I am truly blessed to be in the position I'm in and am so very happy :-)

Have a great night!

TFI Friday!

Another successful day with the boys, they have been extraordinarily good :-) I am a happy mummy, so far anyway. I'm going to my friends house tonight so that her mum can meet Angus and Archie, they also have horses, goats and kittens so could be an interesting evening!

Now I like a bit of hot weather but at the moment it seems a bit unbearably hot... I really shouldn't complain should I, must be a British thing ;-) I know it'll be raining next week so should make the most of it!

I will be so glad when Rich is back, I love the boys to bits but a week with them on my own... well, it's been hard work and that's all I'll say! I think the boys will be glad to have him back too, I don't think he shouts at them as much as I do.

I've had them chasing round after treat filled toys this evening, they don't know when to stop eating though! I honestly think they could go on and on and on until they burst. It gave them something different to do for a while though.

Archie seems particularly bitey today, he's had my hair in his mouth, my top, my jeans, most of Angus, not sure what to do about it really. Think it might be time to think about having his wotsits off - it's for the best isn't it!

He's scary when he's coming at ya!!

Warm night, early morning

Phew it was warm in our house last night and I didn't even have the heating on. It meant that when I went to bed after an uneventful evening I had to open the window and leave the door open to try and get a draft going through the room. Not that I'm complaining, it's lovely to have some warm weather at long last. The only trouble is it meant that the boys were a bit unsettled this morning when it got quite a bit cooler so I was awake at 4.30am trying to shush them!

I took them outside to do their business then tried to get them to settle but didn't really manage it, for some reason Archie was particularly whiney bless him. Needless to say Mummy is very tired today!

Archie is so funny when he first wakes up, I carry them both down the stairs then put them straight out into the garden (it minimises the chance of any accidents on the way out) and Archie just seems to fall over everywhere! He'll be walking fine then his legs just sort of give way as if he's still half asleep (obviously hoping it's nothing serious and that he will grow out of it!).

They both get really excited when I put them in their crates in the kitchen now, ready for my departure. They know what's coming... it's Kong time! They love it, and can't seem to get enough of it! All I do is put a bit of puppy paste in then put a chocolate drop on top, put some ice cubes in a small bowl for them in case they get thirsty then put the kongs in their crates and drop the blanket on top - hey presto, two happy boys until lunch time.

It's my last day today of going home at lunch time, Rich is back from working abroad tomorrow and I have to say I can not wait to see him! A week is far too long. I think he might have missed the boys quite a bit... and me of course.

I think my little sausages will be pleased to see their daddy!

I will update again later and include more photos.

Excitement in the Angus & Archie household!

Well ok, not too much excitement for you maybe but it was to me! First of all there was no mess again when I came home from work, I've got my fingers crossed that this is now the way forward. The boys have just had their dinner and the back door was shut, I can't see them from I'm sitting but could hear them playing... well, there is a puppy training pad down in the conservatory and when I got up to check on them I saw not one but two patches of wee on the pad - result! That means that Archie is following Angus's lead and doing a wee on the pad if he can't get outside. That is such a major step up from where he has been because more often than not straight after their dinner I would find a patch of wee somewhere in the house, generally either in the kitchen or on the living room carpet (don't worry we've got a very good odour and stain remover!).

Archie really is coming on in leaps and bounds considering he's only 10 weeks old (and we've only had him for just over a week).

Angus is as good as gold as ever, he has developed a strange habit though (don't read on if you don't want to read about toilet business!), he has started to go and do his business in private in the middle of a bush... he's always been a very private dog anyway but this seems to me to be taking it to the extreme! I don't mind really, it means less mess on the lawn but still... just seems a bit odd to me! Archie has no problem with doing it any time, any where! Bless him.


Not many plans for this evening, desperately need to get some housework done but I don't really want to put the boys in their crates while I'm around so I might leave it to another day... there's always tomorrow right?

Is it really Thursday already?

I can't believe how quickly this week is going, thank goodness it is flying by! I think I may have given myself a hernia this morning, I have to carry the boys' crates upstairs at night and downstairs in the morning and this morning I really hurt myself so I think it might be time for them to start sleeping in the kitchen rather than our bedroom... not sure how that will go down with Rich though! We'll have to see, it does feel like we've had Archie a lot longer than just a week and a half!

It was so funny the other night, I do worry when the boys are fighting but they do it quietly generally and don't yelp or anything so I do try and let them get on with it. Archie was being particularly playful and going after Angus quite a bit and growling but he wasn't looking at what he was doing at one point and trod on his own ear (they're that long!) and fell over! My stomach hurt from laughing, the look on his face was priceless!

He's always running around and falling over, it's especially funny when he runs down the ramp we have had built for them and lands on his shoulder - it sounds painful but I don't think it is. Angus just looks at him with disdain then gets on with chewing his toys!

They had a good nights sleep last night, they didn't get up this morning until 7.30am which is brilliant for me, I do love a lie in.

Will update again later!

Wow

I am soooo tired! Who could have known that looking after two boys could be so tiring!

They seem to continuously want to be out in the garden at the moment which is fine until I shut the door on them and then of course they want to come inside! I played 'chuck the kong' with them this evening, they seem to have energy that knows no bounds which is great but tiring when I'm on my own.

They also seem to be obsessed with the bark we laid down in our garden about a year ago, every time I look they're chewing away on something which is quite worrying considering how little they are, I really worry about them eating something which then gets stuck and blocks them up. Rich tells me not to worry but still...

