Puppy Awareness Week

Here in the UK this week is Puppy Awareness Week. The Kennel Club is trying to let all the peeps who are looking for a puppy know where to go and how to find a happy healthy pup from a loved and cared for mother. When I had my pups Judith & Leigh did everything they could to make me comfortable and safe and helped me raise my babies in a lovely clean whelping box. You can see all about my first litter in the archive posts on this blog for March-May 2012.

This is me in the whelping box with a heated pad to keep the pups warm and a guard rail to make sure I don't roll on one (as if I would!). We were well cared for but many poor doggy mothers are not loved - they are used to have puppies to make money for peeps who don't love dogs at all. Lots of kind owners don't realise their puppy has come from a 'puppy farm' which is what they call places where pups are bred just for money.

Puppy Awareness Week is to try and explain what you should and shouldn't do when looking for a new canine family member:

1. Never buy from a pet shop - these are almost certain to be from a puppy farm
2. Always visit the place where the puppies have been born and see them with their mother.
3. Don't agree to meet somewhere else to pick up the puppy from the back of the car.
4. Make sure you understand the needs of the breed of dog you have chosen - you don't want a dog who needs a 20 mile run a day if you can't walk very far. Find out about its grooming needs, exercise, and its characteristics before you buy - all puppies look sweet but some grow up to be very big and need lots of care and attention.

There is more advice on the Kennel Club's website where there is a special page for Puppy Awareness Week:

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/paw

There is lots more good advice on that website if you are looking for a puppy too. There is also a video you can watch about puppy farming and the horrific conditions the poor mother dogs and their pups suffer in such places but Leigh didn't want to make all you dog loving peeps cry when you're reading the blog. You can watch the video on the KC page if you want to see the details...but to cheer you up after that serious stuff  here are some photos of my pups sent by their new owners to show them enjoying their new life now they are growing up:

This was Smudge a few months ago wondering if he should jump in the paddling pool for his toy.

And he did!

 

 

and this is Malfi - 5 months old!

 

I don't have a photo of my sweet boy Otto but I hear he is enjoying life with Dusty and Molly and getting up to mischief at every opportunity!

 

 

and he looks such an innocent little boy here!