Thursday, June 28, 2007

A new arrival

Arthur and Nigel are pleased to announce the arrival of a new baby boy, named Jake.

Jake is what’s called a cavoodle in this part of the world, a cavapoo in
America. The breed is a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a poodle. These “hybrids” have the best of both breeds, but without the genetic defects of a purebred of either contributing breed. He's around ten weeks old.

I’ve never seen a puppy so seemingly happy to be in a new home. He doesn’t cower or shrink, doesn’t seem fearful of surroundings or family members. Instead, he already seems happy to be with us—and spends most of his time happily sleeping in our laps. Maybe his late “sister” had a quiet word in his ear telling him what good daddies we are.

In any case, we’re glad he’s with us.


Anonymous said...

Congrats on the new puppy! He's so cute! I know you'll enjoy having him around.

Adam said...

Aww! So cute! Congrats. Does the kitty like him?

Kalv1n said...

Congratulations! And the same question as Adam. Please, let us know...sounds exciting though...and I've always been a fan of mutts.

Anonymous said...

Jake is adorable! Congratulations. :-)

d said...

So cute!

And good on ya - Darren and I were so traumatized from the loss of the Figster that we have decided no more pets for a while.

And if we ever do decide to get another pet, it will have to be something that will live longer than we will...maybe a turtle?

lost in france said...

Arthur, I am so happy for you and at the same time, jealous. I would love to have a puppy but somehow apartment life just doesn't seem suited for it.

I think it is great that you are "moving on".

Jason in DC said...

So details details. How old? Where'd you get him? Does he take socks that don't belong to him? What's the cat's reaction? How big will he get? How big is he now? etc etc.

He is very cute.

Arthur Schenck said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone!

Jake was born 4/4/07, so he's eleven weeks old (not ten as I said in the post). He'll grow to about 30cm (12 US inches) or so at the shoulder, so he'll be relatively small, maybe half or three-quarters of Saibh's height.

The cat is a bit wary, but still comes in and sleeps on our bed at night. They only had a brief meeting so far, but without an altercation. Curzon, the cat, has lived all but a few weeks of his life with a dog, so this is nothing new for him. Jake wasn't the dominant puppy at the pet store, so he's unlikely to bully the cat which, to be honest, Saibh sometimes did.

In case you're wondering, the pet store is highly regarded. Also, New Zealand doesn't have a problem with "puppy mills" like you hear about sometimes in the US. Saibh came directly from her breeder, a man who eventually had many run-ins with the authorities over his practices, so in that sense alone, we were possibly better off going through a business with a good reputation rather than through a breeder.

Matt Faulkner said...

Aren't they called cockapoos in the US?

Arthur Schenck said...

A cockapoo is a hyrbid of cocker spaniels and poodles, while a cavoodle/cavapoo is a hybrid of a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and a poodle (the two spaniels are very different, and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is different from an ordinary one). Someone in the neighbourhood owns a labradoodle, which is a hyrbid of a Labrador and a poodle (these are much bigger than either the cavoodle/cavapoo or the cockapoo).

So, there are oodles of poodles bred to other breeds.

CondoBlogger said...

I am SO FAR BEHIND onmy Amerinz news! Finally getting to listen to episode 21 and found out that you got JAKE! What a cutie!!! So happy you guys have a new little bundle of unconditional love!

RambleRedhead said...

very beautiful puppy I am so jealous!

Joe has promised me that when we live together we will get a puppy too I can't wait for either thing to happen!