The day we took Biccy home was unreal.

She was just 9 weeks old and 470 grams (pretty small, even for a Prague Ratter). Black and tan with long hair.

I’d flown from Brisbane to Newcastle and driven to the Central Coast, and my partner did the same a day later. I was on the Central Coast just for the weekend to meet Renee, Harriette, their puppies and all the dogs!

Biccy’s litter name was Nellie. She was running around the house, chasing the other puppies, running towards loud noises and trying to keep up with the adult Prague Ratters too, but when you called her name she came.

I’ve grown up on a farm and have had multiple animals of all kinds, but to see a small dog, the size of a tennis ball zipping around assertively, coming when called and going to the bathroom on a mat… it was a lot to take in.

Renee’s puppies live and play right in amongst the family home, they aren’t hidden away or tucked in a small pen. When you walk you can’t pick your feet up because you never know when a small dog might appear underfoot! So I’m not at all surprised Biccy was so social and confident. She was a little bit smaller than the other pups, but in her mind, she was twice the size.

Initially, we had planned not to take Biccy home for at least another three weeks. She’d had clearance from the vet twice, but being so small Renee was cautious. The effort she went to to make sure we got to see her home where the pups were raised, meet her family, play with the puppy parents, go over all the details and make sure everything was just right is what drew us to her in the first place.

Having said that, once I met Biccy (short for Biscuit) and she’d fallen asleep on my hand, I couldn’t bear the thought of parting with her even for three weeks. I’m not sure if Renee was just scared I’d move in, but on Saturday afternoon she popped out into the living room with a gorgeous dog carrier/handbag and said: “she’s going home with you tomorrow”.

Having spoken to so many other Prague Ratter owners from the club, I think everyone has their Renee story. She’s the kind of lady who welcomes you in, makes you bacon, eggs and crepes for breakfast and pikelets with jam and cream for afternoon tea. She’ll get to know you and genuinely care about the personality of the pups, and how they will fit into your life. What made us so happy was that we could trust she did everything right by the breed and we could relax and just get to know them.

There wasn’t a detail of our day to day life that Renee and Harriette didn’t care about. There also wasn’t one detail about the breeding process that they weren’t happy to share.

We drove home on Sunday after an epic Breakfast at Renee’s family home. 10 hours to Brisbane. Biccy was on an hourly cycle of eat, sleep, wee, play, repeat. Renee sent us off with one of those huge tubs, full of blankets, toys, bedding, puppy food and bowls. It was insane, Biccy was pretty decked out.

She’s now 4 months old (or 16 weeks). She’s still a little thing, weighing 670 grams but always putting on weight steadily. She’s had all her main vaccinations and our Vet loves her, she’s very polite and passes all her health check-ups.

We took her to puppy school and she was a little shy, being dwarfed by a German Shepard, a Golden Retriever, a Hunterway-collie and even a Dachshund. She did, however, make an alliance with the German Shepard who was also pretty shy. Which is one thing that has amused us, big dogs love Biccy and Biccy loves big dogs. Watching them play together (gently) is hilarious. Have you ever seen a huge dog pretend to lose tug of war to a dog that is smaller than the rope toy?

Biccy is still pretty brave, she comes to the gym and snoozes through the noise of weights hitting the ground. She sleeps under my desk when I’m working and wakes up for the occasional zoom. At the moment she loves to fetch! She can also sit, stay, watch and she’ll spin around for treats. She sometimes takes tricks into her own hands, and if you tell her to sit she will spin around twice, and then sit.

Her favourite beds are the igloo/teepee type unless she’s allowed to sit on a person, she’ll always choose you as a bed first, especially your shoulder.

She’s the best character we could have imagined gracing our lives. We laugh so much every day. We can’t believe we get to keep her and I certainly can’t remember how I kept myself entertained without her.

Thank you Renee and family for perfecting our home with little Biccy.

Big love from Jo.