Welcome to the Family, Robin
It has been a long journey but I can finally write this post. On the 8th of December 2018, bright early on a Saturday morning after Dad and I had been to a company Christmas lunch the day before, we drove to Jutland to pick up our little boxer puppy. She has run right into all of our hearts with only the charm of a puppy and she is now a full-fledged family member and it has been a blessing, even when she's chasing us and biting our ankles or accidentally peeing inside. She makes up for her mischief by being utterly adorable. It should go without saying that this will be a photo-heavy post but how can it not with this face?
We had been awaiting her ever since early September where Mum first started reaching out to breeders with pregnant bitches to try to reserve a little female puppy. The two first breeders only had two females and Mum was just one spot too far down on the list to get any of them. We awaited with baited breath as Robin's mother had to get an emergency C-section mid-way through birthing as one of the puppies had gotten stuck. Six puppies made it and the mother Elle was an absolute champion through the whole process. Three boys and three girls. Mum and I followed them in a Facebook group but it wasn't until the 1st of November that Mum could drive up to meet the puppies and get approved to get one of them that we knew for sure. It took another couple of days before we found out which one would be ours and since then the wait became even more excruciating.
The final five weeks nailed by, Mum made several visits and I came along for one too but none of them was as good as the day that we could pick her up and bring her home. Hallie and Robin met on neutral ground at Grandma's house and it went over pretty well. They sniffed each other a lot but I don't think Hallie realised that she was getting a baby sister just yet. Mum and I was sat with both of the dogs in the back seat on the two hour drive home and Robin managed so well. She was already smitten with Hallie, even if it took our old gal a little longer to warm up to her.
Robin slotted into the family very nicely. Hallie did a few growls and snaps very early on and she was a bit more jealous than we had initially thought but after just a couple of days that aggression started to fade away. Robin mostly slept for the first week and then she would have very intense but extremely short play sessions. She found Hallie's massive array of toys interesting but one of the biggest hits were an old half-torn up creme fraiche tub. Another one was the odd purple robe thingy that Hallie also adores but none of us humans can see the appeal of, eschpeially since the bottom was knocked out of it ages ago.
Enjoy a massive array of our little darling, sleeping, playing and just being a sweetheart.
Occasionally, Robin also watches your screen with you, so I couldn't resist the temptation of putting my computer down to her height when I was watching a Dan and Phil live show. Sure enough, she stared fascinated at the screen. Mum joked that with hearing all the English I watch and with Robin sometimes being in my lap when I was writing my exam assignments, our little puppy will learn the language in no time.
This is the family's fourth boxer but it is the first time that we have ever had two dogs at the same time. We knew that Hallie was very good at sharing a space with my Grandma's Frenchie (who is spoiled and a little entitled at times) and that she had been nice to puppies she met out and about. It was something a little different to introduce Robin to Hallie as part of the pack. Hallie is very closely bonded to my mother and initially she showed a lot of jealousy. We always made sure to shower both of them with affections, allow Robin play-time alone and Hallie to have her long off-lead walks. They were separated at food times and we watched them carefully when toys were involved.
Hallie, like any adult dog I would imagine, have a very broad range of sounds and growls that mean various things. It took Robin a long time to decode what was a warning growl and what was a playing one but it is coming along nicely now. Whenever Hallie lies down somewhere, Robin will usually trot over and plonk down right next to her. She adores Hallie so much. Hallie gets a little tired of it at times but she is easing up and allowing it more and more. They have even started playing tug-of-war and the little one isn't so scared of the play-growls anymore. Hallie doesn't put her full weight behind the tug at all, mostly just holding it and letting Robin pull. It is very lovely to see and Hallie has also started bringing Robin toys when she wants to play. They will be great for each other now that Hallie has understood that Robin is part of the family and that none of the love gets taken away from her, just because we have a new baby.
I could probably keep writing about her but I am going to leave it here. I mostly wanted to make this post to capture some of these very early memories of the less than two weeks she had been with us. Before we know it, she'll be a young dog and the puppy days will be over. Her name and her red collar fits in perfectly with the Christmas spirit which has encased my family house over the past couple of weeks. Mum have taken time off to look after the dogs and help with exams and she had also taking up cooking large meals for dinner and it has just been a cosy time. I don't know anything quite as calming as that puppy smell or feeling a little body like that asleep next to you. We are so happy that she became our dog.
