Into the world outside.

So far we had not let the pups out onto the garden as there are 2 very large cats that come from neighbours houses and use our garden as a through route. The pups are so small we are worried that if the cats see them they may do them some harm. But Brandy & Brinkley are growing very quickly and have doubled in size since we brought them home. So, today we decided we would try them outside on the decking on their leads. We have been getting them familiar with their harnesses, which they are more tolerant of than their collars, but I am hopeful that when they realise that harness equals walkies, they may very soon come to love them.

So, the first challenge is to get their harnesses on correctly. Even the smallest harness I could find is too big for them and Brandy somehow can move around inside his but after a few minutes they were both in their harness with leads attached and we carried them out onto the decking for the first time.

At first they both just stood as if attached to our ankles, not venturing a step. It was cold and slightly windy and they had just come from a very cosy centrally heated room – and I really thought we would be going nowhere today and just going back inside. But, I was wrong. After a few minutes they both started to take very tentative steps. We have a step from one level to another on the decking which is less than the height of the stairs so they both handled that without any bother, up and down.

We only kept them outside for a few minutes but they did manage a couple of lengths of the deck with the help of a couple of treats to encourage them before they both started back towards the door. Brandy (with the black harness & lead) actually looked as if he was enjoying himself.Once back inside, their harnesses off, they both seemed totally un-phased by their trip outside but they did both snuggle up together so they probably weren’t impressed with the cold – can’t say I blame them.