Our New Baby

Last weekend we adopted this beautiful girl and named her Scout.

After Dutch died, we knew we wanted to adopt a dog but decided to wait until Jason was done with the semester so he would be home to spend lots of time with the new dog and help it transition from the shelter to life in our home.  By the time May rolled around I was SO ready to bring a dog home!  I waited until the semester was over and not a minute longer:  while Jason was at commencement last Saturday, the girls and I were at the shelter, looking for the perfect dog.

The lovely little girl we brought home is a beagle mix, about 1 year old.  She has been in a shelter most of her life and was timid and scared of everything.  The first day at our house she pretty much spent under the kitchen table, watching every move we made and running away if we got too close.

Two very happy human girls and one very scared dog girl on
the way home from the shelter.

She is out from under the table here, but still
very scared of everything.

The morning after her adoption we gave her a bath and held
her for a long time on our laps, which she seemed to enjoy...

Twenty-four hours in our house and she was looking MUCH
more comfortable.

We were patient and loving, and have been delighted at how quickly she has come out of her shell.  She is sweet and energetic and we are all in love with her.  She still has a way to go in gaining confidence and feeling secure in her environment, and because she was always in a shelter she needs to learn some doggy manners and appropriate boundaries on interactions with humans, but so far she is doing really well.