A strange, but probably predictable, outcome of the lockdown this year has been the huge interest in bringing a new pet into the home. This period of ‘staying at home’ is seen as a great opportunity to settle in a puppy, as many of us have more time to commit to caring for a young animal. There is time for the training, patience and to heal the bitten fingers that seem to come with integrating a new canine member into the family. More importantly, there is time to make a strong bond with our new furry companions.
This is Ragnar at 7 weeks old who was born at the peak of the pandemic in the UK. He is blissfully unaware of course and is a confident and happy Labrador puppy who happens to be unbelievably photogenic, not to mention soooo cute.
Socialisation is one of the most important things we can do for our puppies to help them to become friendly and outgoing. It’s all about giving them lots of positive new experiences, especially in their first few weeks of life. During the current Coronavirus pandemic, this is going to be more difficult to do. But hopefully, the social distancing restrictions will continue to ease over the coming weeks and Ragnar can start to enjoy meeting all the other beloved pets that we British seem so predisposed toward.
Ragnar belongs to my Stepson Oliver and his Partner Lauren. It was serendipity that Ragnar should arrive just a few weeks after my own puppy, Darcey, came home to live with us at the end of January. It’s been a joy to photograph both of the puppies over the past few weeks and I am really looking forward to sharing some images of Darcey with you soon. Eventually we’ll get the little ones together and I’ll put up some ‘play date’ photos too.