Another Addition to the Family!

Here she is! Our beautiful new adoptee has arrived & is just what I imagined her to be. We were able to pick her up Good Friday instead of Saturday, which is great as we have the whole day with her today to help her settle in before our big day out Easter Sunday with church & family dinner. We met at a halfway point in a parking lot, and she was pretty shaky, but showed her curious side as well (it was fun to meet two of her friends who came to send her off, both large male coonhounds). After I opened the side van door to sit & sign paperwork, she decided to climb in & lie down on the dog bed all on her own, so that was that. She was quiet on the ride home, and pretty timid in the house and yard at first, but interested in exploring all the same. Cats weren't an issue on first meeting, which is good, and later on...

...she quite happily climbed on the couch - actually, she did that as soon as she came into the living room, where she spent the rest of the evening with us. Hesperantha seems pretty interested in her, and is quite an easy-going dog, although she has decided to make sure that Happy (new name to be determined soon) knows Hesper gets first dibs on laps & so on.

This morning, Happy is showing very encouraging signs of increased comfort. She has explored the yard thoroughly, and after being a little nervous with Hesper's rather enthusiastic efforts to initiate play, she decided to join in, as you can see! Hesper is hilarious - she just streaks up past other dogs, dashes in front of them, tears in circles around them...I think she will definitely enjoy having another young dog around who likes to play as well.

We will have to work with Happy on coming downstairs again once she gets up, as we've had to carry her down twice now...but that will come. She slept soundly on the dog bed beside me last night, and will take bits of food & treats from me - although the other dogs are making her a bit too nervous to focus on a whole meal at the moment. Anyway, she's gorgeous, and feels like our dog already. We look forward to getting to know her!