But still not hyper - not too high. Normal talkative :D
Are you still doing the diary? How's the word count? I am such a data person (my career's basically doing data stuff, so am a bit obsessed). I'm curious how the diary word count compares with blog word count :-)
I totes follow your reasoning about a new dog. You might think about finding an older (non-puppy, 1 to 3 yr old) dog too. Puppies are a ton of work! And they chew everything! In an older dog you'd be sure to know the personality you are getting too.
Also to warn you that some poodles can be ball-obsessed too (they are retrievers), so you have to pay attention to the parents. But the crosses are often bred from already-crossed - sometimes several generations, like they are basically a new breed, and no longer a cross. Then you would have a more stable personality-type, instead of each pup being something entirely unique. Basically, do your research :-)
Goldendoodles are popular here. They are usually fairly large, but they can be smaller (some are). I love them :-)
I take it the pets you have now are not too overwhelming for time or finances? I'd love to get a second dog, but our finances are tight. Am hoping they will recover in a few months. So the goats are not too time-consuming? I have no idea what it's like to have three goats in the backyard. Bet it is fun tho :-)
The goats were expensive to set up (fencing and shed were about £600 plus the boys themselves were £130 each) but aren't much to keep- about £50 every 6 weeks for a delivery of hay, straw and wood shavings, and I'm still on my first bag of goat mix. They take about ten minutes morning and evening to feed and water and shut away, plus maybe half an hour cleaning them out every week or so, plus communing time which depends on the weather and how busy I am! They are perfectly happy just to be let out and put away; they have each other for company and things to play on, so if I'm busy or unwell they aren't any trouble.
The cats are relatively cheap and Kili doesn't cost much except for insurance and flea treatments. They all get moderately expensive kibble but they don't eat huge amounts. Another dog wouldn't be hugely expensive to run but I'll have to find the purchase money, so I'm putting some funds aside. We have just paid off a chunk of the mortgage with endowment policies so we have a bit of spare income at the moment. It will disappear on something so it might as well be on a dog- the alternative is on Spouse's endless kickstarters! In the long term a second dog is unlikely to take up much more time than the first, although he/she will have to be trained.
Definitely a puppy! I'm a bit of a control freak that way; I want my dog to be properly trained and socialised from the start! The first couple of months will be exhausting, hence the "must be well" criterion. Spouse is extremely scathing about my sister's happy but extremely dumb golden retriever so I don't think a goldendoodle would go down well; also he insists it must be primarily a dark colour for hair purposes!
Crosses here seem to be almost always first generation. That has the health benefits although the results are a bit more variable. I've got my eye on a place that breeds blue and brown merle sproodles (the only ones in the country- I gather that merle is not an Kennel Club accepted poodle colour but if you're breeding crosses who cares?); they are eyewateringly expensive but I really like the combination of the random coats and the random colours (here) They also breed a lot of other colour combinations and their breeding seems to be very careful, also their matching of puppies to homes. Most sproodles seem to end up white with black markings like Springers and that fails the white hair test!
Not much on the diary yet-Four days feeling fine, four nights of anxiety and insomnia. 750 words, 800 words, 200 words (and posted chapter). Nothing today. I've dutifully put the story aside to start my essay on Telemachus and hospitality in Homeric Greece. Posting chapters does not have the same effect as posting ends of stories but it does sometimes give me a chance to pause, which seems healthy.
But still not hyper - not too high. Normal talkative :D
Are you still doing the diary? How's the word count? I am such a data person (my career's basically doing data stuff, so am a bit obsessed). I'm curious how the diary word count compares with blog word count :-)
I totes follow your reasoning about a new dog. You might think about finding an older (non-puppy, 1 to 3 yr old) dog too. Puppies are a ton of work! And they chew everything! In an older dog you'd be sure to know the personality you are getting too.
Also to warn you that some poodles can be ball-obsessed too (they are retrievers), so you have to pay attention to the parents. But the crosses are often bred from already-crossed - sometimes several generations, like they are basically a new breed, and no longer a cross. Then you would have a more stable personality-type, instead of each pup being something entirely unique. Basically, do your research :-)
Goldendoodles are popular here. They are usually fairly large, but they can be smaller (some are). I love them :-)
I take it the pets you have now are not too overwhelming for time or finances? I'd love to get a second dog, but our finances are tight. Am hoping they will recover in a few months. So the goats are not too time-consuming? I have no idea what it's like to have three goats in the backyard. Bet it is fun tho :-)
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The goats were expensive to set up (fencing and shed were about £600 plus the boys themselves were £130 each) but aren't much to keep- about £50 every 6 weeks for a delivery of hay, straw and wood shavings, and I'm still on my first bag of goat mix. They take about ten minutes morning and evening to feed and water and shut away, plus maybe half an hour cleaning them out every week or so, plus communing time which depends on the weather and how busy I am! They are perfectly happy just to be let out and put away; they have each other for company and things to play on, so if I'm busy or unwell they aren't any trouble.
The cats are relatively cheap and Kili doesn't cost much except for insurance and flea treatments. They all get moderately expensive kibble but they don't eat huge amounts. Another dog wouldn't be hugely expensive to run but I'll have to find the purchase money, so I'm putting some funds aside. We have just paid off a chunk of the mortgage with endowment policies so we have a bit of spare income at the moment. It will disappear on something so it might as well be on a dog- the alternative is on Spouse's endless kickstarters! In the long term a second dog is unlikely to take up much more time than the first, although he/she will have to be trained.
Definitely a puppy! I'm a bit of a control freak that way; I want my dog to be properly trained and socialised from the start! The first couple of months will be exhausting, hence the "must be well" criterion. Spouse is extremely scathing about my sister's happy but extremely dumb golden retriever so I don't think a goldendoodle would go down well; also he insists it must be primarily a dark colour for hair purposes!
Crosses here seem to be almost always first generation. That has the health benefits although the results are a bit more variable. I've got my eye on a place that breeds blue and brown merle sproodles (the only ones in the country- I gather that merle is not an Kennel Club accepted poodle colour but if you're breeding crosses who cares?); they are eyewateringly expensive but I really like the combination of the random coats and the random colours (here) They also breed a lot of other colour combinations and their breeding seems to be very careful, also their matching of puppies to homes. Most sproodles seem to end up white with black markings like Springers and that fails the white hair test!
Not much on the diary yet-Four days feeling fine, four nights of anxiety and insomnia. 750 words, 800 words, 200 words (and posted chapter). Nothing today. I've dutifully put the story aside to start my essay on Telemachus and hospitality in Homeric Greece. Posting chapters does not have the same effect as posting ends of stories but it does sometimes give me a chance to pause, which seems healthy.
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Better than kickstarters yeah ;-)
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