Actually, since arriving here, I’ve noticed that I feel different. As I mentioned there are lots of smells, but they’re interesting ones, not worrying ones that make me think there might be a dog about to jump out at me. It’s quieter here too, well apart from the birds! But they’re just fascinating. They don’t make me anxious.
Having said that, I’ve still been feeling quite restless. Everything here is so new and I don’t know the routine. What if I need to go out? What if I do something wrong? What’s going to happen?
But the man hooman saw that I was nervous and played with me. It really helped me to feel connected and accepted, and helped to shift some of my anxious energy. Then both hoomans just sat quietly and I could feel my energy settling into a quieter rhythm too.
When they went upstairs to bed I was left downstairs. It gave me space to think and process this incredible day.
Early the next morning the woman hooman came downstairs. It was so good to see her and to have some company again! She let me out for a pee and then gave me breakfast. (It was a bit early for me to be honest but I ate a little to be polite.)
She ate her breakfast and started doing stuff on a thing called a laptop, but I wanted to go out again. I had some energythat I needed to run off and I wanted to explore more of those intriguing smells! And she was ok with this, which felt good. She understood my request to go out and she came and threw the balls for me – well, until I took both of them in my mouth and ran off with them! It was a bit of a stretch for me but I wanted to keep both of them close for a while.
We then went back inside and sat for a while. A little later the man came downstairs too. The woman then changed her clothes and got ready to go out. Where was she going? But the man put my harness and lead on and we went too. We went up to the fields where we’d been yesterday. There were a couple of big 4-leggeds up there, which had been a little intimidating – they’re so huge! – but today I felt braver and when I was in the field it turned out there was only 1 of them there, the girl one, and so I just explored while she ate her dry grass. As we were then going back to the gate the big one came over and very gently said hello. Actually, she’s ok! I got a bit of a fright for a second but then realised that I was ok, she didn’t chase me, her energy was gentle and anyway the hoomans were there and I think I can feel safe with them.
When we got back to the house, the woman got changed again and then the man left. Where did he go? When would he be back? Would he be back? I didn’t feel too worried, but I realised that I missed him! He’s fun and plays good games. He’s much better at throwing balls too!
The woman seemed occupied, so I lay down on the mat by the back door to wait. A long time later – or so it seemed – he still wasn’t back and she was still busy, so I went in to the kitchen where I could see her, and lay down on the bed they’d left for me on the tiled floor. I waited patiently there until I heard him come back. I was so excited to see him again that I jumped up and rushed to meet him!
Turns out he’d bought me some new toys!! A thing called a frisbee and 2 fab new balls – much better than the tennis balls I had before. They’re a little bit bigger, no fluff on them, and they feel so good to chew on. I don’t know what on earth I’m supposed to do with the frisbee thing but I’m definitely hanging on to these balls!
In the afternoon the woman disappeared somewhere again for a while and the man and I played for a bit, then we both had a nap. It felt so relaxing, reassuring and safe!
Later we all went up to the fields again. This time the big brown 4-legged came over to me. His energy is very different to the girl one. Where she’s gentle and soft and hangs back a little, he feels bigger somehow, pushy, curious and very forward. I warned him, quite loudly, not to come close, but it was ok coz the woman stepped between us. I also noticed that he hadn’t moved… Maybe he was just wanted to meet me, but he needs to understand that I’m not comfortable with him coming so close when he’s so much bigger than me!
The woman made sure that the big one kept his distance and the man took me out of the field again. We started to make our way back down to the house, then I realised that the woman wasn’t coming with us. I went back to find her – she was still with the big ones – but she said I should go with the man. I heard him calling to me and I was happy to follow him (though I noticed that the big ones look a little less scary from a distance and when they’re not looking straight at me with their long faces), so I ran back to find him and we returned to the yard by the house.
Exploring a little more I found a stream and went rushing in, but the man didn’t want to join me for some reason. He then wanted to wash my paws – he was muttering about something called ‘mud’. I didn’t like this idea much coz having people touch my paws or lifting my feet feels very uncomfortable, but actually he was so gentle and patient with me, understanding my uncertainty, that it turned out it wasn’t so bad, just a bit weird and wet.
The evening was similar to the day before but now that I knew more what to expect, and I’d been able to release a lot of my energy during the day, I was much more able to relax and chill, which also gave me the opportunity to sleep and process all these new things. The hoomans encouraged this, giving me the space I needed.