It got off to an inauspicious start. Things were going fine. I had just finished getting ready for our day's activities. Echo was telling me she needed to go out, when the doorbell rang. I thought she had a few minutes to spare, so, I put Echo in her pen, and answered the door. It took me about 10 minutes to deal with the person at the door. When I came back, she had made a mess in her pen. She was, obviously, upset. I didn't make a big deal of it. Picked up as much as I could, sprayed the spots with "Spot Shot", and took her out.
While we were out, my cellphone rang. It was Jean and Pan. They were at the front door.
They got to see what we have been doing, where we have been doing it, and see Echo and Gimli together. We spent about an hour and a half together. Jean, in particular, remarked how quiet Echo was. That, when confronted with noises that other dogs would bark at, she just looked and observed. Both noted how much smaller she is than her brother and sister. ... And, unlike their last visit, both seemed to be impressed by Gimli, and how well Echo and Gimli got along. They fitted her with the harness we have been waiting on. it should help to stop her from pulling on her lead.
We went to the vet together. Echo received her third Distemper/Hepatitis/Parainfluenza/ Parvo shot, and had her nails trimmed. Leslie, the tech at the vet whom we have had the closest dealings with in the past, gushed over Echo profusely. Jean, even, remarked at how well she interacted with Echo.
By the way, Echo weighed in, at the vet, at 21.6 pounds. She is about 2 pounds lighter than Gimli, at the moment. I expect her to surpass Gimli, in weight, in the next week or so. It's interesting to me, because one of the nicknames that Gimli responds to is "Big'un" ("Big One" for those of you that don't speak "southern".) He acquired the nickname because, by the time he reached maturity, he weighed as much as the two "old farts" (miniature dachshunds) COMBINED. As I have said before, Echo responds probably more to "Little Girl" with me than her name. So, soon, in my house, "Big'un" will be the smaller dog, in every way, and "Little Girl" will be the large one.
Then, I helped Jean and Pan load her in Jean's SUV, and she went to Jean's to stay until Friday.
I had some "Proud Papa" moments throughout this, with both dogs. ... And Jean was right, sometimes you need a break from each other.
I ran some errands, picked up Amy from work, did some serious prep for my orchestra rehearsal tonight, and didn't worry about what Echo was doing as I played Mozart, Gounod, and Grieg with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra (which, also, meant spending time with some of my closest adult friends in the area).
By the time I arrived home, however, I was ready for the break to be over, kind of.
The next couple of days are going to give me an opportunity to do some things that I couldn't do with Echo here. For the most part, I have been postponing them until we got to this point.
On the other hand, "my little girl" didn't go to sleep on me, literally, tonight, for the first time since September 3rd. She's not in her crate, at my feet, as I write this blog post, for the first time since it's creation. ... you get the idea.
I've said, multiple times in the past, that we have "bonded". Well, that goes both ways.
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I will tell more about the rest of Echo's day, later.
First, Amy sent me some video that she shot for a few days ago. Jean, as I noted before, commented on how quiet Echo is, and she didn't use the word "calm", but she implied it.
Uh-huh.
Echo is a puppy, and a happy, active one. As Amy's videos will show:
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About the time I came home from orchestra rehearsal, I received an email from Jean. The pertinent parts read:
Here are some pics of Echo. She is doing pretty good. Got home and she played with Liberty for while and then crashed. She is so much better than when we had her almost 3 weeks ago. She doesn't bark at all in the xpen at the other dogs. Which means that she is really comfortable being in the xpen and that is something you have done great. thank you. She is upstairs right now with Pan probably sleeping. We are headed for a field trip tomorrow to meet one of the new possible volunteer trainers for AAD. Then maybe starbucks and some other places to see how she reacts. We will take good care of her and will keep sending pictures.
As for the pictures, I am going to post all of them, BUT in the order I want, not the order they were in the email.
First, at the house today, after Jean and Pan started talking about how well Gimli and Echo get along, and they "gushed" a bit about Gimli. There was a moment that both of them thought was so cute, that Jean wanted a picture. So, after it happened the first time, they did it again.
Here is the shot:
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Jean talked about two of Echo's littermates. A male and female. Apparently, she has had some contact with them.
She remarked that they are both, roughly, twice Echo's size. So, I have been accurate. My "Little Girl" is little.
Here is a picture of her brother and sister. The brother is the one on the right, that looks like Echo. (I wish there was something in the picture that gave some sense of proportion, as to the size of these dogs.)
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Here is Echo in the pen, at Jean's house.
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THIS is the moment that made my day. When I showed this picture to Amy, she made the kids stop what they were doing to come look.
My "Little Girl" wore her "Service Dog in Training" vest, for the first time, today.
No, I AM NOT "tearing up". ... There is something in my eye.
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Addendum:
I think the only being in my house that has missed the "old farts" more than me, Radar, in particular, is Gimli.
If, given your reading of this blog, you think that Echo and I have bonded, then, you don't know "bond". Radar and I were "bonded".
... And, after we added Gimli, Radar was the undisputed "alpha dog" of our three-dog pack. Gimli was, always, on the lowest rung of that pack order. The eternal puppy.
That was the role he was relegated to.
After the "old farts" passed, there was nothing in our house to tell him that he should be any different. ... Just continue being a puppy.
THAT is the dog that Jean and Pan met 3 weeks ago.
Then, Echo came to live with us.
We have been careful to ensure that he doesn't dominate her, and vice versa.
However, we all know that Gimli is the "dog", and Echo is the "puppy".
This situation has enabled Gimli to mature, in terms of persona, in ways that he hasn't had, EVER.
In those ways, he has matured more in the last 3 weeks than he has in the last 5 YEARS.
Jean and Pan noticed the difference today, and commented on it. That change is the reason Jean took the picture posted above.
On the other hand, while neither are "alpha", they both, in their way, acknowledge that Gimli is "dog", and Echo is "puppy".
Given what I have seen tonight, Gimli is grateful for the break from the "puppy". He "crashed" about 4 hours ago. Except for a few minor changes in positioning, he, still, looks like this:
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