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Dogged.


Today was crunch ‘Project: Pick up a Dog’ day in the Ephgrave household.

The most stressful part inevitably was driving home with Elwood (for we've Christened him such) in the car, as the double-whammy of presumably never having travelled by road for long - or at all - combined with the fact he’d only met us a few times previously meant he was very anxious and barky, although his fear seemed to conveniently subside whenever I offered him a treat.

Since we’ve been home - and I’m conscious of not wanting to tempt fate - he’s been a ridiculously well-behaved boy. He paced around the flat a few times initially, before tentatively chewing on the antler we bought him for that purpose, but after a walk around the estate when he needed a comfort break he became more relaxed, with the key moment being when he leapt up to join us on the sofa - which shouldn’t really be possible on account of the fact he’s fucking huge - and promptly fall asleep.

One's hard at work while the other relaxes

 What’s lovely is how relaxed he’s been with us, which certainly bodes well for the immediate future; you can basically do anything with him without him flinching. He’s essentially been the model pet, so now I need to become the model owner for there to be a sense of balance. I’m starting by sleeping on the sofa in the front room with him tonight to make sure he settles; oh, the things you do...

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