Little Miss Tonka Little Miss Tonka

It’s a big wide world out there…

There’s the vets for a health check and jabs, all went well.

Then there’s the front room and eventually the garden.

Wow, look at all this green stuff

I know I'm tiny, but I can manage all of this chew you know.

It has to be said that it was very exciting getting Katie home, but it was also hard work for all of us.  For her everything was so big and there was a lot of space.  She wasn’t with her litter anymore and everything seemed very scary for her.  We kept her in one room (the kitchen) and stayed with her pretty much all of the time.

She wouldn’t eat and I phoned our breeder for advice.  She was very helpful.

When it came to bed time, we left her down in the kitchen and she cried pretty much all night.  It was just awful. We had been told to stick with it though and to set the routine as we wanted it.

When I came down the next morning there was a lot of mess to clear up.

This went on for the next three nights.  It was fair to say that Katie was not giving up and Tony and I needed sleep.  In the end (about 2 a.m) Tony got up, got the fabric crate that we had and put it in our bedroom.  He then got Katie and she came up with us.   She still cried.  So we put the crate at my side of the bed I put my hand in it and for the first time we got peace and quiet.  Katie cuddled up to my hand and finally went to sleep.

We spent the next few months moving the crate inch by inch further and further away from us.  In the end (still in the crate) we managed to move her to the bedroom next door.

Katie was our first cairn terrier.

When we made the decision to have a dog I thought I wanted labrador.  (My first ever dog was a labrador called Bess.  She was lovely and I have a lot of happy memories of her.)  However, Tony, was the sensible one (as ever) pointing out that our garden wasn’t big enough and they need a lot of exercise.  Friends and family also pointed out that labradors are big and moult and  smell terrible when they get wet (something they like doing a lot).

My step mum suggested a cairn terrier.  I hadn’t really heard of them and I’d never have thought of getting a terrier.

We did quite a lot of research (including visiting the breed stand at Crufts and watching them being shown)and decided that actually it would be a suitable breed.

We got in touch with the Midland Cairn Terrier Club puppy liaison officer and were put in touch with a breeder called Judy Barnsley.

We went to visit the pups a couple of times and then we were united with our Katie.

Katie...5 weeks of age!