Getting Lucky

   It will be three weeks this Sunday since Lucky came home with us, and we are now firmly a gang of three.   With Scot on summer holiday with him, a routine has evolved which alternates between big exercise walks and long naps.  He is a very contented boy, always looking to us for his cues.  Heather from Posh Pets taught us that the key to training Lucky lies in our ability to get him more interested in us than the distractions he encounters in town, and this has been good advice.  I'm constantly communicating with him on our walks, using verbal and hand commands, and he clearly loves it.
   Of course, you never travel very far with Lucky without encountering members of his fan club.

   He likes the attention, but doesn't let it go to his head, or get in the way of the task at hand.
   Everything we read about adopting a dog told us that your dog's true personality doesn't fully emerge for a few weeks, and indeed, we are finding that Lucky is changing. Not changing fundamentally, but subtly, as he relaxes into his new family.  He is certainly more sanguine as he goes about his day, but that was to be expected as he grew to understand that the new sights and noises weren't going to harm him.  It's more than that. We're actually finding that as the weeks go by, Lucky is becoming slightly more like Truman than he was when we first met.  I think part of that is the Ridgeback personality, but some of it must be down to how we are with him.  We treat him in the same ways we treated Truman, because our general dog philosophy hasn't changed, and he's reacting at times the in the same ways.  It's interesting to notice, and a bit bittersweet.
   This will be a big weekend.  We're taking 4 friends and 2 dogs to our training session with Heather on Saturday, and the 2 dogs, Max and Coco, are probably going to be Lucky's main friends.  I can't wait to see how they interact.  Also, we'll be having company at home for the first time, with our good friend The Puss visiting for drinks and snacks Saturday night.  Lucky has a snappy royal blue collar which will be worn for the first time.  And tonight, he'll make a brief debut at our local, The Regent.