Arrival

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We left for Stockholm on Sunday evening as it was finally time to go get our new baby and bring him home. The seas were pretty rough through the night and I began to worry that maybe an hour or three in a crate on a plane might have been a less stressful option than the slow overnight boat. Unless you enjoy the drinking or loading up on the duty-free stuff, there's really not much to do on these boats in bad weather except read and try not to think about the Poseidon Adventure.

After four or five hours of wandering aimlessly around Stockholm, we met the breeders back at the ferry terminal for our lovely puppy. It must be the most difficult moment for all breeders when the puppies go off to their new homes. The puppy arrived in the back of their Volvo wagon and I wasn't entirely sure what size to expect since it had been so long since HB was that age; he's 15kg, he has huge paws, he's only a little more than 3 months old. :) We said good-bye to Lasse and Sussi and took him to the ship which was a bit of an adventure since, for him, everything was new and confusing. Saints have a lovely trait of quietly observing the world around them and so, we did a lot of waiting while he observed and did a lot of coaxing to get him onto the boat before it left the dock without us.

He settled into the room on the ship rather quickly by comparison to the doubtful trek we took through the terminal. He drank some water, flopped down on the blanket we brought for him, toyed a little with the kong tennis ball and started napping shortly thereafter. We got some sandwiches from a cafe and sat around reading for a few hours when he woke up and tried to nibble on the book in my hand. Jarkko looked up and said, "Otava", the name of the great bear constellation and a book publisher, which I immediately thought perfect for him. He made all the right signals when he needed to go pee, even if he was more than reluctant to leave the room he seemed to love riding in the lift up to the 'poop' deck. He even slept through the night without much trouble, perhaps lulled to sleep by the hum of the ship's engines.

The EU has a new 'pet passport' regulation and it really does look like a passport with a photo and pages for a lifetime of vaccinations, vet certifications and customs stamps. We had to wait around for a little while for the Tulli guy to come around and check Otava's papers since the pet inspectors never seem to be on the premises. The same thing happened when we brought HB from the US as we could have cruised on through the airport into Finland, but if I go to the trouble to fill out the paperwork, someone better be prepared to check it. I was awfully surprised that the customs guy hadn't seen one of these new pet passports yet though.

We arrived home and tried to make him feel safe, loved and welcome so we gave him water, food and a little space to wander around and check things out. It must be so disorienting for him as everything is new and very unlike the cozy kennel out in the Swedish countryside which was all he had ever known until now. So far he has been very happy to stick as close to us as possible. He came with us for a brief visit to the local pet shop a few blocks away for a proper adjustable puppy collar and it seemed liked he trusts us a wee bit more. The next few weeks will be important to help him have as many positive introductions to new things as possible while teaching him what is and is not acceptable behaviour with much patience. And lots of love.