My new pack is Babs, Paco and me, and we’re a real team. Paco’s mum, Marite, and her friend Pepita paid a visit to meet me when I got settled in a bit. They both had that flowery-cleany smell that reminded me of one of the plants in the garden, the one with blue flowers. I could tell they had been really looking forward to my arrival, and that felt good. Something tells me they’re going to be important in my life; it doesn’t matter yet why, I just sense it.

There’s so much space to explore! Most of it is covered in newspaper, and it’s great fun ripping it all up. If I do a wee, Babs or Paco come scurrying after me then there’s that nose-zinging flowery-cleany smell that reminds me of where I came from – it scoots out in a spray and they rub it around anywhere there’s been what they call an ‘accident’.

Dolly, my mum

Where have my buddies and siblings gone? Where’s the furry bed smelling of wee, poo and flowery-cleany-thing gone? The big pen we lived in? And that big shiny bowl I had to run over to fast so I didn’t end up hungry? Fatty Arbuckle always got in there first, leaving Blind-ey (more about him later), Betsy and me to muscle in. Meanwhile, little Pepperpot whizzed around us all then snuck in to clean up what was left. Where’s our Mum, Dolly? Last time I saw her she was perched up on the ledge of the sofa, enjoying lots of fuss from Babs and Paco coming to visit. Lately, though, she’d been avoiding us pups. I wonder why? So without her help, we’ve had to try and sort out our own problems – like making up with each other if someone got hurt after a boisterous ding dong in the pen. And there’s lots of other things we have to do now for ourselves now, like licking and cleaning each other and just being there to lean against when we’re asleep.

In this new place, all the smells, the scary sounds, the objects are all so strange and exciting. Doorways lead to dark shadowy places. The big step goes up onto the sunny patio, but to get there, I have to negotiate a tricky ledge that’s even higher than me. I’m starting getting the hang of it though:  with a jump, straddle, hitch and heave it’s up and over there I go, out into the dazzling sun.

Different, but fun. I’ve never run so far in my whole life; my paws tickle, there’s bits of soil stuck in my teeth, ants are getting get into my…  Well, its all just so – different.