A few weeks ago now, I introduced you to Buddy. He is the latest addition to our family, after these two, and has settled in well. I thought it would be nice to talk about how he is settling in with us.
Food
Life with Buddy has been a real learning process. Life with any puppy is a learning curve but choosing a Dalmatian meant we had to learn even more. Unlike other dogs, dalmatians don’t break down purines into allantoin but into uric acid instead which can cause them bladder stones. Other dogs can digest and get rid of purines with no problem whereas dalmatians can’t which means you have to avoid high purine foods for them – which reduces the food options by quite a lot!
We’ve finally found a food we and Buddy seem to be happy with – he is still on the puppy food at the moment and we will do more research into the best adult food once the time comes. He has his low purine dog treats and is allowed the odd bit of low purine human food such as fruits and meats as a treat too. We did plenty of research on what he could have – asking the breeder we got him from, the vet and joining multiple forums and Facebook groups too. Laura who owns gorgeous Mylo has been a really great friend through this too, offering advice when we were unsure and generally being wonderful.
Exercise
He is currently going out for a few short walks a day – he is still a puppy so is restricted on how much we can do right now. We’ve enjoyed some lovely walks with him though so far – a walk along the dog friendly part of Skegness beach, a walk in the woods at Ashridge. We’ve been talking about his exercise as he gets a little older – I mentioned Mylo’s activities with Laura as I’ve seen cycling recommended a lot in the groups I am in as the dalmatian loves to run alongside. This is something we are considering as he gets older.
He also spends plenty of time running around the garden, playing with the kids and us and chasing various things!
Training
We are slowly working with him on his training and are currently trying to find a puppy training class nearby as well – however coronavirus shut them all down during lockdown and none have really opened up yet in our area. He has learned sit, lay down, paw, stay (most of the time!) and is currently working on fetch and play dead. Now he is fully immunised, we are taking him further afield for walks where we can let him off the lead safely – he is learning really quickly with this and it is also helping him with the commands he hasn’t quite grasped yet. He had his first experience off the lead yesterday and loved it!
Toilet training, he is good as gold! He very rarely does anything inside – only if he can’t help it – and lets us know when he wants to go out.
With The Family
He has settled in well into our family life. He is still curious about the rats, if a little apprehensive. He adores Steve and is so happy when he comes home from work. He loves nothing more in the evening than snuggling up for a cuddle and loves the kids too. He can get a little nippy at times because he’s teething just like a human baby does but makes up for it with plenty of licks and cuddles. We wouldn’t be without him!
He is also good with other family and friends that have popped by. He can get a bit too excited and jump up and again can be a little nippy but this is to be expected and he does get told to get down and stop. He loves meeting new people and even enjoys seeing the dog groomer and the vet!
Further reading: How To Teach Your Kids To Take Care Of A Puppy
Sleep
We have been incredibly lucky when it comes to Buddy and his sleep. You hear all these nightmare stories about puppies whining for days at bedtime but after a small amount of whining on the first night, he settled down to sleep fairly easy and never did it again. He tends to sleep a few times in the day – normally after a meal and the toilet – before settling down about 8pm and snoozing through until we go to bed. He will then sleep through from about 11pm to 6/7am, perhaps even later. He has his breakfast between 7.30am and 8.30am so if he needs to go to the toilet before then, we do tend to head back to bed for a little while and he’ll happily curl up on his bed for a little while.
Overall, life with him so far has been wonderful. We had a few stressful weeks where he just seemed to be so stubborn and disobedient but it was just him testing his boundaries and now he is generally the loveliest little pup you could have. He has made a wonderful addition to our family and I can’t wait to see how he grows.
What a little cutie he is – I can’t believe how much he has grown since you have got him! Everytime I see a picture I’m sure he has grown a couple of inches.
Oh he is just the cutest puppy! What a photogenic little guy!
Sounds like he was made for you guys, slotting in so well to your family x
Awww Buddy is just so cute! I love all the photos you have shared of him especially the one with your daughter. Looks like he has settled in well and you have come up with some sort of routine as well.
He looks so cute, he looks like wonderful dog and i hope his good start continues through his puppy time.
Oh he is the cutest thing!!! My mum and dads dog is called buddy and the girls absolutely love him
I love your Buddy update, I love Dalmations my Uncle had one once and such a character. I love seeing the bond children and dogs have as well
Oh my gosh how cute is beautiful buddy!!! Such a lovely dog and a great addition to any family xx
I did not know Dalmatians had difficulty in breaking down purines in their diet. That would be difficult to find food that would be healthy for them to eat. I am glad that you were able to find the right food to give your cute puppy.
Oh my goodness, he is absolutely adorable! Having a new puppy is such fun! I had no idea that dalmatians required special food – that’s really interesting.
He really is adorable. I keep thinking baout getting a dog, the kids are desperate for one but I worry about the amount we trouble. One to keep thinking about for now.
He is gorgeous, I didn’t know that Dalmations had to have special food, what a nightmare. Glad he is settling into the family