She's Here! Singer is Home

Above:  Singer in the car, coming home.
Below: Nate and Saylor, when she was the same age as Singer is now.

 Singer and Nate Dec. 26, 2011

 Jeff and Singer, in the kitchen

 See how calm the animals are? Dakota on my lap, Singer lying near us.

As you can tell from the pictures, Singer is home. She was very frightened at first, and getting into the car was an ordeal for her. She shivered the whole way home. Kate had to coax her in and we took a long time to coax her out. She knows the word, "House" because she ran up to the door when I asked her if she wanted to go inside the house. She took a quick tour of the house, then we went and showed her the crate in the basement and offered her water. She went into the crate, so we decided to leave her there for a while. Dakota came downstairs, Singer's ears went up and she watched as he sauntered near her. Dakota was unimpressed and decided to go back upstairs. Singer watched both Nate and Jeff a bit warily, so she seems to be a bit afraid of men. We all decided to give her a short walk around the block, since the weather is so nice, around 40 degrees and sunny. She perked right up, started sniffing the ground and looking around. She has a very springy walk, very energetic. She reminds me of Saylor when she was quite young, about a year old. She enjoyed seeing the squirrels and sniffing the ground as she walked along, and seemed to relax more. She saw a Golden Retriever down the street, Ally, who can be cantankerous at times, so we decided to wait to let her and her owner, a retired gym teacher who is a neighbor of ours, pass. Singer watched warily. She tends to be very submissive around Nate, especially, but she quickly responds to his warmth and tenderness. Already, she seems to know that this is her home. She is very smart, I can tell. She also loves kisses on her head, and will lick your face when you kiss her. I think I'm in love.

Tonight, she will sleep in Saylor's old bed right next to my side, a leash over the bedpost just in case she decides she wants to find Dakota. But everything is progressing really well, and we are very happy to have her. More tomorrow.