Age: 12 wks
Weight: 19 lbs

I'm doing very well with my sits, downs and offs; getting quite good at trotting along on the lead, and I'm an exceptional shoe thief. Hmm - which one of these things doesn't belong?

The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind for the Heath clan - in fact, we're all currently crashed out on the couches, with two sets of snoring. We had lots of guests, walks in the park, puppy socialisation class and a visit to Waggy Tales. Troon is still quite shy around other dogs, but seemed to be coming out of her shell by the end of play today.

Troon had her first walkies today!! We started off taking in the smells, but then pranced up Albany Passage, meeting a friendly poodle, Charlie from Trinidad, along the way. Troon was very shy.

Next challenge was the main road; we did very well for our first walk, though understandably those giant vehicles were slightly intimidating. Finally, back down Albany Passage, we met a puppy called Laura, a flat-coated Retriever, with her owner Penny. Troon was again quite shy, but ultimately we would give this a 9 out of 10 for great puppy experiences.

Dad was home at 7.00pm and we went out again, met two babies and lots of friendly people. Confidence is building and hope to show Mum where to go tomorrow. Really tired so off to my den. Chow for now.

Yawn, Friday morning. I got up at 5am today, as usual. Mum and Dad seem a bit tired at that hour, nonetheless, they got up too and hung out with me. Some pictures of me last night - a couple at my favourite hang-out spot on the stairwell; it's even better with Dad. And just a bit later, snoozing on mums lap - (and they wonder why I wake up so early!)

I am officially 11 weeks old now and I'm told that I weigh about 17 lbs - not much different to last week, though I am feeling much more mature. Actually, I overheard mum and dad say they were going to take me to puppy classes this weekend - Yippee! At least that's progress. I wonder if they will let me take my best friend? (I can't decide if he's a reindeer or a Vizsla.) They also said I get to make my first puppy paw prints in Richmond Park on Saturday...like a true Hollywood Star! Only first, mum says I have got to learn how to walk on that annoying lead ... sheesh! Why can't they leave a good thing alone?!

Mum and Dad decided a day at the beach was in order, so off to see Uncle Stuart and Auntie Rachel's new house in Brighton. Nice place, needs some doing up but even I can see plenty of potential - tried to help them in the garden and left them a few presents for later!

They all seemed very excited about their Roast Leg of Lamb (I got Royal Canin, again), I just hope their palate remains focused on these farm animals they keep eating.

Brisk walk down on the seafront, although, as per usual I was carried. Strange because I thought my antics in the house were sufficient to convince them I could walk; oh well maybe next week. I am pooped and off to bed, talk later.

Today, I went to the vets office. I had my second jab, which means next week I can finally go outside to play - I can't wait! Turns out, the jab was nothing to worry about - just a tiny one, which I didn't even notice because the nice lady at the vet gave me some biscuits to distract. I also ate some crunchy worming tablets; they probably didn't taste very good, but I didn't notice those either as they were served with biscuits à la carte too. I like going to the vet, and I behaved very well - not like some other dogs who were whining and complaining the whole time. Bow wow!

I learned to climb the stairs today - my mum and dad are very proud! I also learned to open the rubbish bin all by myself ;) Smart girl.

What can we say about Troon today!? Trouble is a word... or perhaps Frenetic would be more appropriate. But she's still beautiful and gracious and lovely and we love her to pieces!!

No accidents to report - though a bit of tail chasing and biting... I think she just needs to get outdoors. She keeps catching her refelction in the oven - I have a feeling she is missing her sisters :( Only one more week to go (and a couple of days) before we head out to the great outdoors! We can't wait!

Age: 10 wks
Weight: 16 lbs (7.2 kg)!

Troon had an enormous amount of energy today as well as an enormous appetite.

At times she displayed some fairly bizarre behaviour, like digging a tunnel behind her den only to come out the other side and dive back down in the other direction. I suppose it was relatively normal for a puppy though.







She is steadily learning to sit, come, wait and fetch - but she's also quite sneaky in that sometimes she checks to see if I have a treat for her, and if I don't, she takes off.

Troon is also getting quite good at her signals to go outside, although there are still the occasional accidents.

Grandma's sessions with Troon took their toll on the way home this afternoon - going to sleep three times on the coach journey (woken by her own snoring!). Troon says 'thanks for stopping by and see you when I hit 20kg!'

Today was a special day for Troon, she met her Grandma, and had to train her!!

"She got up late, couldn't open the back door, so I did a puddle on the floor, even though I had asked to go out with plenty of time to spare. She was just getting into the routine when Mum arrived home, obviously couldn't bear to be parted from her Troon (or didn't trust Grandma). Anyway, as the day went on things got better, had the attention from both of them, and it was great! I've had some good sleeps today, when they let me, and I think I know when to go out in the garden. Only one slip up, got too excited when playing on the sofa, sorry, won't do that again!"

Congratulations to Troon (and her parents) for sleeping all the way through the night by herself!!! No messes or upsets whatsoever :) What a good girl she is!!!

Age: 9 1/2 weeks
Weight: 15.2 lbs (6.9 kg)

Day Four: I think we are all finally getting the hang of this! Troon has settled in very well. At both Vet Liz's and Breeder Jim's advice, we battled out the solo sleeping arrangements last night with good success.

Troon went to bed at 9pm, and we only took her out for one bathroom break at 2am (she was quiet before we went out though.) She woke up three times during the night; the first time, she barked for 1 1/2 hours, the second time, for about 45 minutes, and the third, only 15 minutes! I think we're getting somewhere. (Touch wood.) No doubt we will do battle again this evening, but we'll be sure to run down those batteries before she goes to bed ;)

As for house training, our girl is doing pretty well. She doesn't much like the cold or the rain, but we've had few accidents to report since Troon's arrived. Today, she gave a very clear signal toward the door to let me know she needed to head out. Well done Troony!

Day Two: Troon is doing quite well today - practically house trained as she's done 95 per cent of her business outdoors. She slept a lot, however, her activity level seems to increase significantly post garden deposits. It would seem lighter dog equals energetic dog.

Appetite continues unabated, though we're concerned about her taste for pebbles and garden foliage. We will add this to our list of discussion points when we make our first visit to the Vet Liz tomorrow.

A lot has been happening around here lately! We're back from New York and had a fabulous time running the marathon, which took us 4 hours, 2 minutes, not to mention left us with an incapacity to walk down any stairs.

I'm glad to say this is finally wearing off and we're now embarking on our second marathon of the week - otherwise known as Troon. What is normally a 2 1/4 hour journey back from Lincoln, turned into a 3 3/4 hour journey last night, courtesy of the A1. Troon was an absolute star; sleeping, looking out of the window and playing in the back seat most of the way. She was even helpful enough to try to drive at one point!

A few picks of the last 24 hours... Troon with Jim, one of her wonderful breeders, and a few snapshots of Troon settling into her new home. As you can see, she is enjoying her kennel - though she didn't exactly sleep through the night. Overall, she did pretty well though - we are particularly pleased with her snuggle safe puppy. If pictures are worth a thousand words - these ought to be worth at least a thousand snores!