Two weeks with our Buster – Mummascribbles

Two weeks ago today, after a month or so of waiting for him, I went to pick up our new puppy Buster. Rehomed from Street Hearts in Bulgaria, we had all been so excited for his arrival – and I don’t think I will ever forget that moment when I met him for the first time, cuddled up in my arms at South Mimms Service Station. But how have we been getting on with what was always going to be the chaos of adding a roughly five month old pup to the mad house? Well, it’s been pretty good actually.

I will admit, that first night we had him, there were many moments where I wondered what the hell I had done. There were wee accidents, poo accidents. The kids were crazy tired and over-excited, and that very first night, I was on my own with him while the other half was out, and I wondered how the heck I was going to get myself to bed, the dog to sleep, and the cat in. And then when I did do all that, Buster barked and cried – a lot. He did fall asleep and wasn’t too bad, but the subsequent nights he got worse and the other half found himself sleeping on the sofa for two nights. The first night Buster wasn’t even happy with just being in the same room – he had to be right next to him in his crate. The second night he was slightly further away. After that, we knew what we had to do. We had to let him sleep in our room. He had started waking the kids up, nobody was getting much sleep, and we didn’t want him being as upset as he was. So ever since, the crate comes up to our room at night, he toddles in there and sleeps pretty well. Not perfect – but then no-one in my house does so it’s not much difference!

There is no doubt that since day one of his arrival, I have been Alpha. Whether it’s because I was the one that picked him up and took him back to his new home, or just quite simply, because I am around all the time – but he is my little shadow. He loves everyone, but he follows me everywhere, cries a bit when he realises I am upstairs (when everyone else is with him downstairs), and whilst he goes out for walks without me (not often), he spends the time wondering where the heck I am. Just yesterday I took the kids out while Buster stayed with the other half and as he took him out for a walk, he was watching me over his back wondering why I wasn’t taking him. My kids have always been very clingy, and so I am very much used to dealing with that attachment!

Despite that though, as I mentioned – he does love everyone. He and Oscar are the best of pals. They are absolutely adorable. They snuggle on the sofa, they cuddle in the bathroom, and they have the best play sessions. Buster often thinks that Oscar is a fellow pup and can get a bit over-playful with him, so I do have to watch them together when he is having one of his mad moments! But overall, they are both wonderful together and Oscar regularly tells me how much he loves him.

Zach has taken longer to get used to Buster. But he has always been the warier of my two boys and at one point a fair while ago, he had quite a fear of dogs!

He loves doing the important jobs – feeding him, giving him treats, helping to train him (he taught him to sit brilliantly), and walking him too. He is getting braver though, and quite enjoys sitting on the sofa stroking him. When he gets a bit bitey though – he leaves well alone!

Buster loves food. Like loves food. You have never seen anything eat as fast as he eats and you have never seen someone ready to steal food from your plate like he does. We have to be on guard all the time when there is food around, and I have started popping him in the crate with a treat so that the temptation isn’t there. It makes for a calmer mealtime for everyone involved. He is improving, but he is simply a food orientated dog. He has stolen toast from Zach’s plate, sandwiches from hands, and a sausage roll while Oscar was in the middle of eating it. It is the biggest thing we need to train him out of, so it is the biggest focus right now!

He came to us pretty much toilet trained. He had a few accidents when he first arrived because he didn’t know where he needed to go to the toilet, but after a few trips outside, some treats and LOTS of praise, he soon realised where he needed to go to the loo and has only had accidents when we haven’t realised he needed to go. At first, he kind of just hovered around the hallway so it wasn’t obvious. Then he started going to the back door, and now, he barks when he needs to go out. Which is just bloody fantastic because with two kids in the house, when he was trying to tell me with visuals that he needed to go to the loo, it wasn’t easy to pick up!

He loves his walks, although he has been quite nervy and is a massive sniffer. He spends most of his time finding food scraps, crisp packets to root down, and poo to sniff and eat (dogs are gross!). But he is pretty good on the lead, pulls a bit in his anticipation of hunting stuff, but otherwise, happily trots along with us. We have the most gorgeous Country park for him to enjoy, and he is good on the streets. He is a bit wary of other dogs. Sometimes growls and sometimes happily has a sniffing bums session. He also looks wary of other people sometimes, although if they show him just an ounce of affection, he is all over them like a rash!

The cat and dog situation has been a slow burner. It started off bad – another reason why I wasn’t sure I had done the right thing. The first time they met there was a lot of hissing and growling at each other. We barely saw Milo for a couple of days and had to make sure they were separate. And then a turning point happened and they were in the same room without too much of an issue.

And now, most of the time they are fine. Milo still keeps a bit of a distance but Buster knows who is boss. We see him much more – he regularly comes in throughout the day and he has no troubles coming in at night. Buster does get a bit over enthusiastic at times and tries to play with him, which makes Milo do a runner over the fence, but overall, they are getting better and I am much happier knowing that he comes home more.

Overall, having Buster is wonderful. Yes he is needy. Yes he cries a bit when I go out (I never leave him for long but I have to do the school runs without him). Yes there is a lot more mud in the house. Yes it is flipping freezing waiting for him to decide where in the garden to do a wee. But he is the most gorgeous, friendly, playful little pup, and I love the extra something that he has brought to the house. The extra love. The extra fun. The new relationships for the boys to experience. He is an absolute love and now a huge part of our family.