Nellie has done more than smitten long-suffering partner and me. She has now successfully charmed our big bear Kuma. And by charmed, I mean she has told him firmly, but not overly forcefully, that she demands respect. And it was all her idea. Thank goodness the trainer was here to help out!
Since we knew Kuma can be overly enthusiastic (which is code for a jackass), we kept Nellie in my office with the door closed until she could chill out a bit. The first night I had to sleep in the office chair to stay with her (not comfortably I might add). The next night at least I was able to actually go to bed, but being an overly concerned new mom, of course I kept an ear out for any distress sounds. By Wednesday I found a sturdy grid to fit across the door. It would keep the fur-babies separated but they could get acquainted nose to nose. That's also the day we realized that when the Shelter said they groomed her, what they meant was they got rid of the excess hair and mats, but water and soap were not introduced in the process. Trying to give her more time to acclimate, the bath waited for Thursday. She wasn't thrilled with the idea, but fortunately she was willing to tolerate the madness for the sake of her new digs.
Friday morning the trainer arrived to assess our situation and guide us through the safe and sane steps for doggie introductions as well as giving a lesson on setting physical boundaries so there was no chance she'd bolt out a door or a gate. Kuma was in the backyard with us and Nellie was safely behind the grid in the office. Or so we thought. Just as we were coming up with the game plan for an introduction, who came bounding out the back door into the yard? Somehow Nellie, who had exhibited zero jumping capabilities in 4 days, had managed to scale the barrier and decided to join us. Thank goodness the trainer took a very Zen approach and there was no drama. Not that there wasn't a tense moment or two, but within minutes, they realized they were going to be together and they may as well make the best of it. Big sigh of relief.
And today, a mere 6 days at her new home, she is settling in, allowing perfect strangers to pet her, dealing calmly with other dogs, and figuring out how to best boss us around for the duration of her very long stay.
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