We’ve had our first afternoon and evening with Miss Ellie Mae in the house. She’s been living the life of a farm dog and she came to us in need of a thorough bath. For today, I washed her with soaked towels and brushed her out as best I could. Tomorrow, she visits the vets in the morning and goes to a groomer in the afternoon, where she’ll get well-shampooed and brushed. She’s shedding her winter coat, so she’ll need lots of regular brushing for a while. We decided to give her a head start with one appointment with a professional groomer.
I think Ellie Mae and Memphis will get on fine. Ellie is for sure to be the dominant one. Our challenge will be to assert ourselves as the leaders of our crazy little pack. We had her out to our local dog park today. She walks pretty well on the leash – better than I expected. We have a leash made for two big dogs and I had no trouble walking the two of them myself. As well, we didn’t have any trouble with her off leash. She got on well with the other dogs. On the other hand, she didn’t come with knowledge of the basic commands that Memphis has mastered. Hopefully we’ll be able to teach this old dog some new tricks.
Ellie has discovered the cats. They aren’t afraid of dogs at all because they’ve been living at peace with Memphis since she was a pup. Ellie has this idea that cats are meant to be chased though, and that is going to make for some interesting times until detente is declared. I suspect that will be when one of the cats shows Ellie how much his razor sharp little claws can really hurt.
27th Street 
I would have expected this post to be on April 1st.
You know what they say about cats…the first 5 are the hardest.
Stagg says…”wow”…
It is no joke.
The cats will be miffed for a few days, but it won’t take them long to teach Ellie Mae who’s boss.
Who needs TV when you have all those interesting interactions happening at your house?
In my next life, I want to come back as a pet in your house. It sounds like the very best place to be. And I will definitely give the cat the respect they demand.
Add a 120 pound dog who likes to chase cats to a house with 5 cats and you are in for some excitement I say. Newfs are known for getting along with with all living things though so I’m confident things will work out fine. Might consider confining the cats to upstairs though for a couple of days while Ellie sorts out the fact that she has a new home and gets settled. It is likely a bit traumatic for an adult dog to wake up one morning and discover that she has moved without having any say in the matter. I bet Memphis is delighted to have a live in buddy.
Sounds like everyone will have to do a little adjusting, but minor adjustments from the sounds of it.
She’s s lovely dog.