Sonny's Diary
This is a page created to follow the life of Sonny - a special little pup who had a difficult start in life .......
On 17th July 2010 Tira had her first ever litter of puppies via caesarean section. She had four boys and two girls. Once at home and settled in the whelping box to feed her pups, it wasn’t long before I noticed one of the puppies, Tango, was bringing a lot of milk back up through his nose. I watched and attempted to help him, but the problem was very severe and unfortunately, and very sadly, I lost him. The following day I noticed a second puppy, Sonny, was doing the same thing – albeit to a lesser degree. I was determined not to watch Sonny go the same way as Tango, and so set about taking on at least part of his feeding myself. I quickly worked out that he couldn’t drink from a bottle as the milk came down his nose that way, so adopted a dropper feeding regime with him, as well as putting him on his mum for feeds so he received the very best nutrition possible. So 2 hourly feeds via the dropper became our routine for the next few weeks, and he appeared to be growing – though very slowly. In some ways it’s like having a baby again with the steam sterilizer going, and mixing milk feeds – not to mention getting in and out of bed all night – but this was what was needed to give him the best chance of survival. Eventually Tira began to cut down the quantity of feeds she was giving her puppies.
I felt Sonny needed more frequent feeds in order to help him ‘catch up’, so decided that as I had a younger litter who were feeding from their mum, Tegan, regularly, I would see if she would accept him. I started by lying Tegan up on my bed and putting Sonny on to suckle – which she wasn’t too happy about. I tried distracting her by making a huge fuss of her whilst he was suckling, and this worked fairly well. I did this a few times until she was happier about it, and then decided to put Sonny amongst Tegan’s puppies to transfer their scent onto him. Tegan went in to feed them and I held my breath…. she accepted him, and from then until he was about six weeks old, she and I continued to nurse him between us. He gained weight every day, and gradually there was less and less milk coming down his nose. I had started him on his solids at three weeks, and surprisingly he was better at eating them than his own siblings! Tegan and I continued to work with and nurse him, and today aged exactly 11 weeks (2nd October 2010) he has gone to his forever home with his wonderful new owner Roger , and will be sharing his home with Charlie (his Oldie Goldie) who will likely take Sonny under his wing, and Jay and Ollie ( two pups he had from me from Kara & Chaz’s litter). Roger has 30+ years’ experience of the breed, so Sonny is in very capable hands. He has promised to keep me updated with news and pictures, which in turn I will post here on Sonny’s own page, as many of you have enquired about his progress, and will, I’m sure, like to share in his development and adventures. I miss him already – and he’s only been gone about half an hour….
The Diary of Keweras Special Sonny
Saturday 2 October
I’ve had a very busy day today. My new mum and dad came down from Surrey to take me to my new forever home. They talked to ‘our mum’ a lot about me while I scampered about looking for mischief! I don’t really know what mischief is but I think I found it because I had several things taken away from me which I thought would be good to play with.
Then there was a lot of hugging and kissing which I like and then I was sitting on Chris’s lap in the back of Roger’s car and off we went waving a sad goodbye to Penny. Chris had made a lovely bed for me in the back of the car and after I while I thought it was time for my rest so I settled down and went to sleep.
It is a long way from Cornwall to Surrey but I was very good and dozed a bit and then looked out of the window and saw lots of new things. I now know about cows and sheep and big lorries – I didn’t like these much because they made a lot of noise.
When we arrived at my new home I knew I was going to meet some big Goldies who already live there. Roger and Chris didn’t want me to be frightened by them because I am still a small puppy so Roger went in first and settled them and then I was taken in to meet them. They are very big but were ever so nice to me. I think that Jay and Ollie recognised a scent on me because they were born at Barnsgold.
I had great fun exploring my new home, I was into everything! Finding out about all the rooms. I liked the bathroom because there were towels hanging in there which I thought might be good to carry around the house.
I had my tea, just like Penny used to give me and then I was very tired and had a nice long sleep in my new puppy bed which Penny had given me.
For the rest of the evening I played with my new toys and with Charlie’s tail which he didn’t seem to mind!
We were all very tired after such a long and busy day and when it was time for everyone to go to bed my bed was moved to be with Roger and Chris and I had a heat pad put in it. I was very cosy and very, very tired.
Sunday 3 October
I slept all through the night….. but I was sitting up and taking notice by 6 a.m. No one minded that it was early because Roger told me that the big dogs get up early so he is used to it.
After I had my breakfast and my new friends had theirs, Roger took them out for their walk and I stayed with Chris who played with me and called me ‘a little monkey’ because I ran off with the tea towel when she wasn’t looking.
