Bringing a new /old dog into your home is an interesting exercise. As a result of our cat going AWOL and our friends, and their dog moving overseas, our much loved pooch was getting a bit needy so after much talk, the bride and I decided we needed a new entrant. First call was to the lovely breeder of Murphy our Basset Fauve, to find out if she had an older dog that needed rehoming. I had heard that this happens from time to time to dogs that don’t quite measure up in the siring stakes.

Her response was a little cautious. It was a tentative maybe in fact. Trish told me that she would need to consult the family first as they did indeed have a young lad that might be better off away from the pack she had at home. Our Murphy is very timid, and has been since day one. So another quiet timid dog might be just the thing. Conversation and consideration started.

Long story short, Rudy is with us now, after an eleven hour round trip. Three days into the venture and we have some promising signs. He has been transported from a lovely quiet country setting to inner city Sydney with all of its noise and sights. He is handling himself well though.

Murphy has swung from absolute delight at having a visitor, to sulking on day two because he wasn’t a visitor. She has never been a cuddler, but as I sat on the couch to watch the footy yesterday she spent the entire game working how to get closer to me. On top, was never close enough.

I took them off for a walk this morning. We walk about 5 kms in total. Its a walk on leads down to a lovely big park full of all sorts of dogs and their owners. Crammed with smells and sights and excitement and did I mention dogs? Murphy was off the lead and walking around like she owned the place while I kept Rudy close, which suited us both frankly. Murphy is normally very timid without her little (now kiwi) border terrier mate, but not this morning. She was strutting her stuff and letting Rudy know all about it, frequently arriving at his side to bite his ear.

For his part, Rudy was happiest with Murphy by his side trotting along the path, leaning into her. I think secretly she really liked it too. Eventually the aim is to have them both be able to wander through the park off leads, but that may take a while. Rudy would spell his own name for a treat, but is not too keen on sitting at the curb yet. Murphy is the queen of curb sitting and looked pretty smug doing it too.

Murphy is a bit like Beyonce in build, or perhaps a little like Serena Williams while Rudy looks a little more like a dog version of Bill Gates. They look great together and though my biggest fear about having two dogs was walking them without killing people as they tried to run by on their morning jog, we got it going this morning sufficiently to give me hope that it will work.