20.08.2014

Talia is my precious new puppy – well not entirely new as she is now three months old! She was born on 24th May 2014 and came from a lovely lady called Anne King who is now a dear friend of mine. Her beautiful ‘girl’ Libby was mated with my Torr and along with her three brothers Talia was the result of that mating. Anne and I both share the same ethics and standards in our breeding – hence the reason we get along so well. I will always be in Anne’s debt for Talia as she really is such a special girl, and simply makes me so happy. Talia’s mummy – Libby has the most laid back temperament ever, and I quite simply adore her. She also has a 0:0 hip score which is exceptionally rare. Libby lives with her daughter Martha who is also Torr’s daughter from their previous litter. Martha was so wonderful when Libby had puppies – she played with them as if they were her own. So lovely for a young dog to be so gentle. Talia is equally gentle and so very loving regularly asking me to lift her onto my lap where she makes it very clear exactly how much she loves me! Talia’s training is going very well, and I am extremely proud of her for learning so well.

Talia’s first ever trip out was to Siblyback Lake near Liskeard (Cornwall) She was very much admired by everyone – most of whom came dashing over to make a fuss of her – because she is quite simply irresistible! She loved all the attention and wagged her tail and became very excited each time someone approached. She also met lots of different breeds of dogs and wasn’t at all fazed by any – no matter how big they were! Socialisation both with humans and other dogs is such an important part of a puppy’s upbringing. Many people asked about Talia’s black ‘blob’ on her back. We explained that it is a somatic mutation which occurs whilst the puppy is in the womb and they are developing their black pigment for eye lids, nose, mouth and pads on feet. The cells go slightly awry and some of the pigment mutates to the wrong place – some dogs have black blobs on their tongues and others, like Talia have it on their coats. When she was a puppy it looked just like a paw print, and Brian told me that Maddie (who I had sadly lost in December 2013) had put her mark of approval on Talia because she knew she would take over her job of looking after me – which ironically she has.

 Talia’s next trip was to Cotehele where again she met lots of people and dogs, and was much admired by everyone. She had a lovely walk alongside the river and enjoyed seeing the ducks and other water birds. When she got to the bridge by the bend in the river she plonked her bottom down and point blank refused to walk another step. Brian had to go back to the car park to collect Madam’s taxi to take her home!!

 Meanwhile at home Talia’s training was going extremely well. She was such a bright, intelligent easy puppy to train, and I thoroughly enjoyed all her training sessions. She made it clear she really wanted to learn – always making eye contact with me, and eagerly awaiting the next instruction or command. Before the age of about four months she had mastered sit, come, wait – which covered waiting with a biscuit on her paw, waiting to eat her dinner, and the sit stay – down, roll over, wave, and crawl. The only thing she struggled with was ‘paw’ – but within a very short time she had got to grips with this too! She filled my heart with pride every day. With every day that passed we became closer and closer, and her favourite place to sit and sleep (usually upside down) was on my lap – having her tummy tickled!

Her breeder and my dear friend Anne who lives in Buckinghamshire, was spending a lot of time in Cornwall to be with her family. Talia loves her ‘Mummy Anne’ very much, and was lucky enough to have been taken out with her and her husband and their two Goldens Libby (Talia’s mum) and Martha (Talia’s big sister) for some lovely walks. She always came back so happy, and Talia and Martha soon became best friends as well as sisters and played non-stop. Every time they saw each other they were so excited, so when Anne and Gerry were at our house they seemed to be playing almost continually – it was lovely to see – and still is.