Today we went to collect Macc, our new Border Terrier puppy. We’d driven down to Essex yesterday,min horrendous rain and spray, and stayed overnight in a hotel. We were at the breeder’s house at 9.30 — Macc was the first to leave the litter. Adrian did all the paperwork, then it was time for Macc to say goodbye to mum, Poppy, and the breeder, Anne and her husband.
We were first to collect as we had a long journey ahead, four and a half hours from Essex to Cheshire. Macc whimpered a bit for the first fifteen minutes or so, and was fighting against sleep — yawning constantly and eyes almost shutting, but didn’t want to miss out. Then he settled down.
We made our first stop after a bit over an hour, at the Applegreen services on the A14, where we knew there was a bit of grass (and a cafe where we could get some tea). We gave Macc a drink and then a few minutes later he obliged with a wee on the grass. The next aim was the Norton Canes Services on the M6 Toll, about 90 minutes further on. Macc just went to sleep.
When we got to Norton Canes we took him up the hill to find a bit of grass that wasn’t so waterlogged, and he performed again — even giving us a first opportunity to bring out the poo bags. We got some lunch for ourselves, and Macc had some food too. The final leg was another 90 minutes back to the boat, and he just settled down and went to sleep again.
At the boat, Adrian took him for a walk on the grass while I moved his crate from the car to the boat. Once he came inside, he spent a while exploring; he’s also had some food and water, had a nice game of tug with some of his new toys, and then took himself into his crate, rearranged the blankets, and settled down for a rest.
So, it’s so far so good! It appears he’s thinking that we’ll do, and of course we are already besotted.