Introducing Reggie

Neither Stuart nor I managed to sleep very well  last night. There was the anticipation of getting our new dog in the morning, the knowledge that we absolutely had to be up early and out of the house on time (not to mention having to call the courier, Guiseppe, at 7am), and the weather was appalling. We had strong winds, heavy, heavy rain, and thunder and lightning. After tossing and turning from the point of getting into bed, we both woke up at 4.30am - the noise of the rain and the thunder and lightning were more than enough to wake us from our fitful sleep.

Stuart eventually managed to get back to sleep until the alarm went off at 6.30am, but I ended up getting out of bed and coming downstairs to do some things (such as finish my Italian homework) that were running through my mind and not helping with the getting-back-to-sleep effort.

As 6.30am came around, I was just starting to feel sleepy again - but it was too late! Time to get up, clean up the broken glass from where the wind had blown over one of the large wine vats last night, feed the geese, put some gravel down on the very, very soggy, slippery drive to help us get the car up the hill, and assess the full extent of the damage done by the stormy weather (several ripped tarpaulins, a blown over fence, broken wine vat, and broken goose ramp). While we scurried around cleaning up glass, wheeling barrows of gravel down the drive and letting the geese out, the rain - and hail - came back down again, although thankfully only for a short burst.

Exercise area/work area 2.0 - trashed.

Tarpaulin over wood pile 1.0 (and bamboo fencing) - trashed.

Tarpaulin over wood pile 2.0 - trashed.

Once the dog crate had been loaded into the car - together with a blanket and some cushions that Lucca and Florence sleep on, in the hopes that 'Jeremy' would start to get used to their scent - we grabbed keys, ID cards, and coats and set off on our way.

We found Claudia already waiting in the car park at Frateschi's, so were on our way before 8am. First stop was Esselunga car park so that Claudia could leave her car and transfer to ours. We then headed for the autostrade and the Lucca Est turnoff. Claudia chatted to us along the way, in a mixture of Italian and English - she's such a nice person, we're so pleased to have met her and grateful for her help.

Before long, we arrived at McDonalds just off the autostrade and parked the car. We were early, so there was time for a coffee - Claudia was very definite that McDonalds was ONLY useful as a car park and under no circumstances would she be found eating or drinking anything from there (and we agreed). Fortunately, there was a pasticceria on the opposite side of the road, so we ran across and had a breakfast of a croissant and cappucino each.

We then went back to the car park to wait for the arrival of the couriers. While we were waiting, Claudia explained that the whole organisation is completely voluntary - the two guys driving the animals from Puglia in the far south of Italy all the way across the north of the country (ours was one of their first stops) do it for the love of the animals and they had been driving through the night, after having set off at 10pm last night. Other than petrol money, they are completely unpaid.

She explained what a terrible problem there is with stray dogs and an overpopulation of puppies in Puglia - there are next to no laws in Italy that relate to animal welfare, and all rescue organisations are entirely run by volunteers, funded from their own pockets.

After quite a long wait, we all spotted a long wheel-base van with the unmistakeable 'Europcar' logo across the side, which came in our direction and slowed to turn into the car park - they were here!!

The two guys got straight out of the van and opened up the side of it - also waiting in the car park were a young couple from Pisa, who were here to collect a German shepherd pup - the German shepherd was first out of the van, so we got a chance to look at the other travellers while we waited - it was a van full of bundles of fluff! ALL puppies. All rescued after having been abandoned on the streets, in supermarket car parks, at motorway service stations and so on. All on their way to new families and homes in the north of Italy:

A vanload of puppies heading for new homes.

Finally, it was time for us to see 'Jeremy' for the very first time (I say 'finally', but the whole process was done and finished within five minutes and the guys and the rest of the puppies were already on their way again)! This time, Guiseppe opened up the back of the van and there, on the top row of cages in the far left corner was the unmistakable face of 'Jeremy'. It was love at first sight!

Guiseppe lifted him out of his cage, gave him a hug and a kiss, then handed him over to Stuart.

