Settling In

Ellie arrived today. As predicted, there were tears from the foster-carer at the point of hand-over. It must be incredibly hard to give up a dog that you've cared for, especially through its more vulnerable early weeks of life.

I was so pleased to see Ellie again. As I thought it would, the time between this morning, and last seeing Ellie dragged and dragged. I could barely sleep at all last night. Partly because I knew that Ellie's new crate was coming this morning and I didn't want to miss the delivery-man, but more so because I knew Ellie was coming.

We ordered the crate and decided to get her a 42 inch sized one. It seems huge, like having an aviary in the house.

After the foster-carer left, we decided to have a bit of a play in the garden. Ellie heard the two dogs next door bark. Not one to be out-barked, she decided to have a bark back, you know, just to let them know there's a new dog in town. It was a pathetic little bark that I could barely hear, let alone the dogs next door being able to hear it.

Shortly after, both she and I fell asleep on the sofa for about twenty minutes. She woke me up with her fidgeting and wriggling.

We've put a new collar on her. She scratches at it now and again, but I just distract her when she does, and she seems to quickly forget that it's there.

The best sight came when I had her chasing the football in the rear garden. I would roll the ball and say "Round it up". She chased it and did that famous Collie move, where they bow down and stare at it. It was so funny to watch.

We've decided that we're going to spoil her for the next three days, and not have any rules for her as such. It's important that she feels comfortable and that she feels warm to us, and that she can trust us right now. Let's not forget, she's just move house, lost some dog friends that she's been living with, and has all new surroundings. Rules, right now, would just add to the stress.

So, we'll just relax with her, and then begin implementing some rules as of Monday of next week.