Archie is at the vets on Saturday for his second lot of injections, he's a lot better since he's been taking his anti-biotics. He was a bit poorly when we first brought him home and although we thought it would settle down on it's own we decided to take him to the vet to get him checked out and she recommended a 10 day course. I think he was poorly after his first injections so am not looking forward to Sat/Sun if he's going to be poorly again bless him. He's such a baby, we think they spoiled him a bit at the breeders and now we're paying the price. I think he'll grow out of it as he gets older though... fingers crossed anyway!

All quiet on the western front

The boys both slept through the night again last night which is brilliant, it's so lovely getting a decent nights sleep, especially as Rich is away so can't help out with looking after them. I think they're doing really well for a four month old and a two month old!

I went home at lunch time and they were happy to see me and so good in their crates. It's a beautiful sunny day here so I took them into the garden for half an hour to stretch their legs and for a good run around. They both love it when their kongs are filled with puppy paste (I do this every time I leave them) so to get them really going I put a bit of paste in and then threw the kongs round the garden for them to chase! They love it. Angus is a bit more alert than Archie, sometimes when I throw them Angus is off straight away but Archie just looks up at me as if to say 'What's all the fuss about??'.

I've been trying to think of ingenious ways of getting them to run round the garden to burn off some energy (I can't wait until I can take them both for walks although going by Archie's reaction to a lead and collar the other day I don't think it's going to be easy!) and in the past have sellotaped a piece of string to the end of a drum stick (!) with a treat on the end which I then run around with and they run after! Not ideal so I'm going to have a look into a puppy bubble machine an ingenious contraption that sends out bubbles that are bacon flavoured (as seen on Victoria Stilwells It's Me or the Dog one of my favourite programmes). Then I don't have to do the hard work, the machine does the hard work for me!

I can't wait to get home tonight to see them, it's so lovely having company while Rich is away with work.

I will update again later.

Some pictures of the boys

So I went home at lunch time...

... and all was fine! The boys were quiet in their crates and there was no mess. They had a mad half hour which was quite amusing then happily went back in for the afternoon. I took some pictures of them in the garden and will post later. Such good boys!! :-)

When the cat (owner) is away, the puppies will play...

We've had Archie for just over a week now and he seems to be settling in well. He does cry a bit still if we leave him but he settles down eventually. The boys are being brought up to be on their own in their crates during the day for four hours at a time while we're at work, I've been told that if you start them with this when they're young then they're happy like that because that's all they know.

Angus was allowed a bit of freedom in the beginning, we'd put his crate in the kitchen but leave the crate door open so that he could run around in the kitchen. Archie has been crated since we got him and he's doing well with it, he's managing to hold it all in until we let him out.

Yesterday was the first day the boys were left on their own while I went to work, Rich is away with work all week so it was down to me to sort them out. We decided it might be an idea to put Angus's crate in the dining room opening onto the conservatory so that if he needed to he could run around in there. I closed the conservatory door most of the way so there was only a small gap between the crate and the open door. Archie meanwhile was in his crate in the dining room, not too far away from Angus.

When I got home at lunch time to let them out I got the shock of my life when I looked through the living room window - Angus was happily playing on the dining room carpet!! He'd managed to get through the tiniest gap between the crate door and the conservatory door and must have been laughing at Archie still locked in his crate!

Well, I couldn't let that happen again (imagine the damage he could have done to the house and to himself!) so they are now both locked in their crates in the kitchen with a blanket over them! They are let out at lunch times for an hour for food and play then they go back in until I get home from work and are out for the whole evening (unless they decide they want a lie down!).

Last night was the first night that Archie made it through the night without me needing to take him out to do his business which was such a relief as getting up at 3am every night is not great, especially when I'm on my own because Rich is away!

So, I wonder what delights I will go home to today... :-) :-) They really are a joy to have around!

Right then, it's time to stop messing about...

I used to live in a house share and often got bored in the evenings because my other half lived two hours away so my lovely sister advised me that I should start a blog all about sausage dogs, seeing as I love them so much. I did try and set it up but didn't really feel as if I could do a blog justice without any experience of owning a dog.

I have always wanted a dog, I grew up with sausage dogs and have just been in love with dogs in general since I was little. If you ask any of my friends what I want most the answer would definitely be 'a dog!'.

Well, on 5th April my life changed forever - my boyfriend and I got our first puppy! His name is Angus and he's a miniature smooth hair dachshund. He's currently 17 weeks old but we got him when he was 10 weeks old. The last few weeks have certainly been a learning curve! He is adorable but he is also a very submissive, timid dog (we're not sure why, he is also a happy little chappy), he's quite scared of meeting new people so we're hoping to take him to puppy classes in the near future to try and help him with that.

While we were getting Angus we decided that really we wanted two puppies so that one on it's own didn't get bored. At the time the breeder only had Angus for sale but she happened to have some younger puppies in the back so we had a look... and fell in love with Archie! He is now 10 weeks old and is a black and tan miniature dachshund.

I think Angus may have been a bit spoilt in the 3 weeks we had him on his own, he is a lovely dog, very eager to please and we were getting on with training really well until Archie came home! He's only been here a week though so there's plenty of time for them to get on and sort each other out. Archie is also a lovely dog, very different to Angus though, he's far more adventurous and gets his nose into everything! He is also not at all scared of meeting new people, it may be because he's still young but hopefully he'll stay that way.

Anyway, that's my first proper post, I'm going to keep updating it so that you can all see how well they are coming along!