Say hello to my new puppy, Clancy (of the Overflow) Singh Tagore.
Clancy is a ten week old tricolour Smooth Collie. A week ago, on Friday 21st February 2014, I picked Clancy up from the airport. His breeder, Allison Parsons of Adarstern Kennels, had got up at 3 in the morning in order to get him ready for a 4-30 am flight from Perth in Western Australia.
Clancy arrived at the pet freight terminal on a trailer with two other crates. When he emerged from the crate, he looked a bit stressed and subdued, but that’s understandable. After having a bit of a cuddle , I put him in a milk crate with his cushion, on the front passenger seat of my car. By that time he was already looking more relaxed and alert. He travelled home well, and we went into my back yard.
Clancy loved it. He had never seen grass before, and he pranced around in it, pouncing on leaves, picking ip stones and checking everything out. I invited my next door neighbour, Eileen, to come in and meet him. She is a dog lover who has had German Shepherds in the past. While we had a cup of tea and some bikkies and cheese, Clancy alternated between having cuddles, playing with his tug toy and exploring the garden. He must have been tired, and he tried to conk out, but he kept waking up and looking at the grass or something else exciting, like a kid at a birthday party, who can’t bear to go to sleep in case he misses something. However, eventually it had to happen (see bottom right).
After Eileen had left he met two other neighbours. Then our neighbour John came over. I would like to count John on our Socialisation Checklist, but unfortunately, the normally sociable Clancy barely noticed John. His eyelids were very heavy and he curled up again and was totally out for the count. We will have to arrange another meeting with John when Clancy is actually on the positive side of conscious. After John went home, I carried Clancy into my bedroom and put his limp body into the little milk crate. He continued to sleep. Soon there was a knock on the door. A tall bearded man called Adam had come around to buy collapsible crate that I had for sale. Adam lives nearby and shows his young Pharoah Hound. Of course, I immediately recruited Adam to greet Clancy (see photo, middle right). Tall Man With Beard… And it was only Day One!
Wagging School Dog Training 