About the dog

Heidi continues to settle into the house. She's an exceptionally good girl. She's learning the heel right now, although training is frequently interrupted by my work schedule. I'm on my 9 days off right now, so I can focus more on training.

She doesn't bother the cats or the birds.

We take her everywhere we can with us. If the weather is cool enough (which - in spring - it is), she can hang out in the car while we shop or do whatever. She even got to go with us while we car shopped. (Caveat: Be very cautious when leaving pets in the car during spring. Even though the temperatures are very mild, I don't leave Heidi if the temperature is above 70. Even then, the windows are down, and I check on her and the temperature of the car frequently. Once it's consistently above 70, we'll either have to leave her home or go to exclusively dog friendly places.)

Her limping is improved with regular exercise, and she is filling out some finally. She still looks raggedy to me, but it's improved. Her appetite is still ravenous...but it might have slowed down a little. We go to the park nearby a lot and walk. It's not an off leash park (and frankly, off leash parks scare the bejesus out of me)...and I hate that I can't let her run like a puppy. Also, our yard isn't fenced, so she pretty much has to be on a leash at all times. Hopefully, she'll respond well to recall training, and she'll be able to be off the leash one day.

So far, the integration is going very well.