Where it all began - a new puppy, lockdowns and the new boutique!

So it took the threat of a worldwide

Baby Bella Dog

pandemic lockdown for my husband to finally 'roll-over' and give in to my desires for a 'fur- baby'... 'if the only fun we can have is a short walk each day-I need a dog! If we don't get one soon who knows how long it may be'... so it was time to prepare for our new puppy.

an on-going 'discussion' over the years and one I admittedly let go of as my girls were growing up and spare time seemed a rare commodity... but now in Feb 2020 the world seemed to slow down and threaten to just stop... with the scary unknown of Covid we were all left with plenty of time to think and contemplate and reassess. Looking back it seemed to all just fall into place, Bella, the new business and of course the daily walks!

Having found the gorgeous little Bella (curly red cavapoo, cute button nose, huge loving eyes - you get the picture...and yes, she was the cutest but loudest puppy in the litter) I started nesting! I jumped on the internet like an excited, expectant mother full of gusto... making a list of all the things I would need to make her a happy home and life.. of course amidst puppy training pads, poo bags and all the essentials I discovered the wonderful (and perhaps weird to a newbie dog mom) world of dog toys and accessories. I had always owned a dog growing up, yet not once did they wear a colourful printed harness, have a matching lead, carry a toy bag or horror of horrors wear a knitted jumper ;) (Bella has a few lol!)... but here it all was in beautiful photos on social media. The 'dog-fluencers' and their adoring mamas! Some of these pups have a bigger and better wardrobe than me.. sorry 'Pawrobe' - yes it is a thing, Google it!

Wow... my husband would love it all ! To this day he still struggles to walk Bella with her matching pink collar and lead set - he adores her in private but plays the 'she's the wife's dog' card when he's out walking her... of cause stick a rain mac on her or anything more 'dressy' and he's simply not walking - end of !

So, our house slowly filled with dog paraphernalia - fluffy bed, matching food and water bowls - (need to tie in with the newly decorated kitchen of course -no, a tupperware container would not suffice!) , brush and comb, puppy food, puppy mats.. etc and then a gorgeous plethora of toys - bright rope toys, balls and rings etc.. all wrapped up in a gorgeous classy grey basket with Bella's name neatly embroidered on it (thanks etsy!) - not that she would appreciate it, but there it was in pride of place next to the fireplace... it was these toys that would ultimately lead me to start this boutique as within a few weeks I had grown to hate the mound of ugly toys. My daughters were now grown and we had recaptured our lounge, but here we were falling over toys that Bella would leave strewn around my floor... eek there had to be some nicer looking toys than this..hmm...

.... to be continued...