settling in

It was Carm’s night to spend at the hospital while I stayed home with Adia. We wondered who would have the worse night - and it turns out that I had a very peaceful night. She settled into the crate in the bedroom right away and hardly made a peep all night. We had setup the crate right beside the bed so that she could see me which may have helped. I was awake for hours but it was 100% of my own doing.

It is a beautiful morning but I’ll have to say that the mosquitoes are out in full force. If I didn’t have west nile before, I’ll sure have it now! Longer pants, high boots, and long sleeves are my armour, but I need a full face mask too!

We’ve started working with Adia on a few things: I tried to work on a recall outside on a long line, but she’s always shadowing me so I haven’t had much luck, Carm and I did puppy in the middle a few times - she certainly knows ‘come’ so just some practice is needed; she’s getting the very beginnings of ‘leave it’, but she’s such a chow hound it will take some work. Barging out of her crate and diving for her food dish will come gradually, already there’s a difference. She responds immediately to a firm uhuh. Obviously Tina has prepared her for domestic life.

Already her spookiness is abating but I foresee a lot of work to get her used to the wide wide world. I’ll take my time to make sure she has lots of positive experiences. She’s already great with people which is a blessing.

Bella has stopped barking at her and Spike just lifts a lip when she has her nose in his face. She’s not too bothered by the rudeness!

Her tail never stops wagging :-)

Oh gosh, sometimes she reminds me so much of Kabira. She’s a darker red but the same sleek build. She’s well put together and if it wasn’t for her overbite she’d be perfect. But wait, she’ll be perfect for us.

She just settled by herself on the futon - a good sign. She’s lying exactly where Kabira use to lie and in exactly the same position… cue the tears…

A while later… she’s a bit of a perpetual motion machine… I’ve been around the field several times and out a few more times, she’s sniffed every inch of the house multiple times. I’m not sure of her potty schedule and I want to make sure she doesn’t have an accident. I needed a bit of a break so she’s in her crate right now (mostly quiet).

Hi, Laura is letting me say something again today. I think she’s nice and always pretty exciting with treats. I love treats and will try to learn anything to get one. She’s trying to get me to do all these things. It’s confusing me but I’m trying so hard. I was so tired that I almost slept the whole night. Sometimes Laura got up and when I saw her I couldn’t help wagging my tail. Laura says that I settle down in the crate but I knew I’d be good cause Tina taught me already.

Carm said that I needed a bath. I didn’t know what that was and never would have guessed how awful it was. I jumped and scratched to get away but they held me too tight. When they kept the water just on my toes it was okay. I got used to it and now they say I smell really nice. I thought I smelled just fine.

I sure miss all my friends. Maybe someday Spike and Bella will be my friends but now they don’t like me very much. I don’t care but I try to get them to like me a bit. Maybe Spike does a bit - he’s not growling at me very much. I think he might be a bit afraid of me so I try my best not to scare him. He doesn’t scare me though cause I’m trying to be a brave dog.

I think I like it here.

Adia

“Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.”

~Dalai Lama