Over the weekend we received some new photos from the breeder. There were three female pups that hadn’t been picked at that point, and we were asked to say if we had a preference.

Pup #1 was particularly affectionate with everyone she met, but had very sparse markings on her body – she was mostly white. Pup #2 had classic tricolor markings and a sweet face, but was slightly smaller than the rest and was gaining a reputation as an escape artist. Pup #3 also had decent markings and a gentle expression but a rather domed head.

Initially we went for #3 but then spent the rest of the day having second thoughts. And third thoughts. Every time we reviewed the photos our favorite changed. In the end it didn’t matter because the decision was made for us by other people ahead of us in the list: pup number 2 was going to be ours. Here she is:

We drove over to see her today, and the photos don’t come anywhere close to doing her justice! She’s absolutely gorgeous, with a confident, inquisitive and happy nature. It was all pure chance, but I think we got the pick of the bunch. We’ve arranged with the breeder to pick her up just after Christmas – at that point she’ll be about 11 weeks old, and will have had the OK from the vet to explore the outside world. Needless to say, we can’t wait to get her home.

We hung around at the breeders for a good while, holding and stroking our pup, and watching the whole litter at play. It was an amazing thing to see. For about half an hour there was a frenzy of sniffing, chewing, jumping and running around. The fresh newspaper lining their play area was ripped and chewed up in seconds, and the breeder herself was nearly tripped up by a determined assault on her shoelaces. Then quite suddenly the pups ran out of energy and fell asleep in a disorganized heap of paws, bottoms and floppy ears. All except for one particularly vocal youngster that is. He kept going like the Duracell bunny on acid. Whoever gets him is going to have some sleepless nights for a while!

You can see a short video of three of the pups here. Our pup is the one on the left, intently chewing on the legs of a rubber chicken. We’ve called her Beanie – a name that really seems appropriate after seeing her and her siblings jumping about.