Puppy Love

I need to ask you to excuse the photos.  My iphone decided it didn't want to automatically upload pics to picassa anymore.  So I've had a fun time searching the internet for a) the right way to describe what was wrong in order to b) invite the correct answer then c) understand the answer and d) put it into practice then e) discover I couldn't edit pics.  It's been a sweary few weeks in my house.  

 So here are some rubbish pics of autumn scenes round our way.

 We've been visiting our favourite foraging sites waiting for the blackberries, cob nuts and sloes to ripen ready for picking.

And as ever it's been very nice.  We've had some lovely chilly, crispy days with a little leftover summer sun.

And our sunflowers finally opened so the bees had a good time too.  So far, so normal....

Then this happened...

In our rural village it is compulsory to own either a tractor or a dog and since we don't have the space for a tractor we'd been thinking about having a dog for nearly a year.  A change in circumstances means I currently work from home and that opened up a puppy sized window of opportunity and slightly to our surprise, we took it.

 Meet Buster, a mischievous Parson Russell Terrier from north Devon.  He was about 8 weeks old when these pics were taken. 

The first 72 hours of puppy parenthood were a nightmare and I seriously wondered if we had just made a massive mistake.  We didn't speak Dog, he didn't speak English, we were house trained, he wasn't, we thought he needed quiet time on his own being silent, he thought otherwise. Over a week we got used to each other and once he'd had his vaccinations and we were no longer house bound, he endeared himself to everyone and became The Cutest Thing in the Village.  I've spoken to more people in the past 5 weeks than the past 8 years.  Socialising a puppy is a very sociable thing! 

 At first we took local walks round the churchyard to get him used to the big world and its interesting smells.  This weekend we went further and took the Park and Ride bus into Bath.  The bus was loaded up with adults who petted, took photo's and generally coo'ed over Buster, much to his approval.

 Buster about town.  Posing in front of Bath Abbey.

 It took an age to walk down to a pet shop I wanted to visit because we were stopped every few feet with someone wanting to say hello to Buster (also known as BusterNO and BusterSIT) and of course he was on his best cute behaviour.  Naturally the girls in the pet shop got all soppy about him and dressed him up in a Frankenstein's Monster outfit. I wish I'd taken a pic!  I resisted buying that outfit and opted for something visible now it's getting darker.  We're going back for a Santa outfit in December.  Don't judge me.

Buster is now 13 weeks old so we're entering our 6th week of puppy ownership and are still learning how to look after each other.  He has doubled in size (and weight!) and can do sit, stay, give paw, ring a bell to go outside for toilet time, quiet woof on command, half roll over, touch with his nose and fetch and drop.  He can also terrorise the other dogs at puppy training, eat bird poop, ignore all his commands, worry horses and entice an otherwise sensible vet to urge me to dress him up as a pumpkin for Halloween and take a photo for her.  I. Must. Resist.