The puppies are alive

Everyone says so I have to have a dog and I suppose I even quite like the idea which, given how scared I am of dogs, is rather strange. I decided to get a rescue dog as that seems like a good thing to do and Martin Fullerton, my real estate guy, runs a charity that does this as well as other excellent things with stray dogs and cats.Martin runs a few businesses as well and, although he is very kind and always takes a call, getting a gap in his schedule so he can show me some dogs was hard. 

But then last night I got a call saying that 5 female puppies had been abandoned earlier in the day in a shopping bag outside a foreign lady's house and would I like one. 

Of course I said yes as it seemed like fate that, just as the house becomes properly habitable, young (like 4 week old we think) puppies turn up needing a habitable house. Although, to be honest, I was not remotely prepared and so the poor puppies have spent the evening on a bit of cardboard and a (very nice rug like) door mat for comfort. I have done some research now and have got some idea of what I need to do but they are under the age anybody seems to write about because they should, by rights, still be with their mother.

I have never really got the idea of animals and sharing a house with them. So I won't be. They are going to be purely outside dogs and I'm going to do everything possible to make sure they are properly trained. This is particularly important as I am, of course, a big scaredy-cat and scared not just of dogs but also of kittens. Although this fear (hatred?) of cats may mean I live longer according to this article  which shows that cats will do anything to get us. 

Training has already started which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me! I have no treats to offer them yet so I've been using affection and attention. Everything I've read makes it seem just like training a kid but with the complication that they use an entirely different language. I was going to write "and their brains work differently" but I think they're not that difficult to the average kid - they want to feel secure and looked after, to know what the rules are because they are applied consistently and be left alone a lot to get on with things. 

Anyway, I will go out today and buy all the accoutrements and get a vet to come and visit them. Then  I'll feel a lot more confident. 

UPDATE: The vet is coming at 1 and, as I was waiting for the photos to download, I went it to play and one of the Puppies (currently called Dopey/Hidey) is actually a boy. Hmmm.

UPDATE 2: Both puppies are female it seems. It also seems I'm not good at telling the difference. You may get photos of this too soon. We have lots of accoutrements for them and soon we'll have a home. Thanks to Lankalogger.