It feels a little like fate that it would be Robin that would come into our lives. The first two breeders didn't work out, we nearly missed emailing Robin's breeder and Robin is born on the tenth of October which is World Mental Health Day but also a nice number in itself. She is ours, our new family member and therefore she is already a 10/10 to us.
We had been awaiting her ever since early September where Mum first started reaching out to breeders with pregnant bitches to try to reserve a little female puppy. The two first breeders only had two females and Mum was just one spot too far down on the list to get any of them. We awaited with baited breath as Robin's mother had to get an emergency C-section mid-way through birthing as one of the puppies had gotten stuck. Six puppies made it and the mother Elle was an absolute champion through the whole process. Three boys and three girls. Mum and I followed them in a Facebook group but it wasn't until the 1st of November that Mum could drive up to meet the puppies and get approved to get one of them that we knew for sure. It took another couple of days before we found out which one would be ours and since then the wait became even more excruciating.
The final five weeks nailed by, Mum made several visits and I came along for one too but none of them was as good as the day that we could pick her up and bring her home. Hallie and Robin met on neutral ground at Grandma's house and it went over pretty well. They sniffed each other a lot but I don't think Hallie realised that she was getting a baby sister just yet. Mum and I was sat with both of the dogs in the back seat on the two hour drive home and Robin managed so well. She was already smitten with Hallie, even if it took our old gal a little longer to warm up to her.
Robin slotted into the family very nicely. Hallie did a few growls and snaps very early on and she was a bit more jealous than we had initially thought but after just a couple of days that aggression started to fade away. Robin mostly slept for the first week and then she would have very intense but extremely short play sessions. She found Hallie's massive array of toys interesting but one of the biggest hits were an old half-torn up creme fraiche tub. Another one was the odd purple robe thingy that Hallie also adores but none of us humans can see the appeal of, eschpeially since the bottom was knocked out of it ages ago.
Enjoy a massive array of our little darling, sleeping, playing and just being a sweetheart.
This is the family's fourth boxer but it is the first time that we have ever had two dogs at the same time. We knew that Hallie was very good at sharing a space with my Grandma's Frenchie (who is spoiled and a little entitled at times) and that she had been nice to puppies she met out and about. It was something a little different to introduce Robin to Hallie as part of the pack. Hallie is very closely bonded to my mother and initially she showed a lot of jealousy. We always made sure to shower both of them with affections, allow Robin play-time alone and Hallie to have her long off-lead walks. They were separated at food times and we watched them carefully when toys were involved.
Hallie, like any adult dog I would imagine, have a very broad range of sounds and growls that mean various things. It took Robin a long time to decode what was a warning growl and what was a playing one but it is coming along nicely now. Whenever Hallie lies down somewhere, Robin will usually trot over and plonk down right next to her. She adores Hallie so much. Hallie gets a little tired of it at times but she is easing up and allowing it more and more. They have even started playing tug-of-war and the little one isn't so scared of the play-growls anymore. Hallie doesn't put her full weight behind the tug at all, mostly just holding it and letting Robin pull. It is very lovely to see and Hallie has also started bringing Robin toys when she wants to play. They will be great for each other now that Hallie has understood that Robin is part of the family and that none of the love gets taken away from her, just because we have a new baby.
I could probably keep writing about her but I am going to leave it here. I mostly wanted to make this post to capture some of these very early memories of the less than two weeks she had been with us. Before we know it, she'll be a young dog and the puppy days will be over. Her name and her red collar fits in perfectly with the Christmas spirit which has encased my family house over the past couple of weeks. Mum have taken time off to look after the dogs and help with exams and she had also taking up cooking large meals for dinner and it has just been a cosy time. I don't know anything quite as calming as that puppy smell or feeling a little body like that asleep next to you. We are so happy that she became our dog.
It feels a little like fate that it would be Robin that would come into our lives. The first two breeders didn't work out, we nearly missed emailing Robin's breeder and Robin is born on the tenth of October which is World Mental Health Day but also a nice number in itself. She is ours, our new family member and therefore she is already a 10/10 to us.
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