On August 7, 2025
I drove up to Maine, had a seafood lunch with my friend Laurie, then drove up to Nanne’s wool farm to spend Friday with Selkie and drive back to Connecticut with her on Saturday. On the way I picked up some fresh salmon, asparagus, and a package of rice pilaf for supper on Friday night. Thursday night after walking Selkie I had supper with Nanne and Selkie at a local pub with outdoor seating.

Getting to know her new human.

On Friday Nanne had much to do around the farm and a few errands to run. That left the day for Selkie and I to go for a few walks, play a bit, and get to know each other. That night a friend of Nanne’s that I had previously met contra dancing came by for the night and joined us for supper. Fortunately, there was plenty of food for three people. I grilled the salmon and asparagus on Nanne’s gas grill, while Nanne made the rice pilaf on a stovetop with her own twist, adding some chopped onion.

On Saturday morning after coffee and eggs, I loaded Selkie into the back seat of my car and Nanne saw us off. Despite some traffic tie-ups and even a detour, Selkie was good as gold in the car all the way home.

Even though Selkie had never been to my house before, when I let her out of the car she went straight to my front door and walked right in when I opened it!

 

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Little by little Selkie is settling in to her new life. She has been making friends with other neighborhood dogs, particularly Apollo and Brady (see last April’s post about Olive’s friends). She seems to have gotten to know our eight walk per day schedule and seems to know the routes we take. There have been a few rough spots, however. Such as:

•          She whimpers and whines when I leave her alone to go out for errands. Even just going to my basement to do laundry sets her barking.
•          When I had to run out for a few errands I tried letting her have the run of the house as I used to do for Olive. When I got home, I found some curtains pulled down and a mess made of some Venetian blinds. I resolved to put her in her crate when I went out for the foreseeable future.
•          Once I sat at a table for lunch and got up to get something. When I got back Selkie had my sandwich. I took it away from her and scolded her, secretly chuckling over the incident.
•          We have to work on some simple commands like “stay” and “come”. I plan to take her to a nearby dog training school as I did with Olive.
•           I have been brushing her every day. Even though Selkie has a thinner coat than Olive, I seem to be getting quite a bit of fur in the brush. Perhaps it is just shedding season? Anyway, while she doesn’t give me any resistance to being brushed, she is so affectionate that she smothers me with kisses while I am trying to brush her. Makes things a bit difficult.
•       Even though Olive’s old bed is still in an alcove under a window outside my bedroom, Selkie insists on sleeping in my bed with me. I don’t really mind, though I wish she would understand that she can’t have the whole queen-size bed.

um...Selkie...that's my bed, not yours exclusively.

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Selkie inspects the new carpet.

During her last few months, Olive had trouble controlling her peeing and had a number of accidents. I decided that it would take more than a shampooing to get the smell out, so I arranged for a new carpet with a local carpet company. The installation crew came about a week after Selkie got here, but she was well behaved while the crew worked and seemed to approve of the new carpet after the work was done.

My friends Julie and Laurie came by to meet Selkie. They were delighted with her, as she was with them.

When I sit in my chair and read, Selkie has decided that she can occupy the couch.

Unquestionably this is working out as well as I could have expected. Selkie is a very sweet and affectionate dog; we are getting along splendidly. She is transitioning from farm dog to urban dog amazingly well. We have had one trip to the local dog park, and I plan to take her there frequently while the weather is good. Stay tuned for more of our adventures.

Hmmm...I think I just might get used to this.

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