Koyuk Settles In

Koyuk is settling in her forever home with Shanna and Lexa. Shanna sent this note with the pictures:

She has been absolutely wonderful and I've been amazed at how well she responds to "no." She figures it out that she shouldn't do it and stops immediately. We have now also been able to get her to consistently go through the doggy door and by following Lexa she hasn't had an accident yet. Lexa and her get along really great and Koyuk follows her around most of the time. They like playing and luckily Lexa will let Koyuk know when it's getting too rough. She's also a VERY fast learner.

Meantime, Cedar McKenzie and Willy are solemn, especially Cedar. She puts her paw on me and uses her big, sad, brown eyes imploring me to tell her where her daughter and playmate is. Cedar was closer to Koyuk than the other pups. She even let her nurse longer. During the last month they were in near constant contact. Koyuk was a great fan of getting wet and dirty. Cedar patiently cleaned her completely off after each adventure. This afternoon the dogs played Chinook Tag for the first time since Koyuk left. The game was on the low scale of enthusiasm but it was play. Having a visit from Lupin did cheer them up for a bit last evening. Other than that I have a 12 legged, furry mass following my every step. Normally they take turns sleeping in the crates or on our bed. The last two nights there were three dogs jostling for position with two humans pushed in to balls at the outer edges of the bed. Dave needed sleep for work so the dogs and I headed for the guest bed. The guest bed is a 159 yr old Murphy bed. People were shorter when it was made. The bed is larger than a twin and smaller than a double. The mattress is less than 6 feet long. There are no springs, just wooden slats with a foam mattress on top, The slats not only provide couching but they protect the craved mirror on the bottom quite. Often I have had fears of a board breaking causing the mirror to break. I don't know how we would replace it. When the bed is pushed up into the wall, the bottom now wall, is beautifully carved with it's decorated mirror. With all three dogs and myself on the Murphy bed we are wedged as puzzle pieces. Since all three dogs want to be touching or on me, I need to make sure I have an excess of sheet and blankets so I can roll over before they jump on. Cedar has agility class with her friends tomorrow. That she cheer her up some.