Cleo's Person
Well-known member
Yesterday, May 3rd, Cleo turned one!! :hppybdy:
She has been with us since she was 8 weeks old, and what an almost year it was. Although both Mark and I grew up in houses with dogs, neither of us had ever been responsible for one before, and so we were both excited and nervous about having Cleo join our home. I know our inexperience led us to make loads of mistakes in terms of training etc, but sharing our home with her has brought us such joy. Nothing quite beats coming home after a bad day at work, to Cleo dancing with excitment in her crate to be let out and cover you in kisses. She's such good company and we have lots of fun playing with her, taking her for walks and watching her reaction to the world. :biggrin:
It has not been a complete bed of roses of a year. Perhaps our inexperience caused potty training to be much more difficult than it ought to have been (thank goodness I found this site after 4 months or I might have gone completely around the bend). In that regard things regressed hugely after she was spayed and had the reaction to her stitches and so was laid up for 3 weeks in January, but we're back on track now, and I hope I'm not tempting fate to say we haven't had a problem in a few months. :xfngr:
Everyone in the family has taken to her hugely. My mother couln't be more delighted if we had presented her with a grandchild, rather than a granddog. Mam calls in to see Cleo every day when we're at work and take her for a walk, or takes her down to her house and Cleo has company for the rest of the day, where to be honest when she's in residence the entire house revolves around her! In fact Mam has grown so attached, that sometimes she dognapps Cleo for a few days, so in reality we have a timeshare in a dog, and Cleo has two homes where she is the star attraction! :smile:
My brother works abroad, and Champ, the lab we grew up with, was his dog. He always thought smalls dogs were silly because they were small. Nonetheless the few times he has been home this year, Cleo has won him around. The last time, he took to taking her for 3 hour walks, as he realised that all the women couldn't resist coming over to coo over her and thus his ego was hugely massaged. :roll: Cleo couldn't believe her luck at getting to go for such long walks every day, sometimes more than once and day, and a true friendship struck up between the two with added complete hero worship on Cleo's side, which was really cute to see. :lotsaluv:
Sorry for the big long posting, but I just thought I'd bring you all up to date with how we are getting along, and how much we enjoy having Cleo around. As it was her big day yesterday I thought I'd share her story with you all. I'll take some up to date photos this weekend and post them for you to see.
:thnx: Thanks so much, for all the advice, help and support which got us through the tricky times this year, and for sharing all your stories, so that we have felt part of a global doggy family (and not like overindulgent dopey dog owners).
Thanks again,
Tanya
She has been with us since she was 8 weeks old, and what an almost year it was. Although both Mark and I grew up in houses with dogs, neither of us had ever been responsible for one before, and so we were both excited and nervous about having Cleo join our home. I know our inexperience led us to make loads of mistakes in terms of training etc, but sharing our home with her has brought us such joy. Nothing quite beats coming home after a bad day at work, to Cleo dancing with excitment in her crate to be let out and cover you in kisses. She's such good company and we have lots of fun playing with her, taking her for walks and watching her reaction to the world. :biggrin:
It has not been a complete bed of roses of a year. Perhaps our inexperience caused potty training to be much more difficult than it ought to have been (thank goodness I found this site after 4 months or I might have gone completely around the bend). In that regard things regressed hugely after she was spayed and had the reaction to her stitches and so was laid up for 3 weeks in January, but we're back on track now, and I hope I'm not tempting fate to say we haven't had a problem in a few months. :xfngr:
Everyone in the family has taken to her hugely. My mother couln't be more delighted if we had presented her with a grandchild, rather than a granddog. Mam calls in to see Cleo every day when we're at work and take her for a walk, or takes her down to her house and Cleo has company for the rest of the day, where to be honest when she's in residence the entire house revolves around her! In fact Mam has grown so attached, that sometimes she dognapps Cleo for a few days, so in reality we have a timeshare in a dog, and Cleo has two homes where she is the star attraction! :smile:
My brother works abroad, and Champ, the lab we grew up with, was his dog. He always thought smalls dogs were silly because they were small. Nonetheless the few times he has been home this year, Cleo has won him around. The last time, he took to taking her for 3 hour walks, as he realised that all the women couldn't resist coming over to coo over her and thus his ego was hugely massaged. :roll: Cleo couldn't believe her luck at getting to go for such long walks every day, sometimes more than once and day, and a true friendship struck up between the two with added complete hero worship on Cleo's side, which was really cute to see. :lotsaluv:
Sorry for the big long posting, but I just thought I'd bring you all up to date with how we are getting along, and how much we enjoy having Cleo around. As it was her big day yesterday I thought I'd share her story with you all. I'll take some up to date photos this weekend and post them for you to see.
:thnx: Thanks so much, for all the advice, help and support which got us through the tricky times this year, and for sharing all your stories, so that we have felt part of a global doggy family (and not like overindulgent dopey dog owners).
Thanks again,
Tanya
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Love how she has won your mom over and your brother. How neat that she has so much bonding time with your mom. 
