Oh Lola. She is so adorable.

My husband and I have wanted a dog for quite a while. We bought our house with a dog in mind, and our house is just perfect! There is a tiny little dog door, and a little doggie shower/bath tub, and a lovely backyard for our little dog to play in.

Initially, I looked into rescue dogs – in the ACT, this was a bit challenging, as the dogs you find at the RSPCA are usually staffies or kelpies, and those dogs were just too big for us. We were quite determined that our dog should be a small dog, because that’s all we could fit through the dog door that was already there.

Then I started looking into pure-breeds, and we looked at Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and then we got onto this idea of a Cavoodle!

Now Cavoodles are super cute, but I was really struggling to find a breeder that wasn’t snooty. Cavoodles are essentially mutts, and these breeders were trying to sell each puppy for $3,300! I was quite shocked how commercialised the Cavoodle business was, and to be honest, I kind of felt that they were puppy farms. They seemed to be breeding for the sake of selling the puppies, and I just really didn’t want to support that.

So, it just so happened, I was looking on Dogzonline, and I noticed an ad for a miniature smooth haired Dachschund in Sutton! Sutton is 20 minutes away from where I live – it was a sign! Ben and I went to see the puppy that day, and we just fell in love with Little Lola.

Lola was the last puppy left for sale in her litter of 5 black and tan pups. I was very impressed with the breeder, Dorthe. She has such a commendable approach to breeding, in that none of the dogs she owns are related to each other (thus preventing inbreeding) and she strictly only does 2 litters every year.

Dorthe lives on a lovely property out in Sutton, and has 8 miniature Dachshunds. She said to us that she used to breed horses, but then they took up too much energy, so she gave it up and now she breeds miniature Dachshunds instead 🙂 Dorthe really was so lovely to us, she let us come up every weekend to visit Lola and get to know her before she moved in with us.

We got to take Princess Lola home with us when she was 9 weeks old, just in time for the Easter holidays. We were so lucky we had those 4 days off, we were able to just be at home with her and help transition her into her new life. Lola was very sad the first night, but after a couple of days, she warmed up to us, and now I think she thinks we are part of her pack.

The first couple of weeks were quite tough for all of us. Lola didn’t want to sleep alone, but we didn’t want her to be in our bed. That is the one place she is not allowed. So as a compromise, Ben and I grabbed our quilt and pillows off the bed, and we were sleeping on the floor with her. I am so glad we did this, as I think it really did strengthen our bond, and luckily, Lola didn’t come to expect it from us forever. Sometimes tough love is necessary.

Lola has grown up so quickly, it is hard to believe she is now 16 weeks old! Her personality is really developing quickly, and she is incredibly intelligent, and stubborn! She knows exactly what is off limits, and doesn’t care. She loves to steal our socks (particularly the good ones), chews on our ugg boots, toes and fingers. We have started taking her for walks, we are working on loose lead walking.

She thinks she is a big dog, and tries to go up against massive Rottweilers. She loves playing with other small dogs, and is just learning to defend herself. She is still struggling with the concept of toilet training, we are working on it.

I must say, our lives have completely changed since Lola. We now do a lot of dog related things, like take Lola to puppy pre-school, puppy play dates, puppy tea parties, dog expos, dog high teas – the list is never ending!

All in all, Lola has been an absolute delight, and Ben and I are thinking of getting another mini-Daxie once Lola is an adult. She needs a brother/sister, after all 🙂

 

I am thinking I will post some recipes for dogs too, I made puppycakes for Lola and her friends recently, and they were such a hit!