STREET LIFE

A big day for Barney. He`s eleven weeks old today and a week ago he had the last of his injections, so this morning he had his first `walkies` on the lead. Not really a walk, as such, more a scamper around a bit of the parish with Barney being interested in all the new sniffs, seeing some more traffic, checking out the grass and engaging himself in a kind of mini-battle with his collar and lead. Not sure who won.

The thing with puppies is to get them used to as much of the sights and sounds of the world as possible. So far, Barney seems unfazed by anything he has come across....although the local donkeys were a bit of a surprise to him. We`ve been taking him for rides in the car most days, to get him used to travelling and he seems to have taken to that as well. Yesterday we took him to Pets at Home, where they allow you to take pets inside the store. We bought Barney a nice new tag for his collar with his name, postcode and phone number on it, just in case, and he was very interested in the guinea pigs, rabbits and the fish in the shop. At Barney`s age, most things appear edible.

Now we`ve started, he will expect a walk at least once a day to broaden his horizons. I hope the streets of our village are ready for him. He certainly seems up for it.