After our Newfoundland George died, we decided to look for a rescue dog. After some looking we made an application at Just Paws Rescue for a dog who seemed, at least from the online description, to be a good fit for our home, which includes cats. Today we drove out to Campbellford to meet this dog. She came to Canada from Tennessee and has been living with a foster family since.

She is the sweetest dog. She’s a little shy, but that’s understandable, considering she has been in a shelter in Tennessee, at a foster in Tennessee and now at a foster up here in Canada. We agreed to bring her home. The idea is there is a one-week foster arrangement with us as an evaluation period, during which we can adopt the dog or return her to the foster.

She was given the name Teya at some point along the way. We may give her a new name to go along with her new digs but we’ll decide that as we get to know her. She is apparently around a year old and they think she is a Pyrenees/Lab mix. She weighs 68 pounds and is perhaps a just a little underweight.

She was very well-behaved in the car. When we got home, we let her check out the back yard. That was pretty scary for her and she wanted to come into the house after a short while. She seems very comfortable in the house – now it’s time for her to go out and pee but she wants to stay put. We’ve read that we should start our routine on the second day, so we aren’t pushing the issue tonight, and if she has an accident in the house overnight, that’s not the end of the world.

In the morning, we’ll try a little leash walk. She has little experience with a leash. For a while, we’ve been asked by the rescue to use 2 leashes and a collar + a harness until she gets past any fear of change and the new environment.

Our cat Phyllis has already made friends and Jack and Gracie and Jacques went upstairs to check her out but they kept their distance. The dog seems fine with all the cats.

This coming week, we’ll start establishing our routines with her and if all goes well, we’ll formalize the adoption at the end of the week. Although she is a little overwhelmed by her day, leaving the foster where she was starting to feel at home, I think she’s doing pretty well. It could take weeks or even a few months for her full personality to come forward.

UPDATE

We did finally have a short venture outside. We just walked 2 houses north then 1 house south and then happily came back home.