S MAGAZINE ★ 11 AUGUST 2019 75
Mindy Hammond
Every week in S Magazine
“No, he’ll be fine,” she assured me. “It’s still
early days.”
We were treated to a visit from several
of Sam’s other ’doodles and her Bernese
mountain dogs, all wagging their tails and
desperate to meet everyone. Coulson, the new
father, was especially fond of one lady in our
group and decided to sit on her lap, but even
though he is the size of a German shepherd,
he was greeted by cuddles. We had all made
a decision to welcome a large, sometimes
over-affectionate woolly dog into our lives, so
Coulson’s behaviour came as no surprise.
Izzy had been at work and Richard about to
land when we left for Somerset, so we took
lots of pictures of Ojo and both of them were
delighted to know the pup we had nicknamed
“fat boy” (he is the chubbiest of the litter) was
going to be ours.
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve had
daily updates on the puppies’ progress and on
Saturday, at eight weeks of age, most were
collected, ready to start their lives in their new
homes. Some cried, some were a little car
sick, but all were quick to embrace
their new surroundings. Ojo
and three of his litter
mates are staying with
Sam a little longer. It’s
holiday season and,
like us, some of the
other owners are
delaying collection
until they’ve had their
stint in the sun, even
though it means Sam
moving house with
four extras.
In three weeks’
time Sparrow, Dimple
Chicken, Blea and
Captain will meet
their new brother
and at the rate
he’s growing he’ll
be the biggest of
the bunch on
arrival. It’s going to
be a busy summer.
We can’t wait.indoors before the hot weather and giddy
atmosphere overwhelmed them.
Sam went on to more important matters- training and aftercare. Each of us would
receive a bound folder on collection of our
puppy in a few weeks’ time. It covered
everything from management of different types
of coat to feeding, crate training and basic
obedience. We each completed a form for
microchips – to include our puppy’s name –
and I had to apologise to Sam and her
daughter.
“Erm, I hate to tell you this, but we’ve
decided on a different name. We thought
Hendricks sounded a bit harsh, so we’re going
to call him Ojo, after the girls’ favourite
character in Bear In The Big Blue House. It
kind of feels a bit similar to TG, too, and we
sort of need to pay homage to her.”
“Oh, OK,” Sam smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell
Emma. She’s been calling him Hendricks.”
I grimaced, “Uh-oh, I hope he doesn’t
get confused.”
SUSAN HELLARD C/O ARENAThere are exciting times ahead at Hammond Towers as our columnist
prepares to welcome a new addition to the family Illustration by Susan Hellard
Y
ou may recall our plans for a new
family member and the excitement
as along with 10 other prospective
owners we counted the days down
to the “puppy party”. When the
puppies celebrated being in the world for six
weeks, we all converged on a house in deepest
Somerset for a pink, blue, green, purple,
orange or red letter day.
Sam, the breeder, would tell us who was
matched with which pup on this important day
and as we all sat on various picnic rugs and
cushions under a canopy in her garden, there
was an undeniable buzz in the air. Between
us, several hundred miles had been travelled
to meet the puppy that would join our families.
Sam’s daughter, Emma, ceremoniously
handed each of us our own “magic” envelope,
inside which was a coloured ribbon that
matched a ribbon around the puppy’s neck.
Sam beamed, “Please wait until everyone
has their envelope and I’ll tell you when you
can open them.” Moments later, checking the
pups were behind the back door, she
announced, “OK everyone,
time to find out which baby
is yours.”
Willow tore open the
seal and grinned, holding
up a pale blue ribbon – it
was the puppy we had
both bonded with on our
first visit.
As we all celebrated, the
back door opened and 11
bundles of joy came
trotting out in their gaily
coloured ribbons. Our boy
was a little hesitant at the
crowd that had invaded his
garden, but soon came
over to investigate and
promptly clambered on to
Willow’s lap for a cuddle
and a snooze.
Everyone was delighted
with their puppy, although
after an hour of fuss and
excitement it was time
for the babies to go back ●S