It rained a lot today and ‘the boyz’, as they are called came back from their walk very wet and muddy. I expect I will get like that when I am as big as them. In the afternoon the sun came out and Roger opened the back door but I wasn’t too sure about what might be out there so I just sat and had a look and a sniff to start with but then I decided that it might be fun to see what was out there and so off I went into the big outside world. There were so many new smells out there I had a great time exploring, I soon realised that there was nothing to be afraid of and Roger and Chris were with me all the time.
Monday 4 October
Just a short note from me today because I don’t want to bore you but thought you would like to know that I have a new collar – I already had a new one but it is a bit big for me at the moment so I have been bought a smaller one … I look really posh and cute in it.
I have had lots of pictures taken of me, some on my own and some with Charlie, Jay and Ollie. Just a little bit about my new friends before I say ‘goodbye for now’ – Charlie is a grand old gentleman and is very kind, Jay is very tall and let’s me snuggle up to him when he is asleep and Ollie loves me to bits, he is so gentle – Chris said she knew he would be.
It’s nearly my bed time now but I will send you an update to the diary very very soon, I am very happy here – Sonny XXX
Saturday 9 October
Hi everyone, it’s me again, today was my big day… I went for a walk with the big boys, well not as far as them. They went on a much longer walk with Roger but Chris took me for a walk suitable for little pups like me.
I had a lovely walk, not very far but it took us ages because everyone kept stopping to talk to Chris and ask her about me. They all said I was so lovely and had beautiful eyes. These people had dogs too, we saw four other Goldies, a puppy Corgi who wanted to play with me and while I was saying hello to another dog a huge big dog came up behind me, he was so big I could not see his face. He was so gentle and very hairy and Chris told me he was a Newfoundland, apparently his name is Monty – my doggy dad’s name!
When the boys came back from their walk they were black from halfway down their bodies…. Apparently they had found a big muddy puddle. I think that must have been great fun!!! I can’t wait to try that!
Before I could go for my first walk in the big wide world I had to have a harness… I was so small it was hard to judge what size I needed so they could not get me one before I arrived but on Tuesday last week I went to a big shop called ‘Pets at Home’ to find one that fitted me. There was a lovely girl there who helped them and when they told her I could not be put on the ground she took us to a very large chicken coup (that’s what they told me it was) and stood me on the roof while they tried the harness…. I was very good and well behaved, as all Keweras puppies are. I must say it is very posh and a lovely blue which suits me! By the way I am told that none of my new friends here in my new home have ever been to this shop so I am honoured to be the first of the gang to be taken inside – there were loads of lovely doggy things there and Chris showed me some little animals called rabbits.
Sunday 10 October
We went out again today for a walk, I like this very much but because I can’t walk far I stay with Chris but I get to meet lots of lovely people with their dogs … and do you know what… they all love me and say I am so cute and I like all the other dogs I meet to.
I have been in my new home for a week now and I love it here, Ollie is my special friend but Jay and Charlie are so nice to me and we have a lovely time together.
I will let you know how I am getting on very soon but for now I will say bye bye and thank you for looking at my page that Penny has done for me.
Love from Sonny XXX
Hello, it’s Sonny again. Isn’t the big wide world an exciting place! The last two weeks have been great fun.
On Tuesdays my Mum Chris has to go home because she has something to do called ‘work’ for the rest of the week. I don’t like the sound of ‘work’ because Mum was not very happy about it and said she would miss me terribly. I missed her as well. Anyway, I still had my Dad and the big boys with me and we did lots of new things and had lots of walks. I went to a new place called ‘The Ranges’ which was very nice but not far away there were a lot of men called soldiers who were making lots of banging noises but I wasn’t frightened at all, it was just like the sounds Penny and my mum and dad have played to me.
The next day I found some of these soldier men lying in a hole in the ground looking like trees. They had twigs and leaves sticking out of their hats and looked very silly to a little pup like me but when I went up to them they said I was a beautiful little dog and gave me a biscuit. Dad said I couldn’t have it but I ate it before he could stop me. It was delicious! My Dad seems to know everyone at ‘the ranges’ and everyone knew my name. They all wanted to cuddle me and I like cuddles!!
Dad has taken me out on my own and showed me a big road which had lots of lovely colourful things called cars whizzing up and down it and I liked them lots. But then a big lorry and a bus came by and I didn’t like them much because they were big, noisy and very smelly! I was glad my Dad was cuddling me.
