YvonneM

Well, our little fella, Banjo, came home yesterday - he is just an adorable little bundle of cuteness. Now the fun begins! He was surprisingly settled for his first night away from his mum and littermates

Oh my - Tank is adorable!! Look at that little squished up face!

After reading another thread here I have just bought a snugglesafe for my soon to be home furbaby (4 sleeps to go!). Prices seem to vary greatly and I bought it on ebay for just under $45 including postage, Petbarn were $79!

I am so glad that I read through this thread .... haven't been a DOL'er for very long and am doing a lot of reading while we wait for our furbaby to come home to us ..... never heard of a snugglesafe before but after reading here and a little research I bought one today .... at the variation in prices though!!! Got mine on ebay and hope that it arrives by Wednesday!

I'm counting sleeps now ..... 4 more to go :D I'll share a pic taken when Banjo was 5 weeks old - when we visited and met him for the first time ... (hope it works!)

You said it Jules .... we can't wait ....

Hi Melina .... he is a Maltese. Yes - very excited!! One week tomorrow

Haven't posted for a little while ..... our wait is getting shorter now .... Banjo will come home to us on Anzac Day. We are so excited and can't wait! Have been buying up lots of essentials, pee pads, toys, crate and ordered a personalised blankie for the little fellow :D Need to get a collar, harness and lead, but think we will wait because he is so small - perhaps have to take him to be "fitted" :laugh:

I know we still have several weeks before our puppy will be coming to live with us, but we got one step closer yesterday when we met our breeder at the Sydney Easter Show. She was showing the father of our pup - he is just adorable! We will be meeting our puppy next weekend .... so excited - can't wait **squeal**!!

We don't have kids either, and Ive not been invited to many over the years (I think because my friends know I couldn't have babies, and that the shower parties will upset me ) Im tempted to do one for Miah, and have been considering it, just don't have the energy to put one together, and I have noone else that would do one for me. I'm the same ... couldn't ever have kids and now we are "expecting" our first puppy! I think a puppy shower would be adorable, but I think most of my friends would think I was crazy :laugh:

Yes, you don't see many Maltese's around, but lots of little cross breeds that must have plenty of Maltese in them. We can't wait ..... but it's a bit daunting all this puppy stuff! I have a couple of photographs but need to figure out how to post them here.

We will be getting a little Maltese .... our Winston was a Maltese x we rescued many years ago, with more Maltese than anything else in him, and we fell in love with his temperament.

Well, I guess I should join this thread now too ..... I haven't posted very often and although I have been reading these forums for quite a long time, have only recently joined in. After having lost our beloved Winston just on a month ago, we are now awaiting the arrival of our little baby who will help to mend our broken hearts. Our puppy was born on 27th Feb and we will be visiting him for the first time in about 3 weeks time .... but will be meeting his breeder at the Royal Easter Show in about 2 weeks when she is showing there. We can't wait for our puppy to come home .... our house is so quiet without the pitter patter of little paws and the tinkle of a collar!

I have always used a boarding kennel which had "special care". It was a little luxury resort for doggies and he was always so excited to go there .... he always had the same "room" so knew exactly where to head when he arrived. They had play time a couple of times a day where the staff member allocated to look after him took him out to play, and he also had "social time" which meant that he was socialised with other like-sized dogs. for a period of time every day. I was always happy with this boarding kennel and had no other alternatives. It came with a hefty price tag of about $45/day but I was happy to pay it. Hope you can find something suitable for your little fellow!

Minimax - you are lucky to be able to adjust your work schedule to accommodate your puppy. I am interested to know that once you left puppy on her own at home, did you contain or pen her or did she have the run of the house/yard? I know I will learn as I go and that this forum is a valuable source of information and help, but I am asking for personal experiences - I want to make sure we do this right the first time! I know I stressed so much the first few times that we left Winston at home alone, only to come home to, well, nothing to worry about at all! But he was a little older at 9-12 months. We get up at 4am every day anyway - so active pup in the early morning suits me just fine .... but you just watch, ours will want to sleep until 8!

