A new Member of the Family

[Daisy]

Plant - I think she has been well-cared for and has certainly had some training, although as we get to know her better, I think some of it may have been a bit too strict! She will even stand in the middle of the lawn and wait for one of us to tell her to 'hurry up' before she does what she needs to do.

She was very good at the vets, although she didn't like the microchip machine at all! Everyone made a big fuss of her which she loved.

[Daisy]

Well, Eva has spent what we hope will be the first of many Christmases with us. She has now met all the grandchildren and has been absolutely brilliant with them. GD1 has spent a lot of time sitting on the floor stroking her, and she's loved that. She has got on well with DS2's elderly but gentle dog and the whole family have made a fuss of her.

Today we took her for a walk down to the river, and she definitely loves water! She's still very excitable in the Forest, but training starts tomorrow and that will be a priority.

So, we're getting to know each other, and can't imagine a quiet clean house anymore! I'll post some photos tomorrow. 😍

[Gemini]

How wonderful I hope the training goes well!

[Daisy]

As promised - a couple of photos - not great quality as they're from my phone.

[Daisy]

We will have had Eva for 3 weeks tomorrow, and I thought I'd post a little update. She continues to delight us, entertain us and keep us very busy with walkies. She's quite excitable when she's out and is constantly trying to run in first one direction and then the other. She's desperate to go and say hello to other dogs, but was relatively disinterested in the two deer she's seen at close quarters (thank goodness). OH got caught up in a stampede of Forest ponies a couple of days ago and she was more than happy to hide with him behind a large tree.

Yesterday we took her to a pet supermarket to buy her a new bed. She loved going round the store sniffing at all the bags of dog food, toys etc, then when we reached the aisle where the dog beds were there was one the floor and she leapt into it and tried to bury the Kong tennis ball she'd taken out of my basket! Then she spotted the section where there are real bunnies, guinea pigs etc and suddenly nothing else mattered! We had to drag her away before she started barking at them. Lots of people made a fuss of her, and she enjoyed choosing a couple of new toys.

[Gemini]

3 weeks, gosh!!
It sounds as the pet shop was quite an adventure for Eva!

She looks very cute in her bed

[Daisy]

Training diary! I have to say first of all, that she has perfect manners around the house. She knows basic things like Sit, Down, Off (usually OH's lap) Roll Over, Come, Leave, Fetch. She gets in and out of the car nicely and is now much better at letting us put her harness and lead on. THEN - we go out for a walk and she develops selective deafness! She is so excited by everything in the Forest, no doubt all new and strange to her, and pulls like mad on the lead when she sees another dog. We've had some help from a lovely dog trainer who has suggested whistle training her (I did this with R&C) and keeping a special treat for whistle recalls. She's doing brilliantly in the house - blow the whistle and she's sitting at your feet in a nanosecond. Outside? No chance! Oh, dear. All we can do is keep practising!

[Gemini]

It's very early days, Daisy. It sounds as though you - and Eva, are doing really well!

[Daisy]

Gem - Walkies aren't helped because we have to wade through mud everywhere, so can't walk too fast. She probably needs longer walks to help her get used to everything, but there are so many places we can't go at the moment because of the weather - I had to walk through river floods one day. Roll on the Spring!

[Gemini]

I was thinking the same, Daisy. Spring, when it gets here, and a new doggie to share walks with, will be lovely

[Daisy]

It can't come soon enough! But at least we've just had 2 days without rain, even though we've had some heavy downpours overnight. I was out walking with Eva until turned 4.30 today so the evening are starting to get a bit lighter.

[Plantaholic]

Everything topsy turkey, we have catkins in the hedgerow.

[Daisy]

Our back garden is a sea of mud. Eva gallops round like a looney, skidding round corners and churning the lawn up. While we're having the front garden and drive done we thought we'd have some hard landscaping round the summerhouse I got at the end of last summer, so the grass has been cleared from that area, and it's started raining again tonight. So you can imagine - it's mud everywhere. Eva hasn't got the hang of wiping her own paws and today ran back into the house and straight into the living room. Our cream rug now has interesting shades of mud all over it!

[Daisy]

I've just booked Eva in to the vets to be spayed, next Friday. I'll be glad when it's all over for her so she can settle down properly and get on with learning how to be a dog in the New Forest and enjoy lots of long walkies. I'm going to be a nervous wreck until she's safely home again.

[Gemini]

I'm sure all will be well with Eva, Daisy and it's the best thing for her.
I can understand that you would worry though, we can't help but worry about our pets!