Allison's meet and greet

We met the folks who I hope will be Allison's new family today. Husband, wife, two kids, plenty of big dog experience in the home. I liked them a lot. Allison liked them too, and of course they loved her. I will take her to the eye specialist in Richmond on Thursday, but if all goes well, hopefully she'll be moving to her new home next weekend.

It made me recall the night that we first got Allison. It was a Thursday and she was already at her due date for giving birth. She arrived at night, no chance to meet the dogs or have a look around. I took her out to the Puppy Palace in Daneland where I had made a bed for both of us. I laid down and got as comfortable as it was possible to be for 63 year old bones sleeping on a solid floor with minimal padding. Allison laid down near the door, not on the bed I had made. It wasn't too long after turning out the lights that I heard her get up and settle at the food of my makeshift bed, on the blankets but just barely making contact with my feet. I fell asleep, but sometime during the night I felt her get up again and move up so she was laying next to me on the bed, pressed against me doing the sleeping Dane lean. I went back to sleep feeling confident that she would trust me enough to help when she had her puppies, which she did on the morning of her second day with us.

We've had a wild ride over these past three months. She delivered 14 pups, I buried four of them. We fought to keep little Sojo alive and then to help her thrive. I slept out there with them for the first three weeks, mostly so Allison wasn't the only adult in the room. Allison never really lost interest in her puppies, but she saw them leave and move on to new homes where they will have their own lives. Allison quickly mastered the routine around here and enjoyed Dane life to the fullest, running in the pasture, herding Max and/or Hugo as she saw fit. One day recently I even saw her engage in Dane play outdoors with Serena. It all sounds very much like Della's postpartum experience around here and I expect that Allison would be happy enough to stay here. Della has also noticed that Allison's path seems very similar to her own, but she's not so keen on keeping Allison around any longer than necessary. Della has gotten a little jealous and perhaps concerned that her status as #1 farm dog could be threatened. Maybe that's why Della climbed into bed last night and refused to budge, insisting on being closest to me.

But Della needn't worry. Two Danes is enough around here, especially if we are going to continue fostering others. Della's spot as #1 farm dog isn't threatened any more than Maya's position as my little girl was threatened when we adopted Della. Allison is a lovely girl and will have a wonderful life with her new family, who will give her all the attention that she desires, a commodity that is spread rather thin around here sometimes. I will shed a few tears, perhaps a selfish one of sadness for myself, but most will be tears of joy for Allison's new life.

p.s. I also learned today that Allison and I share a July 3rd birthday.