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We don't want to forget anything from the important first days of Luciano in his new home, therefore I have put everything down in a diary format as you can see below.
Day of arrival, Sunday Mar 10th 2002 at 11 PM in Paderborn
The whole day on Sunday we have been really nervous and have been at the airport 2 and a half hours too early. The last half hour was the worst. At 11:30 we could finally take over the box with Luciano. The poor fellow was still completely out of it and didn't make a sound. Actually it was better that way, because we still had 2 hours in the car ahead of us.
At home we carried him into our guest room, where he was supposed to spend his first night. We decided, that he should meet our girls the next day. My fear, that he wouldn't come out of his box was completely unnecessary. He shot out and relieved himself at on of our barstools, which were the closest to trees he could find. Who knows anyway what trees in Germany look like? The "big business" follows on foot. No wonder after 10 hours in this stupid plastic box. While I was cleaning up, Carsten went to prepare the doggie breakfast. Amazingly the hunger was so big, that he didn't hesitate at all to empty his dish. To bribe him, we had organized some dog treats, that smell very strong and we were honored with some attention from Luci.
He was after the whole package of those treats, but we didn't want to overdo it and I put the rest up on a shelf. In the mean time it was around 4 AM and we were both really tired. Carsten and I had prepared our beds in the guest room, because we didn't want to leave Luci alone in his first night. He was very restless and kept going around in circles, but as soon as he figured we were asleep, he tried his luck with the bin. When he had no luck there, he tried to climb the shelf with the rest of the treats. After a lot of tries without success he was finally tired enough to go to sleep on his blanket.
 Day 1, Monday Mar 11th 2002
After 2 and a half hours of sleep we woke up from a good splashing sound, that indicated strongly, that Luci needed out (actually it was too late, but anyway). Time for the first walk. With a death defying look on his face Luci let me put on his collar and leash. When it came to getting up and walking he thought this was too much though. Not even the goodies could move him a bit. With dragging and pushing I finally managed to get him in front of the house, but there he fell on strike again. Carsten arrived with our girls at that time. Both were barking their heads of. Lucky neighbours. There we sat now for 15 minutes, when Luci finally decided, that Tiffany was kind of cute and started following her slowly.Wonderful, we could move ! A big round over the fields near our house. A little distracted by the wonders to see and smell Luci nearly forgot, that he didn't want to join us in the first place. Back at home we faced the next horrible obstacle. Our stairs. Like Mount Everest they rouse in front of poor Luci, who had never seen stairs before. We could not bribe him or convince him, that he will survive this adventure. After 30 minutes of thinking abou it, his curiosity for the new home got too strong. The other two dogs managed somehow and so will he. So he staggered upstairs and started inspecting his new place (gave a good splatter on my palmtree). After an hour of wild play with Tiffany, we had finally peace in the house. Everyone was in their own corner fast asleep. In the evening we could manage to go out for a walk without further protest or trouble. Even the stairs are not that scary anymore. Luci takes his place next to Daisys bed for the first time.
 Day 2, Tuesday Mar 12th 2002
After a very stressful night with two accidents and one walkis, the day goes on like that for Carsten. Luci has diarreha, what is no surprise considering the new food and exitement. I have to work, therefore Carsten has to go out every couple of hours. Luci already figured out, that he is not supposed to relief himself in the house, but he doesn't know how to do it right yet. When I came home that evening, he didn't mind me touching him that much anymore. I grabbed this chance and thought I'd try to brush him. He stank like a skunk and we feared, that he has some nasty litte visitors in his fur. How surprised was I, when he streched out immediately and fell asleep after two minutes. I met a couple of ugly little ticks at that occasion. We had to remove quite a bunch of those. Once we were doing such unpleasant necessities, we cleaned out his ears as well. He was very soft and patient during the whole operation. After that it was walkies time again. We combined this with a short ride in the car. He didn't want to jump in, but let us lift him without protest. As if it had never been different Luci takes his place in our middle this evening. We will buy him a dog bed. One with a little wall, that he can hide behind. We soon figured out, that he need a place with a little privacy.
 Day 3, Wednesday Mar 13th 2002
Luci was very well behaved last night. No further accidents. When I got up at 6:30 AM he was a little restless. I took him out and he just made it in front of the door. He deserved a big hug for that.The rest of the day was pleasant as well and he lasted for 7 hours without having to go out. In the evening we had to give him a bath. Carsten was wearing his swimming truncks and was half way in the bathtub with Luci, who found the whole procedure very unpleasant. He tried to escape his fate several times, but the black water coming out of him showed we were right. He punished us with ignorance for the next couple of hours. Finally when he got his breakfast we were forgiven. After we went to sleep I woke up from this typical noise of sqeetching leather. When I looked down in the living room, Luci had found the couch for himself. When he noticed me he jumped up and ran back to his blanket.
