Getting supplies

We visited the pet shop today and stocked up on a load of basics to get us started for when Ruby arrives on Saturday. Apart from bowls, grooming kit, collar, lead, cleaner and food, we also got a good selection of toys/chews. This includes a classic kong (puppy sized), a kong teething tube, an antler chew, knotted rope, nylabones and her own little teddy friend...

It's not stuffed with anything and has a crinkly, tough feel so it should take some punishment. I'm hoping she treats it as a friend though.

Pets at Home also had a sale on agility tunnels so we picked up a great 4 way tunnel for just £20. It's not something we are likely to use for a few months but it is in the garage ready for when Ruby is a bit bigger.

We were going to get an ID tag but I found a really good website that does them much cheaper. http://www.identitag.co.uk/ had a good selection and I've ordered a nice small polished brass tag. I had a good think about what information to put on the tag. As it is double-sided, I went for 'Microchipped' and my home/mobile numbers on the front. On the back I've added my name and address. I understand it's a bad idea to put the dog's name on the tag as if someone tries to nick it, knowing the dog's name is a 'Brucey bonus'.

Wow....this time next week, I'm likely to have had the first (of many) interrupted nights sleep. I'm going to have to get used to getting up in the night to take the girl out for a toilet trip. Longer term, the plan is to teach her to use an area at the back of the garden. However, I don't think we'll start there as it will be pitch black at night. Instead, I think we'll get a litter tray outside the back door and encourage her to go in that. When we want to move up the garden we can move the tray. Eventually we could take the tray away and just scatter some litter in the right area. Once she is really used to going there, we can then stop with the litter altogether. Well, that's the plan. Whether Ruby will cooperate or not remains to be seen.