Chapter 2 
(February 2022):

It's a whole new world

My Danish mum got us up early to eat breakfast and run around outside before putting Tequila and me in the car. Don’t tell me we’re going to the doctor for more shots! But this was a long drive and after 15 minutes I gave up the crying. When we finally stopped, they brought me into a house and a lady said, “I’m Mummy and this is Daddy.” Huh? Just in case it was true, I licked their faces very enthusiastically in order to get on the good side of them.

We played and hugged and kissed and ate. I had a little nap while the humans were having lunch. Suddenly Tequila, Mum and her friend were gone and I was alone with these people who called themselves Mummy and Daddy. I glanced at the door once and then decided to make the best of it. Two people rang the bell and Mummy said, “These are Godmummy Uschi and Uncle Gregor.” Just in case they are important and have good treats, I kissed them up one side and down the other. Daddy announced that my name is Caoimhe. Hard to believe that this is pronounced “KEE-va”. An Irish girl’s name because my breed is Irish, it sounds feminine and means gentle, beautiful or precious. I do my best to be all three. Precious is easy.

It was a long day with a lot of excitement and new impressions: the house, the yard and the people. No dogs after Tequila left. I didn’t have much of an appetite but chomped on a bit of my kibble. I found my cuddle bed in the kitchen, but was too wound up to stay in it. Mummy keeps taking me outside to piddle but I always did it on newspapers at my old home. Sometimes I miss the newspapers but my front feet are on. Mummy made herself a bed next to mine so I wouldn’t feel so alone the first three nights. After a few minutes I stayed quiet the whole night. Better keep her in a good mood if she really is Mummy now. I do a lot of kissing to humor them. I have to live up to my name.

Next day there were more new experiences. I had to stay in my crate while Mummy walked 1-year-old, 110-lb Black Russian Terrier named Mister Schubert. Daddy was a music teacher so we appreciate the name. Schubi’s family is quarantined with Covid, so Mummy does the morning walks. I made a ruckus when she locked me up to keep me safe from chewing on electrical cords, etc., but I gave up and was peaceful when she got back. A bit insulted, though. They say I’ll learn. Maybe tomorrow. I spent the whole evening sleeping under Mummy’s desk chair, except to follow her around when she got up to do something or to chew on my rawhide or play with a ball with Mummy.

This is home now. We play and cuddle and I’m trying to remember not to use my teeth on them. The cuisine here is like in my first home and I need my sharp little teeth for that. I get chewy treats for doing my business outside; I’ve got the idea now and Mummy watches the clock and me like a hawk to avoid mistakes. We’re already close to the goal line. Everybody loves me and I love everybody.

My vocabulary: good girl, go piddle, no!, come, down, sit, we’re going upstairs (I take the Mummyvator, because stairs are not good for baby legs), let’s go outside, go in the house, are you hungry? - Today we start with sit/ stay.

I know the rules in the car crate now: no whining and no sticking your head through the bars; the trunk lid is going to come down. OK, so I’m silent and lie/sit still in the crate.

Harry’s back! (Please see: www.roisindoggie.de  chapter 6)  I’m fully vaccinated and boostered like my parents, so I can now go for little bitty walks around the fields. Godmother Uschi and Mummy roared with laughter when on one of my first walks I found a clean Harry bone! Puppy-sized specially for me! I gave it to them graciously, contrary to my predecessors. I try to please. On our next walk we found a huge pile of bones, etc. fresh. They grabbed me so I couldn’t get to it and we changed our route until the village mayor took care of it due to a tip from the village switchboard that it was the man who has the hunting rights here himself. It is illegal to leave anything behind. He may quit doing that now that he has been found out. What a pity; Harry may not show up again.

We have had visitors from Bavaria this week: Aunt Wanda and Uncle Gert. They have supported Mummy in training me and now that it’s 3 to 1 I have to cooperate with no jumping and no biting. Aunt Wanda has me bringing a ball back. Speaking of toys, I figured out how to take the balls out of my stuffed turtle within half an hour and my wooden toy with slides to cover treats took 5 minutes (brag, brag!). I am 95%  housebroken, getting to know towns while walking on a leash (Uncle Gert puts me in my car crate, takes me out and leads me.) and today even the big city with streetcars and lots of people. Cobblestones underfoot. Walking on a leash is going pretty well, but I hate elevators and they say I have to learn it. I liked the escalator in the department store, because Mummy carried me. We went to a restaurant and I was so tired from all the impressions in the city that I ate my supper and slept next to Uncle Gert’s chair. And Mummy had thought they’d be struggling to keep me from jumping up on them! No, I have to keep up with Róisín’s legacy. The second restaurant is very traditional and the main item is smoked eel. The waitress showed Mummy and Uncle Gert a new way to skin them: Bingo! She was so kind to me and let me lie in her way: “Don’t move her!”

We had our first adventure today. Mummy and Aunt Uschi tried a different way on my walk, which was fun, but in order to make sure the way wasn’t too long for my puppy joints, we cut across a field. Halfway through they were suddenly up to their ankles in mud and hoping they wouldn’t get swallowed up. Mummy got one foot stuck up to her calf and Uschi fell to her knees. Featherweight Caoimhe just got her legs dirty. So I made acquaintance with the shower and Mummy says I did pretty well there. Two washing machines are running and two pair of boots drying in the hopes that the mud will then peel off.

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