The Yard and Malachi

We've been walking Nadya outside for her potty breaks since Deb West explained that we might have a difficult time catching her if we turned her loose inside the fenced yard right away, so we've been walking her on leash both inside and outside the fence.

This morning I had her on leash in the yard with the other dogs milling about. I figured that there was no time like the present. Besides, Harry was just inside and if I needed help catching her I always had him and his cheese!

I walked her out to the middle of the yard and quietly unsnapped the leash. She stood for just a second, looked at me and with a nod of my head, I told her it was all right. "You can go walk around." She wandered around a little bit, tinkled and proceeded to inspect the rest of the yard. She got all the way out to the end, by the back fence and I started to feel butterflies. Deb's words started repeating in my head, "My boys have already cleared a 6 foot fence from a stand still!" (My fence is only 5 feet.)

I forced myself not to panic and called her name even though she hasn't really learned it yet.

"Nadyaa! Naaadyaaaaa!" "Come on baby. Time to go in." She actually looked up at me! She didn't move, but she looked up at the sound of her name! Big BIG step here!

Well, the greyhounds came running anyway. As I stood there with an entourage of greys milling about me, looking at this beautiful Borzoi gazing back at me from several hundred feet away, it came to mind, "How the H*ll am I going to get her back into the house?!"

Remembering friends advice when your dog gets away, I turned my back on her, calling her name and walked back to the porch. I didn't turn around and look until I got all the way back to the house and when I did? She was right behind me!!! Score one for mamma! And I didn't even need Daddy and his cheese! HA!

A few days after Nadya felt more comfortable with us, I took her for her first car ride with me. We had an appointment at the vet to have Nadya's spay sutures removed. I could have done the job myself, but I didn't want to alienate her right away, so off to the vet we went.

The vet was impressed and listened quietly while I told her of Nadya's situation. She decided not to put her on the table lest it scare her. She got down on her knees and had a quiet little talk with Nadya and explained that she had nothing to fear and that it wouldn't hurt a bit. Then she crawled around on the floor until she got in just the right position to see up underneath so that she could snip the sutures.

That done, she agreed to take a few swipes at her toenails since I couldn't get near them myself. She wouldn't even let me brush the feathers on her legs. This appeared to be no problem for this kind, quiet woman with the patience of Job. Snip, snip, clip, clip and the job was done.

After the vet, we stopped off at Burger King for a bite to eat. Nadya got a hamburger, (without onions), and I broke it up for her and put it on a plate for her on the back seat........where she promptly sat on it! (I guess the new Russian princess expected something a bit less gauche than BK!)

After BK, we went to gramma's house. This was the first time my mother had seen Nadya and she was highly impressed. Mom used to raise Whippets so hadn't been overly moved by my greyhounds. When Nadya glided into the living room, Mom's eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Wow! What a beauty!" "Come to grandma baby!" I think it was love at first sight.

Next stop was to visit my cousin who works in a pet shop. Cousin and other employees made a big fuss over Nadya and she took it all in stride. Her head hung a little, her tail hung down to her ankles and her nose dripped all over the floor, but she never tried to bolt or even get away. She just stood quietly and enjoyed the attention.

Then we wandered around the store shopping. I heard a woman behind me telling her children, "See that big white dog over there? That's a greyhound and he used to race!" For the first time in my life, I found myself saying, "She's NOT a greyhound!"

Through it all, Nadya remained steadfast and elegant. She was as poised as any Russian czarina should be.