We’re now a 3 Beagle household and have been for 4 days, and though we’re absolutely exhausted, things are going well. I’m getting ahead of myself though; I should really wind back to the morning we went to get the little noise machine officially called Tannahill Vicki, but whom we call Poppy.

As we set off to collect Poppy, we were far better prepared for her than we’d been for Beanie and Biggles. I’d been round our rear garden fence and made sure everything was solid and as escape proof as any garden reasonably can be. We’d bought a playpen with adaptable panels to create a safe den for poppy in any room of the house, and later on, create a barrier around hazards or vulnerable items like trees, plants and so on that might need protecting from her. We’d got a supply of puppy food and treats; she’d have access to Beanie & Biggles’ vast collection of toys – all freshly washed – and some dedicated puppy toys of her own. Finally, we’d worked out a plan for a controlled introduction of Poppy to our existing furballs.

Pack of puppy food in the free starter pack

Whadya mean it’s not for me?

Some of the toys that have survived an encounter with Beanie & Biggles

About the only thing we didn’t have was a concrete idea of which pup we’d be getting; as we set off all we knew was that Poppy would be one of four girls in the litter, and that the choice would most likely be made for us by the breeder and those ahead of us on the owner list. Naturally the main topic of conversation during the drive was: which one will it be?

On our previous visit to the litter I’d taken shots and bits of video of the pups, trying to make sure we could study all the candidates. We even gave them names based on the shape of their white forehead stripes: Sharp, Broad, Scoop and Dot. I’d tried to be even-handed when taking the shots, but one pup had somehow hogged the camera. Sharp – so named because of her narrow, pointed stripe – had been the one to play most with our bedraggled pink comforter; she’d been the one who had spent the most time around Susan, and she’d been the one to pose for me with the red dumbbell. To a superstitious Yorkshireman like myself, this was an omen: “Sharp” was going to be our Poppy. The feeling was so strong that I bought a red dumbbell toy just like the one we’d seen Sharp holding. Whether my instincts would prove right or not, I was OK with the idea that breeder would decide for us.

As we pulled up Susan raised a question that I hadn’t even considered: what if we’re given a choice, perhaps one that didn’t involve Sharp? In a hurry we decided that in this unlikely scenario we’d just choose the one with the sweetest face, although to be honest, all of them looked gorgeous. As it happened, we did get a choice: two pups were available, and the breeder went away to get them so we could view them up close. The options were Sharp and Broad. Looking at them together and trying to ignore my gut feeling, even then Sharp was the winner. We’d got our Poppy.

You’d think chew manufacturers would take the care to get their spelling right. That “U” should clearly be an “O”

Poppy handled the car ride home very well: there was no noise and no barfing. Next she had to meet to our two senior wagscallions. The goal for us was to get Poppy to settle in her new home and bond with us rather than Beanie and Biggles, while at the same time reassuring Beanie and Biggles that nothing was being downgraded for them. We started on a very gradual, multi-staged introduction process that is still ongoing. The initial meeting was outside, through a double layer of playpen bars. Oddly (or at least it seemed odd to us) Poppy had no fear of these unfamiliar, bigger Beagles, but Beanie and Biggles seemed very uncomfortable about going anywhere near her. We took things slowly, using treats to reward positive reactions and in due course we took away one layer of playpen panel. We then moved inside the house, still keeping Poppy in her playpen when Beanie & Biggles were in the same room. Over the next few days we’ve gradually allowed closer contact between the three of them, but never let Poppy pester her elders. This slowly-slowly approach seems to be working; Beanie and Biggles have become comfortable around Poppy, to the extent that we can have Poppy snoozing on our laps right next to them without any reaction from either party. We’ve also done a few short walks together (with Poppy obviously being carried until she’s had her next round of vaccinations); each of these walks seem to move things forward and make everyone more relaxed about being together, and of course they’re good socialisation for Poppy.

As for Poppy herself, well.. where to start. She came to us a quietly confident little pup, and in the space of a few hours we turned her into an attention-craving, shrieking Diva! We’d clearly forgotten just how easy it is to pander to a gorgeous little pup and fall into a cycle of rewarding ever more demanding behavior. We’ve since reined in our instincts and she’s learning that tantrums don’t work like they first did. As an aside, those early tantrums made us realize that Poppy is going to have a traditional “Aaarrrooo!” howl, something that Beanie and Biggles both lack (though to be fair Beanie does have a blood-curdling death scream that scares animals and people alike if they’re unfortunate enough to hear it).

Another thing that sets Poppy apart from Beanie & Biggles as pups is that she absolutely loves cuddles. She’s tremendously affectionate and would probably spend all day playing and sleeping on a humie lap if she could. It’s very hard to get any work done right now; if we’re not cuddling her, we’re watching Poppy TV, eyes glued to the never ending live stream of cuteness.

It’s also amazing how quickly she’s developing. On the first day she was very unsteady on her feet, easily out-paced by a striding human, and like a cute furry Dalek she was incapable of negotiating steps.

A few days later, she’s fast enough to force me into a jog when she sprints, and confidently muscles her way up both sets of steps to the deck. When I try to keep her to the safety of the lawn, I’m taken aback by the way she’s learned to run round me and time her sprints to evade my grasp; it’s reminding me why I was so crap at Rugby and football as a kid. She’s also learning “sit”, has something approaching “fetch” and knows what I mean when I tell her to “go be a clean girl”.

With each passing hour she’s feeling more like our little girl and part of our pack, and while I want to enjoy every minute of these first few weeks, I’m also looking forward to the time she’s fully vaccinated and able to go on her first proper walk.