Sebastian (as he is now known) travelled well if unhappily in the back seat of the car. He apparently does not associate cars with happy experiences. He is already responding to his new name with the benefit of liver treats but sit seems to be a challenge for him (very muscular hind legs and a very flexible neck - not a good combination, lol.



When he arrived, Shadow and the cats were indoors as per normal so I put Seb on an extension lead so he could go off and sniff something while Shadow got out the back door unimpeded. They had a bit of a sniff at each other then Seb decided to head off to check out his new environment. So off down the lane we went with occasional pauses to share wisdom.
Sebastian is clearly a good influence as Shadow usually loses interest about a quarter of the way around the oval and we come home. Today we made it all the way around the oval, up to the fire shed and were interested in going further, but since Shadow had started limping, I declined on his behalf. I have been keeping Seb half a pace back from Shadow's nose so that he gets the idea Shadow is the boss dog. Similarly Shadow is given his food first, and allowed through the door first. He himself does not appear to have realised he is supposed to be asserting any superiority, lol.




The cats were objects of interest for a short while but he seems to be coming to grips with the idea they are locals and not to be harassed. I will, nevertheless be locking them in the bathroom tonight for their own safety.

Feeding time at the zoo is also a little fraught as Shadow does not eat his food for some time after it is put down, and apparently Seb also has reservations about guzzling it all at once. As for housetraining - well we go out at regular intervals after drinks, eats and just sitting for a bit so I have yet to work out if he is or is not. I imagine the answer is 'not' but he still squats to pee so there will be little harm done if he has an accident.

At present he is wandering around with a training harness on (he pulls a lot so I concluded a collar was not going to be useful for a while), dragging his leash in case I have to make an emergency intervention. But hopefully by tonight he will be exhausted and want to lie down for a spell.