Quick update on the newbies

Petey and Eddie are both doing fine. 

Petey continues to putter around the house, barking when he can't find me. He is a snugglebug who loves to lie on my lap while I'm at the computer, and is a lot less annoying than a certain cat who thinks walking across the keyboard while I'm on the computer is entertaining. And since Petey is much smaller than the cat, he doesn't interfere with typing or block my view of the screen. He's also a very polite bedmate, who doesn't wiggle, snore, or hog the covers. I'm sure somewhere out there in blogland is someone just waiting for a snugglebug bedmate to keep them company.

Petey the Perfect Pal

Eddie is doing great! Although I had been told he didn't go on walks as he panics around vehicles, this has not been the case here. Already he is doing the 2 km beachloop with me each morning as well as another evening walk around town. While we don't have a lot of traffic here, he didn't even flinch when the big scary garbage truck stopped right beside us, airbrakes and all, nor when the recycling truck roared by, and regular cars whizzing past on wet roads were no problem - he LOVES his walks! He walks quite well on leash, especially once he gets over the initial excitement of marking every blade of grass and telephone pole.

Eddie's First Beachwalk

So far, the only things he is afraid of are the camera, the flashlight, and the boom of some fireworks that some idiot let off in front of our house when we were in the backyard this evening. But he's a smart dog - he headed right for the back door. And the few fireworks we heard New Year's Eve hadn't bothered him, so I think it was just the proximity of these ones that unnerved him - me, too!

He hasn't shown his playful side here yet, but that will come. My friend Else brought Tess the Pest over for a playdate but Eddie decided Tess was just a bit too boistrous and ran back into the house to hide. Sadie, on the other hand, was delighted to see a familiar face and put her blues aside to have a great game of bitey face and 'catch the zoomy dog' - it was so good to see her happy for a while. She has been so sad without Charley.

Sadie and Tess at play

The monsoons have begun and the backyard is under a couple of inches of water tonight. Send small poodle-sized life jackets. And giant-sized blow dryers. Do you know how much water a very thick-coated sheltie can bring back into the house? We won't talk about the mud. No we won't. Whose bright idea was it to get a dog with a lot of white fur???????