New arrivals

Yesterday the dogs arrived.  It was an emotional phone call from the rescue which confirmed it after we we discussed the issues with the chocolate one's weight and potential medical problems ie hypothyroidism.  My partner and I had already agreed that we did not feel it was fair to separate these dogs when they had been together since puppyhood.  The rescuer was practical in tears telling me that I was in a minority in accepting two largish dogs and also in being prepared to take on any medical issues.  It all just seemed to fall into place.  So an hour later and we had the dogs in the car and were heading for home (although they didn't know it yet).

The next couple of days proved very full as we sussed eachother out and they got to know what was OK and what not.  Poor Holly found herself back in the stricter rules regime after a few months of complete spoiling in being the only dog.  She was not really phased by the boys arrival but kept to herself and they were repectful of her in this.  The cat also had to contend with two new house mates and was understandably wary but not scared which helped the dogs understand their place.

The decision about names was a difficult one.  They were initially named Coco and Smudge which we felt more suited to cats than dogs so these have been changed, with some observance, to their character we finally settled on Bruno and Max.

Today we introduced them to a man who is going to come and let them out every day, this would have been unheard of in Sonny's day as he would not have let anyone in the house.  So he arrived at the door wearing a hat which as we know some of our canine friends can be phased by.  After making them sit and being calm before I opened the door they sniffed him all over and then went and lay down and went to sleep whilst we discussed the details.  After dealing with Sonny's problems with people this seemed like a breeze!

This afternoon we had a trip to the vets for a check-up, weigh in and advice about weight loss for Bruno who is 42kg and should be 30 kgs.  We are now on a strict weight loss plan and aiming for a 2 kg loss over the next couple of weeks.  As the additional weight is putting so much strain on his joints I will be glad when he has shifted a bit of it.

The blood test for hyperthyroidism was also done and we should know within a week or so if anything shows up.  Apparently it is notoriously difficult to diagnose in dogs so we will see.  If he does have the condition this will mean medication for life which is relatively inexpensive and normal life expectancy.  I did wonder if the condition was related to his weight and lifestyle but the vet says not, which is a relief.

So today they have been vet check, vaccinated (not previously done since 2009) got their ID tags, christened with new names and had two good walks.

Tomorrow we have to go back to work so I will wonder if they are OK and hopefully not shredding anything.

The dog walker is going to text me later and let me know how they are doing so we will see but all in all a really good first few days but it's been really intense and I'm tired now.