The fence was finished on Thursday so we now have a fully enclosed section of the garden.
Today we have Ned with us. He’s staying with us for the weekend to see how he gets along. We picked him up this morning at about 9.30am. He willingly jumped into the back of the car and then immediately over onto the back seat! As we drove home he was happily rolling on his back. He was a bit unsure when he first came into the house – he’s been living at the kennels for two years so hasn’t spent much time inside.
We walked him around the perimeter of the whole garden so he could see what was there. Unfortunately, when we got down behind the vines there was a dog in our garden from the farm behind us. This got Ned very excited! The dog went back to his own garden, cleverly negotiating the electric cattle fence to get there.
Ned seems to be very intelligent. He already understands that the big soft cushion in the lounge is his bed and seems to understand when we tell him to go there. He did have a minor accident up the curtains in the lounge but we’ve put that down to scenting as there were dogs living here not too long ago. He hasn’t done it again... so far. We’ve been taking him out at regular intervals on the lead in the fenced section so he can get accustomed to where he needs to go to the toilet.
After lunch we were feeling a bit braver so we decided to let him have a run in the fenced area. Armed with treats and a ball we stood at either end and managed to call him back and forth between us. He certainly loves to run! Unlike the greyhounds we’re used to, Ned seems to run straight into us! He has lots of energy and was very happy to run free. We’re being a bit cautious at the moment as he still seems a bit keen to get through the gaps in the fence and we’re not too sure if he can or not yet.
Last week we had a home check by GAP (Greyhounds as Pets – the only greyhound re-homing centre in NZ). The lady brought one of her greyhounds with her – Gizmo – who was very sweet. We then had a phone call on Thursday morning from Irene at GAP to say that they thought Cutie would be suitable for us with Ned. She’s four and currently in a foster home in Wellington. She likes to play so Irene thought she’d get along with Ned as he’s very energetic. It may be a few weeks before she gets to us though as Wellington is at the other end of the island to us and they have to work out the logistics of getting her up here. It’s about a twelve hour drive from us to Wellington so she may have to have a couple of overnight stays on the way. These are some pictures of her from the GAP website.