New pup is making my isolation a little easier

LOCKDOWN, eh? Half of me has settled into this new way of life very easily. Chilled out in the house, feet up, tapping away at my computer with a film on in the background like absolutely nothing has changed. The other half of me is sitting in a corner freaking out and wondering how it’s come to this. Every now and again I remember that phrases like self-isolation and social distancing have just appeared in our vocabularies out of absolutely nowhere. A truly wild time to be alive.

Me and my girlfriend are currently staying at her parent’s house for a few days. It’s been magic and has been made even better by the fact that my girlfriend’s maw has just welcomed a new puppy into the family.

Lockdown with not just my own dug, but now a brand-new one as well. It’s absolutely class.

But when this new puppy arrived last week, I realised I had never actually encountered a puppy in real life. The only dugs I’ve had have been slightly older rescue dugs. These kind of dugs arrive at your home and avoid you for a couple of days. Checking out their surroundings, deciding for themselves if they’ve made the right move. You get to know them slowly, building up trust and eventually become best mates.

It took maybe about six months for me and my dug, Timmy, to click. At the start, he avoided me and his constant barking made me avoid him. Eventually, he ground me down and we became pals.

But when a puppy arrives at a new home, it instantly goes wild. It can’t wait to meet everyone, it wants to climb on everything, chew whatever it can fit in its mouth, run about and just have a right good time. It’s been great fun.

Being left alone with a puppy is just as awkward as being left alone with someone else’s baby. I remember watching my wee cousins years ago and not knowing what to say. “Awrite,” I’d say to