Beautiful Belle!

 

Hello dear friends at Colonel Potter -

Update:

Saturday Jan. 30

It's been a great week. Little Madam is settling in very well and now leads the pack on our walks. James allows her to sleep beside him on the hassock in front of the fire ( amazing!) and Rob seems to be emerging from his "now I am a middle child" worries.

Miss Belle has graduated to her own comfy bed beside James rather than her crate - we put it in the garage as she just abandoned it one day. We took that as a very positive sign that she was over her need to hide. She's been to Vancouver on an excursion - visit to the dentist for us - and was perfectly happy in the car as long as her brothers were closeby. They look like Winken, Blinken and Nod all lined up at the window.

The only on-going issue - and one that was certainly expected - is that Belle is constantly on the look-out for food. Her brain tells her that she is hungry even when her tummy is full. Several times she pushed open the door to the pantry where we store the dog and cat food and managed to get the containers open. After several firm voice corrections, she knows that is not part of the game plan and so now cruises by the door - just to check!

We've discovered that, good Scottish lass that she is, Miss Belle loves porridge in the morning - with milk, please. We usually have it for breakfast so the Cairns have a some in their dishes after they finish their morning meal.  If I'm tardy in getting the porridge underway, Belle parks herself in front of the stove until she can see good things happening. I think her reasoning is that if I trip over her often enough, I'll remember to start the cereal. This is one smart little bunny!

She had her first bubble bath this week - loved it- then I gave her a good towel rub and brushed her until she shone. I can't believe the way she will stand on our bathroom counter, admire her reflection in the mirror and let me brush and brush. You could almost hear her purr! 

I can see that having a Colonel Potter Cairn go to a forever home that already has a dog can shorten the adjustment period dramatically. Dilys' dogs and our boys are teaching Belle how to be a dog - something entirely new to her. We've had only one "bathroom" mistake and that was my fault for not allowing her enough time on an evening walk. She really likes to sniff everything before making any location decisions.  Belle watches her brothers very closely and they have been very patient with the little girl when she almost crawls on top of them to see what they're doing!

As I write this, Belle is curled up under my chair, the boys are asleep by the fireplace and the cat is on Glen's lap - with all recognizing that she is the queen. All is well in our world.

Best regards,

Rosemary in Pender Harbour