BALD BEGINNINGS

I imagine when most people think about introducing a dog into the family they wouldn't think of starting the search with the "worlds ugliest dog breed" (not my opinion but officially rated by voters). However, we didn't have much choice at the time with the criteria laid out by dear father. However, as he was severely allergic to dog and cat fur we thought it best not to poison him at the first hurdle, although my mum may have thought otherwise.

We spent a long time researching potential dog breeds on the internet as I am an avid supporter of the age-old phrase "a dog is for life not just for Christmas", so we knew it was an important choice which shouldn't be rushed. After a while, we had narrowed down the finalists to not one but the many crossbreeds of the poodle variety due to the fact that crossbreeds of poodle do not malt as much as the average pooch. Or on the other hand the more unusual Chinese crested, whilst hairless on almost all of there body they have a surprising amount of fur on their head, tail and legs also like poodles they tend not to shed as frequently.

Step 1 don't kill dad - Complete ✔

I thought locating a puppy or young dog would be easy, however, it is more difficult than you think especially when you want it from a reputable breeder. Never-the-less after a week or two, we found a small litter of 2 Chinese crested and 2 powderpuff from a breeder in Norfolk.

FYI - Powderpuff and Chinese crested can come from the same litter, whilst one is covered in thick, soft fur the other is permanently in his birthday suit. Whilst you might think the hairless is some form of mutant offspring it is, in fact, the other way round, the genes that create the hairless appearance are dominant to those of the powderpuff and it is impossible to breed out as all Chinese crested carry the recessive gene.

We made contact with the breeder and after talking to us all about traits of the breed showing us many glorious pictures of the dog parents and available pups she agreed to bring 2 of the Chinese crested to our house for an introduction.

Step 2 Find Fur baby - Complete ✔

Myself, mum, dad, brother & sister all booked time off work or skipped school for the day, in anticipation for the arrival of the future family member. Before the introduction, we had prematurely chosen one of the 2 crested solely based on his appearance (he looked cute and small liked he needed more love than the other). When they both arrived after being sick from the car journey the one we had chosen was timid and shy, choosing to sit in the palm of dads hands and shake from the stress of it all. The other was far braver exploring the kitchen and conservatory paying special attention to mum, trying to jump on her lap and give her kisses. In hindsight, I think he was clever enough to know if he wooed mum it would seal the deal. The main purpose of getting a dog was to provide mum with a companion each day which she could mollycoddle now her kids had grown up and no longer required intimate care, I was just happy with the opportunity we were getting a dog!!

The visit was nearing its end and my mum could not bear to be parted from her new friend, and I think the breeder was content knowing one of the dogs would have a wonderful life with us. She proposed if we would like to keep one or both of them for the price listed on the original advert it was our choice. It was a tough decision to make as both of them had such different personalities and we felt guilty that our choice would split them apart. At the time we simply did not have enough money (they are not an inexpensive breed) to purchase both dogs so we had to say a fond farewell to the shy guy and we decided to keep the bold and brave (which was not our first choice) as he interacted far more with us all. I still wonder today what became of the sibling and hope he had as wonderful a life as our doggo :(

It was beyond belief for me at the age 17 that this little creature on four legs pissing up against the patio doors was ours, FOREVER! The next step in owning any pet is to think long and hard about a suitable name which perfectly encapsulates there personality. My mum used to be an avid collector of old biddy ornaments called "Cherished Teddies", each of them having a name printed on the base for the character they represent. After looking underneath a handful of ornaments we stumbled upon the name "Dylan", looked down at the little terror causing havoc with a torn puppy pad and thought Yes devilish Dylan is perfect.

Step 3 Name for the new family member - Complete ✔

My nanny whom has had dogs most of her life gave us the fantastic advice "start as you mean to go on" basically meaning start training and get the new puppy adjusted to a lifestyle that you intend to keep for the long haul. I did give Dylan the benefit of the doubt and slept on the sofa in the conservatory next to him for the first night so he would settle. After an almost sleepless night of whining and whimpering, we knew that this was going to be bundles of fun trying to train and help Dylan gain confidence in his new surroundings (and by bundles of fun I mean insomnia for the next few weeks). Nevertheless a week or two later... Dylan had gone from the odd whimper at night in the conservatory to the odd whimper in the bedroom. Don't ask what happened in between the dog whisperer would be ashamed of how quick we had folded and Dylan already had us round his little finger.

We had all fallen in love with him, he was spoilt rotten and his behaviour began to be that of an only child. Skipping forward a couple of months and Dylan had a small altercation with Grandad whos heavy-handedness nearly resulted in ripping one of Dylans back legs off, fair to say he wasn't impressed (but the ex carpenter didn't intend to hurt Dylan). From this moment onwards we had realised a ripple had been created and Dylan was more apprehensive around men especially if they tried to touch him when he was caught unawares.

Dylan had truly become part of the family and our own personal temple guard dog.

Although he was our baby he had multiple personality disorder with one being the sweetest lap dog who loved nothing more than a tickle and cuddle. The other side was a mischievous, barky, territorial hound (HELP I think we have created a monster) 😮