Ten days old, and counting

Since Mel’s puppy made her astonishing appearance we’ve been asked many times how she’s doing. Sometimes we reply “Growing like Topsy” without actually knowing who Topsy is/was and how/why she grew. (Of course I’ve never said I don’t know; I don’t go out of my way to make myself a social pariah.)

But she IS “growing like Topsy”! When I think of how that tiny, bony little body felt in my hands on the morning she was born, and compare it with the chunky, grumbling and insistent little body that tries to fight its way out of my hands now, I can’t believe it’s only 10 days later!

The photo shows the pup, before and after (the hands are just the same, but you can’t see so much of them). It also shows that she isn’t my black bitch after all – she’s actually tricolour. She may prove to be the first puppy we’ve ever bred whose eyes really do open at ten days (you can just see a chink in her right eye when the light shines onto her). I can only assume that’s also due to Mel’s undivided attention.

In the meantime I decided to find out about Topsy and her prodigious growth. It didn’t take much research to find that Topsy is a servant in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Apparently, after being orphaned at an early age, Topsy has no knowledge of a mother or father, and no idea about God, so has no concept of her origins or theory of how she came to be. She surmises: “I spect I grow’d. Don’t think nobody never made me.”

(What a great blog this is – nice pictures AND educational!)

So, sadly, “Growed like Topsy” isn’t in the least bit appropriate for our puppy, but at least we’ve arrived at a name for her now.

Prudence – Pru for short.

Oh you didn’t honestly think it would be “Topsy”, did you?

BORDER COLLIE SHEEPDOGS & FRIENDS – STILL OFF DUTY! (DVD)

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Watch Pearl Glen, Mel and lots of the dogs you saw in our first DVD Border Collie Sheepdogs – Off Duty! PLUS MANY MORE! The DVD is available from our DVD Store – and we automatically ship the correct format for your country. More info.