She's an 18 month old Griffon Bleu de Gascogne from the animal refuge in Carcassonne. I fell in love with her hang dog expression when her pictures were first posted in March. She would never be Henny's breed of choice, but I've been agitating for her ever since. The inspirational woman who runs the refuge recently wrote further information about Lily on a blog. I renewed my campaign. We had her tested in the cat house, where she was completely non-agressive. Henny said, Damn. I knew she'd be okay with cats, now I suppose we have to meet her. The decision to have a dog is a huge, life-changing undertaking. And we're very worried about the ruling monarch here, Prince Pou. He's almost 11 now and has never had to share. He just about accepts me after 6 years.
Nonetheless, we went to the refuge to meet Lily (or Greta, as she was then known). When she was brought up from her kennel, this shy little soul came padding up to us, head bowed, tail wagging, both Henny and I had tears in our eyes. Love at first sight. Again she was taken to the cat house to demonstrate her complete disinterest, then we went for a walk. She's timid and afraid of sudden movements and loud noises. However during the course of our walk, we could see her relax just a little bit, so we thought maybe she'd be all right, with a lot of love, care and patience. Caution was thrown to the wind; we adopted her.
We brought her home on 30th April, the day the Netherlands got their new king and queen. Lily Blue proudly sported her new Dutch orange collar. We're all getting used to each other, little by little. I write on day 5. We've seen lots of progress, sometimes followed by a step back, but Lily is eager to please and seems happy in her new home. Pou's not at all sure. He's staying in his apartment much more than we'd like. Keep your fingers crossed for him. Lily's going to be just fine.
The former Greta at the refuge
Lily Blue at home in her garden!
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