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shops and amenities coped really well. slowly dragged us into insanity and penury.
And if we’re probably luckier than many, we’re By this time, they were beginning to show the
certainly luckier than some. I watched a number signs of turning feral and, more importantly,
of TV interviews and found the whole thing really they were gradually bankrupting us. Have you
quite disturbing - I couldn’t imagine being a any idea how much five four-month-old Alaskan
single parent, stuck in a tower block in Peckham Malamutes can eat? Fully grown adults are
with two kids under the age of four, trying to relatively low-maintenance in feeding terms, but
explain why they can’t go down to the empty fast-growing youngsters will get through three
park that they can see from the window and play times as much as a 50Kg five-year-old!
on the swings in the glorious, and somewhat
Actually, joking aside, they were a joy to have.
unusual April sunshine.
Puppies are the perfect excuse for wasting time.
And though I sympathised with the many that And, let’s face it, time spent with puppies isn’t
were unable to take advantage of the highly really wasted! They are an excellent distraction
unseasonal weather, I was also grateful for it, from all that is going on around you. And this
as we were able to take full advantage of our little bunch were nothing if not distracting! But
environment. It is far easier to make difficult while they could be a bit of an overwhelming
decisions, like whether to eat in the front garden handful at times, especially if they all became
or the back garden, when the sun is shining. rather over-focussed on the same thing at the
The old barbeque has never seen the light of same time, their all-round training went really
day so early in the season! well and they all turned into model prisoners,
albeit with typically Malamute-like individual
Anyway, days dragged into weeks and weeks
traits!
dragged into months, and the ‘Gang of Five’
But you couldn’t get away from the fact that they
really needed to be in their new homes.
All through this time we had kept a watchful
eye on any developments and any changes in
the temporary rules that were in place, always
hopeful that something would change.
And when it did, we took full advantage.
It was almost purely by chance that, one
morning, we noticed that the ban on the
movement of puppies had eased a little, and
while new owners still could not collect a puppy
under any circumstances, the breeder could
now deliver a puppy to the new owner if there
were welfare considerations.
I read the rules and guidance through several
times and we decided that we could put a
perfectly legitimate interpretation on the way
the rule changes were worded. We felt we
could argue with validity that the pups needed
to be in their new homes before they became
institutionalised to our way of life, and thereby
Play time with big sister. making it harder for them to adapt….. and the
longer this went on the harder it would become.
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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / OCTOBER 2020
