Two Weeks In

That eager sprint and rollicking pink tongue make me smile every day. 

It's been a minute. 

It's been forever. 

I still can scarcely believe that I did this crazy thing of adopting an Irish Setter with about five minutes of consideration, long before I thought I was ready to open my heart to another dog. 

Then again, when I look into those shining teddy bear eyes and laugh at the range of expression she can manage with just the curl of her lip, I wonder if I haven't known this little girl forever. 

But as of yesterday, it's been two weeks that this sweet dog has been in my life and here's an update on her settling in. 

She's learning to love the whole family. For the first week, she loved me with an insane intensity and laser focus. Flattered though I am to be loved by a dog, I nearly drowned in all the attention. Now she's happily taking walks, car rides, and play sessions with every one of us, and we are all better off for that. 

She's allowing me out of her eyesight. With a hitch. The trick, I have learned, is to talk to her. If I want to slip into the next room or pop my head outside for a moment without a hundred pound red furry freight train rushing to my side, a bit of chattering on my part helps to convince this girl that I'm not so dangerously far away after all. 

And speaking of those one hundred pounds, the new weight loss plan is kicking in and my girl's starting to slim down. Her neck is now slender and streamlined, rather than chunky and thick; the contours of her powerful shoulder and flank muscles are beginning to take shape as the extra layers melt away. Adorable as she is now, my dog will be graceful and gorgeous when she gets down to a healthy weight. 

Though she was bred for the show, it's already clear to me that my dog's best attributes are her serene temperament, inquisitive intelligence, and natural desire to hunt. She's already dealt with surly dogs trying to pick a fight and a two -year-old whose concept of petting looks a lot more like poking and punching. She wagged happily and stayed calm through both encounters. New commands come quickly to this girl and she's already added a dozen new words to her obedience vocabulary. And though I didn't expect much hunt to be left in this girl, she has begun to ruffle her nose through the dry leaves, and stealthily track squirrels and crows on our daily walks. Once, when she found a cat luxuriating under a bush, she set and pointed in perfect style. So proud of her. 

No, she does not yet have a name. But we're getting close.

And while I am still waking up every morning to a fresh wave of shock and surprise that a new little redhead is sleeping at my feet, I can't imagine my life without her.

It's been a minute.

It's been forever.