I have to admit I have been a little bit naughty at night because Dad puts me in a little pen beside his bed and I want to be with him where he sleeps so I thought I would try the ‘sad little puppy’ routine. I have been through my whole repertoire of yelps, squeals and whines but he just ignores me and I give up after a while and curl up in my nice warm bed and go to sleep. I’ll keep trying for a while though;
you never know he might take pity on me one day!
I am putting on weight because Dad had to adjust my harness today and I am eating all my food. I would help the big boys with theirs but Dad won’t let me near them when it’s their feeding time. I have also found lots of places where I can pull up the carpet but I have to watch it because Dad is on to me now and tells me off when he catches me. I have also dug a hole in the lawn, which was great fun! Don’t understand what Dad said when he caught me doing it but it sounded a bit rude!
My Dad calls me Sonny Bunny cos he says I have such big ears I look like a lop eared rabbit. He also calls me a ‘little horror’ but that’s only when I am being a little rascal. I like being a rascal, its fun….and anyway Dad always forgives me because he says I’m a special little boy. He calls me lots of other names too but I think I’m too young to understand!!! I’m a bit of a monkey when the camera comes out because I don’t stand still but I promise you that I will send you some pictures soon.
By the way I am being ‘trained’!! I can do sit, down and come now. I can’t see the point of it all but I get lots of praise and treats when I do these things and it pleases dad and mum a lot.
I’m a very happy little Sonny Bunny here and I shall write again to you soon.
Love Sonny XXX
15.11.2010
My word, how time flies when you are having fun. I have been at my forever home for five weeks now and boy, am I having fun.I go for a lovely walk with the big boys and Roger every morning and at weekends Chris comes as well. Although she couldn’t come with us this weekend as she has a bad knee.
Most afternoons we go for a little walk to the woods near to Roger’s house and we have great fun there as there are a lot of little walkways to play ‘chase the big boys’….. poor Roger has a job to keep up with me.
Probably, like us, you have had a lot of rain this week and I have discovered…… puddles!!!! I play a game of ‘splish- splash’ and really like this but the other day on our walk I rolled in something ‘unsavoury’ and had to be washed when I got home. Of course, I was very good and stood very still and didn’t mind at all. Funny how no one wanted to give me a cuddle that day!
I wanted to know how my brothers and sisters were getting on so Chris put a message on Penny’s forum and my brother Henry replied and sent me lots of news and love and licks, of course I sent them back. Then we heard from one of my ‘foster sisters’, Tilly, her mum, Tegan helped to look after me when I was very little. It was a lovely message so full of news so thank you Tilly and your mum for letting me know how you are. A really nice lady called Lynda who has a ‘big girl’ called Phoebe told me that she likes reading my diary which made me very happy. Thank you. Chris says that hearing all this news about the other Keweras puppies is like being part of a big happy family.
Now, what else have I been doing? Well, to be honest, sometimes I’ve been getting into mischief. Like stealing the TV remote control and ‘hiding’ it. I never seem to remember where I put it when I am asked!! Ollie and I have managed to loose one of Chris’s slippers which has not turned up yet. But I did find Chris’s glasses that had been missing for ages… believe it or not; it was nothing to do with me ….. HONEST!!!!!
I go to the vets once every two weeks to get weighed. They put me on this wobbly thing which I don’t like very much but the nice lady there gives me a treat and then it is not so bad. I am gaining weight and again have had to have my harness let out. Everyone says that I am growing and am getting very tall and have long legs, I think that one day I will be as tall as Jay!
This training thing goes on a bit but I know it is important that I do this and I am learning so many things and Roger and Chris say that I am, because if I do things right I sometimes get little treats. You have to keep your mums and dads happy don’t you?.
I’m told that there are lots of new puppies at Barnsgold and three of them are my half sisters and brother because my doggy dad Monty is their dad. I know all of them will be well looked after by Penny and Roger and Chris say there will be lots of happy people having the patter of tiny paws wake them up on Christmas morning. Christmas? Not sure what this is yet but a bag came into the house today and I was told I couldn’t look in it as it was for Christmas. Umm, very interesting! Love from Sonny xx
26.03.2011 (my apologies for the delay in posting this)
Happy New Year everybody, Sonny here!!!
How are you all? Hope you all had a good Christmas. It was my very first Christmas and it was very exciting and I got lots of presents and best of all lots of wrapping paper which I tore into tiny little bits and when I had finished my Dad spent ages picking It all up. He kept huffing and puffing and muttering to himself and giving me funny looks though.
My mate Ollie helped me with the paper. He helps me with a lot of my mischief. We have formed a ‘gang’ called ‘The Barnsgold boys’. His big brother Jay is not a member of our gang yet because he is a bit ‘snooty’ and thinks he is too posh to get involved in such fun things….he even has a ‘snooty’ bark. He does get up to mischief himself though so Ollie and I may make him an associate member of ‘The Gang’ and see if he shapes up over time!