Again - thank you - my faith is energised that getting a puppy is do-able while we work! I never thought about coming home at lunch time, but I don't work that far from home, so could probably manage that. He/she could probably come to work with me a couple of times over the first few weeks as well ... I work in an office and the girls would adore having a puppy around! Penned of course!! Husband gets home around 4pm, so that's good too. Danny's Darling - I had to laugh - I HAD considered getting 2 so that they wouldn't be lonely too :laugh: !! Having said that, and whilst I am beginning to appreciate the work that goes into looking after mumma dog and raising puppies, I am not sure that we could afford the $$ to get 2! Like you, Winston always got comments on what a lovely dog he was - I always said he was to "pretty" to be a boy!! I must work out how to post a photo of him. Winston went to a grooming salon once a month for the entirety of the time that we had him - he adored going there - lapped up the attention! I agree, there is a lot of work in maintaining a long haired breed which is why we kept him clipped short for easy maintenance. I can't believe that someone offered to buy your doggies!! Oh my goodness!! I too was always paranoid about theft - WInston was such a pretty little fellow, likeable and loved people - I reckon he would have gone to anyone who offered him a treat :laugh:

Thanks for the responses - some info there to consider. Jules - I too am 46 and am just thinking about our first puppy - I am a bit scared and also a bit excited, although its not a reality yet! Winston always had access to indoors and out as he pleased via a doggy door whether we were home or not, so the same access would be afforded to our next doggie - although of course as a baby it would take some getting used to and would never dream of leaving a pup outdoors when we are not at home. The thing I do worry about is that we work and we don't really have anyone who could puppy-sit for us - I would imagine that my husband would take a couple of days to a week off and I may do the same when pup first comes home. Having said that I am really looming forward to my first (and probably only) puppy experience. My husband has been talking to a breeder who has been absolutely wonderful and has given him a lot of time over the phone and she doesn't let her pups go to their new home until they are 12 weeks - so at least if we buy from her pup will be not so little. This breeder has yet to confirm that her doggie is expecting, so I guess our wait is going to be quite a while now. I think this is a good thing since we have only just lost our adored Winston - it will give us some time to grieve for him and then to prepare for our new addition. I did see you response on my other thread - thank you for your kind words.

Hello there - I am new here and have posted on the Welcome Mat to introduce myself, but will give a little background here, as I am sure not everyone pops in over there :) My name is Yvonne and just last week I had to say goodbye to my cherished little Malt x Winston. We adopted Winston from the Animal Welfare League 10.5 years ago when he was approx 9-12 months old. As we don't have any kids, Winston was the light of our life - for us, he was the perfect little companion. We knew he had a heart murmur several years ago and his little heart just wasn't strong enough to keep going. He was just like a puppy and loved to play and race around ... seemed there was no stopping him! Even the night before he was such a happy active little fellow. We had no idea that just 12 hours later, he would be gone. It was a heartbreaking decision, but one that I know was right for him. So, this brings me to my quest. We fell in love with the Maltese breed and all the traits that he had, that we are now considering getting another Maltese - this time from a breeder and this time a puppy. I have a couple of questions about those who have had puppies, as we have not had a puppy before. We both work full time - Winston had a doggy door and so had access to indoors/outdoors whenever he pleased when we were at work or not at home, day and night. How do/did you manage a puppy if there is no one home for approx 8 hours during the day? Is it unfair to get a puppy if it is to be left at home for that period of time? Do I contain the pup while we are not at home? Obviously, I can't let a pup have run of the whole house while we are not home, but I don't want to coop him up either. I have also read conflicting information about the age of a Maltese puppy for when he should be separated from his mum. Some say 8 weeks and some say 12 weeks. This brings me to another question (full of them today!!) I have read that pups should be socialised during the 12-16 week period as this sets them up for how they will socialise as they get older. I am sure that whatever reputable breeder I decide to go with will provide me with lots of helpful information, but I like to be armed with as much information as I can to make the right decisions - and I know that I will get lots of helpful information here. Thank you so much in advance !