Elijah

"Eli" came home on Friday, tail a waggin'. The cats retreated to LM's bedroom where I shut them in for the first day and have eased them into the idea of a pooch in the house slowly over the weekend. They aren't too amused, but Eli has been patient and generally calm with them (that is, until Jonah comes out in 'stealth mode' and Eli thinks he's just playing!) Eli has a shaved spot on his back where they had to give him two injections to treat his heartworm. His heart was enlarged so the treatment had to be more drastic than might have been otherwise. He's to stay calm for the next month or so, so we'll wait to go to the dog park until March. He didn't have any experience with a leash but by tonight he's doing much better and is getting the hang of it. He's picked up 'sit' quickly and we're working on 'down'. He has yet to really eat, but that's to be expected with all the changes he's suffered through in the last week.

He's also being treated for tapeworm, and I've had to clean out his disgusting ears (we'll be doing that everyday until we can get the stench removed!) and he's had a bath. All that and he still loves us!

He's adapted well to his crate at night and hopefully will take tomorrow in stride as his first day crated while I'm at work. I've only heard him bark once, and that was when he heard LM arriving home for church this morning.

As he sleeps soundly next to me on the floor, I have to say, so far, it seems as though we've been blessed with a wonderful companion. I'm so glad we were able to rescue him, and I cannot imagine who gave him up in the first place (but we're glad they did!)