We had lots of snow just before Christmas and we all had lots of fun in the back garden. Charlie came out sometimes but he said he has had eleven years of the white stuff and decided to stay indoors most of the time as he gets big snowballs between his toes which hurt him when he walks. He is a lovely old chap but just doesn’t have the energy of us youngsters….still, I love him to bits.
I love the snow to and I ate lots of it. Don’t know why though, it’s absolutely tasteless!
One day we were all out for our walk and the snow started to come down really heavily and the wind got up and dad said it was a blizzard. He came out with a few words I didn’t understand but which I think meant “I say chaps this is rather unpleasant, shall we go home?” Apparently it was minus 5. I don’t know what a minus is, or a 5 for that matter, but I was having fun anyway. I had two little icicles hanging off my chin and Dad said I looked like somebody called Dracula.
The snow has all gone now but there are a lot of muddy puddles to be explored and splashed in… funny how no one wants to cuddle me when I have been playing in them! Mr Goody Two Shoes Jay was having a lovely roll in something to do with foxes yesterday and Dad was not at all happy….I had to put my paws over my ears!! Me and Ollie wanted a go but Dad grabbed us and put us on the lead. Spoilsport !! Mr Snooty got his comeuppance when we got home though as he had to go in the bath …tee hee. Sorry, shouldn’t say that, I love my uncle JJ, he is a gentle giant.
When we go on our many lovely walks we often take the car and I now sit in the back with the big boys. They love me being there when we go out but get a bit fed up with me when we come home because as I am so young I like to crash out and lay down for a sleep which means that the other three have to squeeze in around me … Mum says we should get a Ford Thunder… not sure what that is but I think it must be a big car and Mum would like to drive one.
I love playing with my food bowl. I pick it up and carry it into the lounge. Trouble is, when it falls upside down I cant pick it up again….but I have a cunning plan, I just go and get another one, then another, then another….then I get bored with that game….we pups have perfected the art of devising mischief from absolutely anything. I found my Dads speaker leads hidden under the carpet the other day and ate my way through them. He didn’t find out until he tried to play the CD he got for Christmas….oh dear, more huffing and puffing and mutterings directed at me. I know he loves me though cos he cuddles me a lot.
My training continues (yawn, yawn)…. I am learning re-call now and most of the time I am doing well but you know how it is… you start to come back and then a lovely scent wafts through the air and one just has to go and investigate doesn’t one!! I know I’m a little rascal but I am learning to be good.
As a new year begins I want to send my love to my first mum, Penny, for all her hard work and dedication looking after me when I was struggling and for finding me my new home. I am a very happy little puppy.
Sonny Bunny (alias big ears) XXXXX
July 2011
Hello again, Sonny here. I bet you thought I had forgotten you all but I am still having a great time here in Surrey with my friends.
Before I tell you what has been happening to me I have to say that our dear old ‘Uncle’ Charlie has left us and gone to Rainbow Bridge. We are all so sad, particularly Roger and Chris but he hadn’t been well for some time. We all used to say ‘Good Morning’ to him and give him a kiss and a lick but we knew not to bother him….. we do miss him though, he was so kind and so lovely and tolerated us youngsters .
I’m not little anymore, I was a year old on the 17thJuly and I am as tall as Ollie and can beat them up when we play fight !! I love to run at them at full speed when they are not looking and shoulder charge them and make them fall over…great fun. Dad says I could be a forward in the Welsh rugby team, except I was born in Cornwall!!… but Cornwall has a great rugby team, do you think they would want me?.
I am still a little rascal and still dig holes in dad’s lawn when he is not looking, he says our back garden looks like the Somme because of me but I can’t help it, a Cornishman’s roots are in mining so it’s in my blood.
Lots of little pots and things have appeared in our garden with pretty flowers in them, Chris put them there because she said I had made such a mess of the rest of the garden but I can’t resist a little munch at them as I pass by. I have had a few waggy fingers from Chris… oops!
I am a bit of a monkey really, I love playing with Jay and Ollie but sometimes they don’t want to play so I just pull at their tails and try and get them to join me in the fun and frolics. Doesn’t always work but fun trying!!!!
Having said that. I am very good at this training lark……..I am told that I am so quick to learn but it is hard to concentrate with the other two Barnsgold Boys trying to join in…. and they know all this stuff! Every day I go for lovely walks… woods, puddles (with the rain that we have had – great fun). I hope all my brothers and sisters are having as much fun as me. Love you all – Sonny xx
