Welcome, Maggie!

In big family news, we got a dog! She's a beautiful 8-year old named Maggie. We were told she's a Cairn terrier mix, but I'm also told that Cairn terriers tend to be much lighter than Maggie (who weighs in at 40 pounds.)

She's doing great. She's healthy (upon visual inspection). We still need to take her to a vet for a check-up.

Yesterday we had a very busy day. I picked her up at 10AM from the animal shelter and brought her home. She was so happy to be out of the shelter, and so excited to be in a home! She found the things that were her toys and scattered them all over the room. Then she ran up and down the stairs about 30 times.

I took her on several long walks around the neighborhood, including a visit to my office, which I would like her to feel comfortable with as soon as possible.

All day yesterday she wouldn't be anywhere that we weren't. If we moved from one room to another, she came with us. She slept at the foot of our bed, on the mattress made just for her.

Today, I took her to work with me once more, for a longer period of time. I practiced leaving her alone. The first time I left her was for 10 seconds. I stayed behind the door. She seemed fine, but a little scared. The second time, I left for 5 minutes, and when I returned, she was hiding in the corner. The third time, I left for one minute, and she seemed just fine. Beth picked her up at 11. By the time I got home, she was exhausted. She gobbled down her dinner, lied down, and went right to sleep. She hardly wagged her tail all day, and she slept as far away from us as she could, on the first floor by the front door. I wish she'd get up off the cold floor! Silly dog.

I think the first day, she was all caught up in the excitement of someplace new, and being out of the animal shelter, wanting to learn what was going on, and was afraid of being alone again. Today I think she is starting to realize that her home is new, and that her new family has foreign expectations.

These two days have been really exciting but also quite exhausting, but we're happy to have her in our lives.

Pictures coming soon.