Christina Hollis— Puppy Love!

Prince Alex the Puppy...

I've got fresh writing inspiration on tap right now, and edits are on hold because we've got a new family member.  Meet Alex—he's just eight weeks old. His dad Freddie is a golden retriever (you can see a pic of him in the banner of Care and Connect's Facebook page), and his mum is labrador Ellie.

Alex is adorable, with silky soft fur and black, boot-button eyes. He's a quick learner, too. Some of Alex's older siblings are assistance dogs for autistic children, so we're hoping he turns out to be as kind and well-balanced as his older relatives.

Puppies are harder work than babies, as they're so fast on their feet. I hope Alex doesn't turns out to be too bright. He's already discovered a talent for finding clean socks which have disappeared behind the radiator while airing. He lies on his back, and scrabbles at them from underneath with his paws. That not only retrieves the sock, it pulls out a lot of hidden fluff and dust, too!

He's only been here a week so we can't expect too much from him yet, but he was crate-trained when he arrived, uses the litter tray inside it (although his aim isn't always perfect) at night and he's learning the word "outside" so he can eventually tell us when he wants to go out during the day.

The only problem we've had is with our poor old cat, Jynx. Alex was brought up with felines, so they were strolling about his home unconcerned on our visits to his breeder. Our Norwegian Forest cat is a pest control expert, but he's afraid of anything bigger than a rabbit—including human visitors.

...King Jynx the Cat

We assumed our cat and the new dog would get on with no problems. How wrong can you be? They first met in our big kitchen. Alex edged forward, slowly wagging his tail in greeting, without realising the cat felt under threat. Jynx sprang forward, boxed Alex's ears, then fled. The puppy was surprised but none the worse for wear, although the cat now refuses to use the back door. He will only come in at the front of the house, which in an Alex-free zone.

The cat now spends his days in my office, where Alex is banned, then goes outside at night. This system is working well. When the puppy's sound asleep, Jynx has started creeping about and extending his new territory into his old haunts, with one eye always on the sleeping Alex.

It's all go here, what with the puppy having three meals a day, exercise, suspiciously quiet naps, and playtime sessions in between—and that's before I spend time making a fuss of our deeply offended cat. It's no wonder my writing schedule has gone out of the window.

It's all I can manage at the moment is to work on my next newsletter. There's going to be puppy news, and a lovely recipe for orange polenta cake I was given the other day.

To find out more, mail me at christinahollis(at)hotmail.co.uk and put newsletter in the subject line.

When she isn't puppy-minding, cooking, gardening or beekeeping, Christina Hollis writes contemporary fiction starring complex men and independent women.  Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she’s sold nearly three million books worldwide. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter, Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at christinahollis.com

Her current release, Heart Of A Hostage, is published by The Wild Rose Press and available at myBook.to/HeartOfAHostage worldwide, and from http://bit.ly/1iNf2Gw in the US.