Hello Clover!

What a week it has been!

I am so full of happiness and love (as well as exhaustion) after my first week with my pup. Clover joined our family on Saturday 20th July after we traveled to Kent to meet her.

I had spent weeks looking online at Cavachons and when it got to the point where I was consumed with thinking about getting one, I knew I should take the plunge and go for it.

A Cavachon is a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise. I wanted to go for this breed because:

1. A Bichon is a hypoallergenic breed which means there is less chance that Clover will shed fur.
2. James loves spaniels and they are generally a good breed for training.
3. Both breeds are small so Clover shouldn’t grow bigger than 10kg which keeps vets bills as low as possible.
4. Cavachons are SO cute!

Clover’s temperament is lovely. She’s so playful with dogs and children. My godson loves running around the garden with her and she loves chasing him. She’s also keen to play with Bella, James’ childhood Sprocker Spaniel. Everyday,  she becomes more and more independent and quite happily tootles off into the garden on her own, although she has a stubborn tendency to not come back when I call her.

I wanted to start training Clover with basic commands (come, sit, stay) straight away but she has had a poorly tummy and hasn’t shown much interest in food. Given her tummy, I was reluctant to offer her treats to entice her more.

Her crate training for sleep is going very well. The first night we brought her home, we put her in the crate and she howled and cried every hour, all night. After this, we chose to put the crate inside a play pen and leave her door open so that she has more space. This worked better and she is settling well into her new sleep space. I’ve always said I don’t want dogs on the bed and I wasn’t going to give in to Clover, despite the demonic noises that she makes.

Clover was late getting her first vaccination so it will be around 4 weeks before she can go to the park with Bella but we’re going to work on teaching her to heel and walk nicely on the lead in the garden within that time so that she is ready when she gets there.

I’m taking Clover’s training very seriously, not only because I want a well trained dog, but because, eventually, I would like Clover to volunteer as a therapy dog. I get so much joy from dogs and I really want to share that with others. A therapy dog goes with their owner to places like hospitals or nursing homes and spends time with those who will benefit from some play time or snuggles. Clover is so playful and takes really well to new people so as long as I can manage her behaviour, I think she would enjoy her volunteering role greatly.

So what’s next for Clover?

For now, I’ll be focusing on her basic training and walking as well as sticking with the crate training for sleep.

You’ll be able to see all her pictures and updates on my Instagram and stay tuned for a YouTube channel (because who doesn’t love puppy videos!?).