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Day 4, Thursday Mar 14th 2002
Another night, that Luci was well behaved. Even at 8 AM in the morning, when I left the house for work. Around 6:30 AM he has a tendency to get nervous, but I figure that this is because of the rising sun. We have no blinds in our appartement, therefore it is always very bright. He adapts more and more to our habits every day. Luci was well behaved for the rest of the day as well. In the evening he had to bear us removing another couple of ticks.We hope, that we discovered and removed most of those little buggers.
Day 5, Friday Mar 15th 2002
Another day with Luci being a good dog entirely. We hardly hear or see him. His favorite place is in the corner behind our entrance door. Only in the evenings he pleases us with his presence. In the evening we are taking the car to the field again. Luci surprises us by jumping into the car himself. We think that this is a great step forward. He didn't dare to jump up on the couch again. During the night he remains on his blanket.
Day 6, Saturday Mar 16th 2002
At 8 AM Luci is getting nervous. He is definitely teaching us not to sleep too long. In contrast to our girls, who are looking very tired and irritated, when we are calling them for a walk at this time. The weather is great, therefore we decide to take the extra long route. Hardly anybody is outside yet. Luci is very enthusiastic, but half way he is getting a little tired. He doesn't have a very good condition yet. But that will change slowly. For the rest of the day, all of our dogs have disappeared and are snoring away in some corner. In the mean time we go out to get the promised bed for Luci. We place it in his corner (at least we would like this to be his corner) and place his blanket in it. He doesn't do us a favour though and ignores our efforts. Tonight he will have another go for the couch. This time he stays put, when we come to give him a stroke to let him know, that it's ok.
Day 7, Sunday Mar 17th 2002
The first week has nearly ended. Because we had been out very late the night before, we can be lazy until 09:30 AM this mornng. For a change Luci doesn't want to get in the car, but has to be carried again. His reaction to all kinds of dogs, that we meet is always friendly. Even when he gets a hard time from a little fur thing, he remains calm. With humans he is much less balanced. Especially those with wheels under their feet. This afternoon he had a little accident in the house again. The diarreha is still there and if it's not gone by Wednesday, we will pay the VET a visit. Luci is very curious about the other family members living in our house. He doesn't like to be touched, but he inspects every appartment with an open door. In the evening he uses his bed for the first time. He seems to like it and the size just fits. In an unattendet moment he sneeks into the kitchen and pinches a bone from the cupboard. It's gone so fast, that we don't know what hit us. Usually our kitchen is always locked, but he managed to get his timing right. It is hard to tell him off for that, because it's so easy to understand, what is on his mind in that moment. How should he know, that he doesn't have to worry about food anymore. Even more surprising, that he is not agressive about food at all. If we needed to we could actually take food off him.
The story goes on...
Hard to believe, but Luci is with us for 4 weeks already. He went through a big change the last couple of weeks. Thanks to our new Vet, we found the cause for his diarrhea and his skin problem. After a couple of days on the right antibiotic the diarrhea was gone and the skin was healing and didn't itch anymore. That seems to have done the trick. Luci started changing from that day on. He loves to sleep on the couch with me. Very quietly he explores our appartement and finds incredibly many things of interest. The figures of a chessboard for example make a great chewy. Better are socks and shoes though. The older the better. Everything will be tastefully decorated in his bed. This has to be rearranged daily. The blanket has to be turned into a pillow with a complicated method so that in a resting position one can look over the side walls of the bed and observe everything from a safe position. Very well planned. While going for a walk, Luci starts making wild jumps like a goat and discovers, that birds can be chased. When he has these "energy attacks" it is very hard to keep up with is speed. He loves it, when one tickles his chin and doing that on a walk is a guarantee for a wild play.
At home he found ways of showing when he is getting bored. The first games with ball, hedgehog and rope make us laugh. With other people he is still very shy. Even with Carsten it took him a while. At the beginning he followed me on the foot wherever I went, but finally he figured out, that there are some men, that can be trusted.
The nicest thing to observe is the change of his facial expressions. At the beginning he showed none at all and just seemed to bear everything without any visible emotion, but know he puts on a "clowns face" a lot of times. Everybody who has a pet will know what I am talking about. This dog "laugh" is really worth the effort.
Next week Luci has to go to hospital for half a day for a final treatment, but we hope, that this will be the last negative experience for a long time. After that, we hope that he will finally put on some weight. He is the only one in the familiy who can use it.
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