The past few months have been a busy time, working on my book and generally getting through life. However, we’ve also had a new addition to the household, a small ball of fluff and love and chaos – Cookie the cockapoo.
Cookie is now ten months old – we’ve had her since she was eight weeks and, it’s fair to say, there was a bit of an adjustment period at first. Someone once said, ‘It’s a good thing puppies are cute, or else you’d give them away,’ and, even though she is very cute, I won’t say I wasn’t tempted in the first few weeks of biting and pooping and piddles and mess – it was like having a new baby again and, as my gorgeous girl is almost a teenager, I’d thought those days were long behind me.
However, she has wiggled and waggled her way into all our hearts, despite chewing everything she can get her snout on, her propensity for stealing cloths and socks, and her desire to wipe her dirty face all over us. She is, as are most dogs, full of love, wanting nothing more than to curl up close to us whenever she can. She is small for a cockapoo, her fur still puppy soft, and sometimes her paws smell like popcorn. I am, in short, smitten.
She is taking puppy classes, sitting like a very good girl in a windy field as our ex-police dog trainer tells us what to do next. She’s not doing too badly either, despite her kangaroo jumps of excitement and need to play with every other dog in the class whenever possible. We take long walks along the canal and around our neighbourhood, exploring streets I’ve not walked down before, meeting squirrels and cats and birds and people, all of whom she greets with the same level of enthusiasm.
I realised I’d become quite insular once I’d gone back to writing full time, staying home most days to wander vampire halls and dream of darkness. Cookie has taken me out into the world again. Since having her, I’ve spoken to more new people than I have in years; a dog, it seems, is an instant ice-breaker. We even have our ‘regulars’, now – people who know her by name and look forward to seeing her come past, often giving her treats. She’s a jammy pup, that’s for sure!
While it may have been a slightly shaky start, Cookie has brought a great deal of love and joy into our family. Someone else once said, ‘You don’t get what you want, you get what you need.’ And I think we needed her as much as she needed us.
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Helen Glynn Jones 
Cute pup. Dogs bring a lot of love to a house.
Thanks, Craig – they certainly do 🙂
Aww, she’s adorable ❤
Thanks, Alethea 🙂
Something similar happened in our house (and to me) when we adopted our Evie 18 months ago. Minus the pooping and chewing, though, as she was an adult rescue – that was by design on our part. 😉
It is amazing how much more social having a dog can make one! Thanks for sharing the adorable photos.
Thanks, Jennifer 🙂 Evie sounds lovely, and a very lucky dog. Our last dog was an adult rescue and, though we didn’t have him for quite as long, he was just lovely. And we didn’t have to house train him! 🙂
She’s gorgeous, Helen… an yes, they do bring some odd new twists into our lives 😉 I have always found people respond to a smile and a dog better to most things….and put the two together, it’s magic. Cookie has a great smile 🙂 x
Aw, thank you 🙂 We think she does, too. And I agree about the dog and smile combo – I find myself smiling at strangers now when I don’t have her with me and I sometimes get funny looks haha, but when she’s with me and I smile it’s quite a different response 🙂
You can’t beat a dog as an ice-breaker, can you? Especially one as pretty as Cookie 🙂
Or Ani 🙂 xx
Ah well, I’m bound to agree 😉 xx
😉
She’s lovely, Helen! And now the worst is over, there’s just the joy. And unconditional 💕
Oh yes, definitely 🙂 She is full of love. And thank you x
I think we would all benefit from the joy and love these precious bundles bring with them.
Cookie looks so sweet, too.
Aw, thank you 🙂 She is very sweet, a lovely little pup. And I agree – pets bring a lot of joy into a home.
❤ Helen, for you all. What a lovely post. xXx
Thanks, Jane 🙂
All kinds of pets bring out the best in us. Love the pictures. Thank you for sharing. Cookie is giving you the good life. 🙂
Thank you 🙂 They really do – she’s brought a lot of joy to us.
She is absolutely adorable!
There’s nothing like the unconditional love of a dog ❤
Thank you 🙂 And I absolutely agree
What a wonderful fur-ball she is. 😀
Thank you 🙂 She is an adorable ball of fluff and chaos
So glad that you have Cookie in your life. I can live vicariously through you since I can’t have a pet.
Aw, thank you 🙂 She is a delight, and I’ll definitely be sharing more photos and stories x
What a lovely little cookie is your Cookie. Although for the first few weeks they should all be called Kookie… I know well, having lived these many years under the stern but benevolent gaze of our Shih Tzu overlords.
Haha! Thanks for the cute comment, Linda – and apologies for taking so long to reply 🙂 I agree, she definitely is still a bit Kookie, though completely lovely as well…