Sky arrived on 31^st July 2008 amidst great     anticipation.  I had puppy walked before but my previous pup had been almost 7 months on      arrival so this was my first real "puppy" as in very small bundle of fluff.

As the day of delivery approached I was full of positive thoughts and looking forward to being the best puppy walker ever.  The bonding     process had already started, I knew she was a yellow lab and she was called Sky, but I was if I'm honest having an occasional irrational panic…… "What if I don't like my pup, what if we don't bond, am I ready for the joys of house-training again?"

The moment I saw her I knew everything was going to be fine and she would fit perfectly into the family.

House -training went well.  Having a puppy in the summer months has its advantages; you can leave the back door open for easy access to the pen and no standing in the cold and/or rain.
Vigilance and patience paid off and the           accidents soon reduced and then came to a halt at 13 weeks.  She had done well I thought, even if she did now believe her name was "busy busy".

She loved being carried round the shops at the pre-vaccinated stage and being small, the aching arms syndrome didn't set in until the end.  She was however, a terrible wriggler to put it mildly, with frequent mind-blowingly determined      attempts to get down on the ground.

She often ended up climbing onto my shoulder poised to leap down my back. Frequent help was enlisted from members of the public to help talk my pup down, much to their amusement.

I countered her attempts by carrying her with her legs pointing out in front so there was    nothing for her to push against but she upped the anti by discovering backwards head butting in a big way.  I regularly found myself wondering if her puppy lead could be used to truss her up

somehow!!!

I soon got used to feeling like a superstar with everyone stopping to say hello to Sky and ask all the usual questions that they all ask "How old? ….Name?…How long have you got her for?…is she good?…. and explaining that she's a        Labrador pup not an Andrex pup.
I'm sure I met a couple of people that actually thought Andrex was a breed of dog.
I did my bit to educate people for Guide Dogs by ironing out the misconceptions about the   organisation.  I've heard so many strange things….."They use the same letter to name the pups for a whole year then move on" No they don't.  "their names are changed when they start to guide"  No they aren't.  "You mustn't pat them whilst they're training but it's ok once they've passed".  Better if it's the other way round I think. 

Sky soon learned that everyone loves to feed a pup and my protests and discouragement on this would not make any difference, she would be given treats anyway.  Though I did draw the line at some of the more bizarre things offered in the