I apologize for being less active lately, but my excuse is that I got a puppy! I've been without a dog since I went to college 10 years ago and I'm so excited to finally be able to have one. I started looking last November, so it's been a long wait, but I got my little guy two weeks ago at 9 weeks old. His name is Watson and he's a Welsh Springer Spaniel. He's a lot of work, as puppies are, but he'll turn into a great dog someday. He's quite the biter right now with his sharp little teeth, but I think he's getting better and otherwise he's really good - no whining in his crate, no accidents in the house unless we really wait too long to take him out and he can't help it. I really want to get into dog activities like obedience, agility, etc and I hope he'll enjoy doing those things with me. His "official" name is Truepenny Olympic Triumph (the litter theme was the Olympics, so all of this brothers and sisters have similar names).

The bunnies are doing ok. Both are a bit nervous about him, but we've been trying to work with them every day or so. DH sits in the bunny room while I sit on the other side of an xpen fence with Watson and we basically feed them treats to get them comfortable with each other. Watson thinks they're interesting and I'm sure wants to play with them, but for now the goal is just to get comfortable on the opposite side of a fence. He's able to sit quietly and just watch them, while DH tries to get them progressively closer to the fence. When we're not working with them, they have an additional baby gate so they're separated by a double fence, but can still see each other. The bunnies have been getting less time out in the living room since we're always in the kitchen and library with the puppy, but they have the entire dining room (once their pen is opened up) so I think they'll survive  They would be allowed in the living room by themselves, but Hannah realized once again that she can get behind the couch if she tries hard enough, so she won't stop attempting it and we have to watch her like a hawk when she's in there. Otto's perfect, as usual, but I feel bad because Hannah chases him away when she's getting treats for approaching the puppy. DH and I try to split up for a while in the evenings and one of us visits with bunnies while the other watches the pup.

The reason I didn't post anything sooner was that I didn't have any pictures, but now I do! He's so hard to photograph because he rushes the camera and tries to play with it, but I got some this afternoon while he was chewing on a new toy out on the patio. DH also took one of him sleeping next to me on the recliner last night - he thinks he's such a lap dog (which will be funny when he's 45lbs).

What a pretty puppy! They are good hunting dogs, so I'm sure you will have the degree of obedience required for agility training. Are you going to try to start early on?

Thanks! I think he's quite a pretty boy, but I'm biased.

I'm definitely starting his training - we're doing lots of short sessions every day (though I'm focusing more on impulse control, crate training, and bunny training at the moment, so his "sit" is good, but his "down" is non-existent). His first puppy class is next week and from there we'll take the other obedience classes offered by the training company (they have classes in all of the things I'd like to do with him). Our breeder really wants us to show him (I promised I'd at least give it a shot), so I'll have to take a handling class too. He won't be able to jump for agility until at least a year, but we can practice other thing and work on obedience.

Aww, he's so cute!! He almost looks like a Brittany, except for the ears

I love how he looks so innocent while chewing on some poor pigs ear  

We actually looked at Brittanies first, but I wasn't crazy about the breeders I found. Someone recommended Welshies and I never looked back. We met the other puppy owners from our puppy class on Wednesday and one couple has a brittany girl. She and Watson will be twins!

He demolished that pig ear in less than 2 hours. Hopefully we don't have upset puppy tummy tonight :-o

That FACE!!!!!!!! He's adorable.

Congrats! I can't imagine not having a dog, let alone be without one for 10 years so that's got to be so much fun. I love the puppy training and socialization stage

What a cutie!!!

He's so cute!!!! I love spaniels. I love Springers and Cavalier King Charles. I'd get a Cavalier if I could get any dog.

Congrats on your new addition!

LPT, Cavs are such great little dogs! If I wanted a smaller dog, they would be at the top of my list.

Hokankai, I have to admit that it's strange living with a dog after not having one for so long. Especially a puppy, since the last time I had a puppy was when I was 6 years old (and obviously my parents did all of the work until I was older)

Pretty! His coat just glistens! And his ears look so soft. I'm glad you finally got him. With a name like "Truepenny Olympic Triumph," he ought to excel at agility, etc. How big was the litter?

Awww....he's goofy cute.  And he's a redhead like you too.

Hi, Watson! We met on facebook.

Posted By Sarita on 10/22/2012 12:08 PM
Awww....he's goofy cute.  And he's a redhead like you too.

Yes, I'm getting a lot of teasing for getting a dog that's my doppelganger. lol I figure we can put it to good use by entering some contests for pets who look like their owner. Wonder how the prize money is for those?

Posted By Silly Sungura on 10/22/2012 11:39 AM
Pretty! His coat just glistens! And his ears look so soft. I'm glad you finally got him. With a name like "Truepenny Olympic Triumph," he ought to excel at agility, etc. How big was the litter?

We had fun trying to come up with silly names (that the breeder would never go for) - my favorite was Truepenny Olympic Disappointment. I actually really liked Olympic Hopeful, but my breeder was pushing Triumph since it sounded more like a "winner". Haha.

There were 6 in the litter - two girls and four boys. DH wanted a girl, but I wanted a boy, so we agreed to take whatever we could get. The breeder kept a little girl, and the other one was spoken for, so we got a boy.

I love this little guy! SOOO ADORABLE! And so happy you finally found a pup!

Gasp!!! He is gorgeous! What a beautiful looking pup. Love his colouring. Love the lap dog piccy too lol. His paws look huge already. O.O
How does anyone do obedience work with a dog with THOSE eyes?!

I think I may have met a springer spaniel at an event on the weekend. We had a lot of smaller spaniels come through but I saw a couple of the larger. They all had great temperaments.

Looking forward to hearing more about dear Watson.

He's gorgeous!!!!!!!! I love his freckles!

Beka, thanks! I think he's quite a good looking little guy too :-)

Jersey, he already loves training, but he gets so into it that he turns bitey. lol He also gets frustrated sometimes and starts smacking my foot with his paw, trying to figure out what I want. We have our first puppy class this Thursday, so we'll see how he does! I bet he'll be so distracted that he forgets everything he's learned so far.

I just love the spaniels types, and setters, though I think they're too big for me. I love medium sized dogs.