First up, for the impatient and the curious – stop clamoring, I’ve done it, I’ve done it! Pics of Soolin’s first week can be found by clicking the gallery link above, or by clicking here.

Next. In terms of how she’s doing, she’s just amazing. I can’t believe how smart she is. To give an example, yesterday afternoon my Aunt Melissa gave me a bell to hang on the door, the idea being to teach Soolin to nuzzle the bell when she needs to go out. Less than 24 hours later, she’s already figured it out, and aside from an over-excitement accident when Andrew and Patty came for a visit today, she hasn’t piddled in the house since, and every time she needs to go out she sits under the bell and rings it. My jaw dropped when I watched her do it this morning the second time she wanted to go out. She’s also basically figured out what sit means, and when it’s just the two of us she pretty much does it whenever I ask, but she gets distracted when other folks are around. She doesn’t really like the leash and collar thing, and getting her to come along after me is sometimes a struggle when she has something she’s interested in, like a stick or a person, but in generally she’s better than I expected after only a week.

Personality-wise, she’s a joy. She’s been coming to work with me every day after lunch (I leave her in her crate in the morning when I head off to work) and she’s met tons of people so far. She loves to meet people and is always excited when someone new comes to say hi. In general she’s just a happy little camper. She also likes exploring the campus with me, I’ve been gradually exposing her to more and more of it. I can’t wait till she gets her shots so she can go to the areas where other dogs congregate.

I’ll keep posting pictures on a weekly basis for her first couple of months as she goes through her growth spurt. So far I couldn’t be happier. As soon as she gets her shots she’s going to enroll with me in an obedience course and from what I see so far my expectation is she is going to excel in it.