And that was it - we had a dog! Claudia said 'let's go home!' and we were off. We were given some paperwork with details of his microchip and his vaccinations, but other than that there were no other formalities. We paid nothing for him, and weren't even asked for a donation.

It was all a bit bizarre as we travelled back along the autostrade with a little puppy in a cage in the back of the car. Every time I turned around to talk to Claudia, there his little face was!

We dropped Claudia back to the Esselunga car park, thanked her profusely - not only for holding our hands, as it were, but also for her company. We parted promising that we would give her a call and drop in to see her and Massimo the next time we are Monticatini-bound.

And then it was just the two of us and our pup!

Before we knew it, we were trundling slowly back down our drive and parking up at his brand new home. We called Nick and Tess from their apartment to come out and meet him while he was in his cage in the back of the car. Both Florence and Lucca were pottering about in the driveway - Florence soon spotted the new face, but Lucca was completely oblivious, even when we attempted to pick him up and show him his new housemate. Perhaps he actually did know what was going on as he seemed to make an enormous effort to re-focus the attention back on himself - the four of us were chatting and cooing over the puppy, when we suddenly heard a noise, looked up, and Lucca was sliding from the very top of Nick and Tess's campervan all the way down the windscreen and off the bonnet! If only we'd had a camera it would definitely have made a true 'You've Been Framed' moment. Of course, he jumped down, looked a bit embarrassed and pretended nothing had happened (and STILL ignored the dog).

Nick and Tess offered us a cup of coffee, and we decided between us to get 'Jeremy' out and take him into the apartment.

The four of us then sat with him, cuddled him and cooed over him in the apartment while trying to work out what to call him. He didn't seem to respond to 'Jeremy' and, while the name had grown on us over the last couple of weeks, when we tried it out (out loud), it didn't really work. With a Lucca and a Florence already in the household, we thought that continuing the Italian place name theme would be appropriate, so we got out a tourist map of Tuscany and pored over it. The obvious name was Monte - what with Montecarlo and Montecatini so close by, but we felt we couldn't name him that as our good friends Jennie and Pete have a Monty dog. We then considered 'Carlo' (as in Montecarlo), which we quite liked, but again it didn't come naturally when said out loud. Tess then suggested 'Reggie' as a shortened version of Viareggio. We looked at him and decided that, yes, he could be a Reggie!

And so it was decided - welcome home Reggie!

We then took him upstairs and put him safely in his crate in the living room to get used to his new surroundings and for Lucca and Florence to investigate.

Florence was wary, but seemed interested in watching him from a distance. Lucca, on the other hand, refused even to come in out of the rain once he finally worked out that there was a new kid on the block.

Reggie seemed very happy - his first bark came when he saw Florence attempt to settle down on Stuart's lap, but he soon settled down. Lucca eventually braved it and dashed in before dashing out again, giving Reggie a wide berth, but at least it was progress for him to venture into the house.

We spent the next few hours cooking another soup, fussing the three animals (so none of them got too upset/jealous), taking Reggie outside in the hopes that he would empty his bladder in the garden rather than in the crate for the second time. Taking Reggie for a walk up and down the driveway, and looking at each other incredulously, saying 'Blimey, we've got a dog!!'.

Stuart lit a fire, and after a second walk up and down the drive, I put the geese to bed and then everyone retired indoors. I was a little worried about getting the cats inside tonight, as I thought they might be reluctant to come in, but thankfully they cooperated - this time at least! As I write, all three animals are having a nap - Lucca on the bed in the office, Reggie in his bed in his crate ('his' bed being the cats' old bed), and Florence on a cushion on the sofa. A cosy, snuggly household.

Stuart and I are pretty tired after our restless night's sleep last night, and a good night's sleep tonight would be lovely - but we are preparing ourselves for a night of whining and crying as we plan to leave Reggie to sleep in his crate in the living room, letting the cats come upstairs out of his way. It could be another long night!