As you know, my "little old lady" (Sasha) passed on at the end of January and, TBH, I wasn't going to get another dog - Sasha was so special in the way she helped Mother and never let her own ailments get in the way of looking after both of us. The snag was that the house was empty and soulless without her and coming home was rather depressing. A neighbour's sister works in a kennel of some sort and took all of Sasha's stuff. She called round the evening after I had a disappointing trip to Darlington (Dogs Trust) with some photos of three collies owned by a bloke who had split from his partner. He originally had half a dozen collies to rehome.
I eventually got to see Nell, the only one left, on a cold wet and windy Monday three weeks ago. She's a little small for a collie and, although I love collies, I think I'd have preferred a Springer, she decided that I was far better than her owner; so I had no choice! She's 6yo and had pups within the last year (one of the dogs in the photos I saw was her pup) and had no vaccinations or anything else (big floppy dew claws on her back legs suggest she's never seen a vet). She jumped into the back of the Golf and was on the front seat before the lad had finished saying she would go straight through!
She should be a lot faster on Thursday as she's going to get chipped tomorrow (and vaccinated and checked over). There is a "free chipping" thing at the vet that ends in April, so I am making the most of that opportunity - I hope they do free spaying in a few months!
She's coming out of her shell now - started to chase cars last week, but has soon learnt that it's better not to after I was "angry" with her! She had a growl and a bark at the Tesco man today - and then realised that he had brought food! She has decided not to come upstairs (I had to "do fierce" once and she hasn't tried again!) and has started to lie on the floor instead of the sofa occasionally - though she now wants to have a chair to herself and I've had to be angry twice this evening (leather is easier to clean than fabric). Annoyingly, she is an early bird - ready to go at six (if I would take her out!) and very bouncy - the opposite of Sasha, who didn't "do" mornings and, even though half springer, didn't bounce about much.
One thing I've never seen before: she went to have a snack in the kitchen (she eats a little dry stuff at a time and never empties the bowl) and came back into the sitting room, where she emptied a whole lot of meal onto the floor (not vomited!) and ate it there!
he eats everything in sight, spins, and then empties the contents of his abused stomach all over the floor at least once a day. 200 years that flagstone floor has lasted in the front room, but I bet its been mopped more in the last five years than the other 195 
