Home

We were both so excited, we woke up at 5am this morning! And then found ourselves with 5½ hours to fill before we could reasonably set off to collect Jack.
He was so manic when we arrived that I admit to having suffered a brief moment of "Oh-my-god-what-have-we-done?", especially when it took three of us to hold him still whilst he had his new collar fitted; but I told myself that it was simply a mixture of excitement at seeing us, relief at having been released from his prison, plus he'd obviously picked up on the fact that Something Different Was Afoot; so I felt fairly confident that he wouldn't always be this uncontrollable ?.. and I was right.

He loved being in the car (the inside of which is now dusted in a fine layer of dog hair, shed due to his anxiety at whatever-the-hell-was-happening-to-him), & sat with his nose pressed to the window taking in all the new sights & smells; there was a brief moment of panic when hubby went to open the front door & disappeared from his sight, & then ten minutes of madness when we got indoors & set him free. He sniffed every inch of every room, & tried out the beds & the sofa (both of which were met with a firm "No", at which he got straight down): his previous owners clearly did a superb job in training him, as he's incredibly well behaved - he did go a little crazy when our daughter turned up, but calmed down as soon as he was told to (& quickly enslaved her just as he has us), & he did hang around the kitchen when lunch was being prepared, but he didn't get in the way & didn't even beg - he simply wanted to be where he could keep everyone in sight; & we were amazed when we sat down to eat & he simply went & lay in his bed - wow, try as we might, we never managed to get our retriever to stay put throughout an entire meal! He's naturally suffering from a bit of separation anxiety (& who could blame him?), & on his first toilet outing wouldn't 'perform' until I came to the window so that he could be sure neither of us was going to disappear, but as the day wore on he gained more & more confidence & began behaving almost as if he'd always lived here, & we already feel as if he's always lived her too: if his impression of a dog with two tails is anything to go by, he's more than satisfied with his new home, & we seem to have passed must as his new people. Phew!