As of this writing, McKennzie and I have lived for two weeks in our new apartment in Murfreesboro.  It has been quite a learning experience to say the least.  We are both actually enjoying small living now.  The first few days were rough.  On both of us.

While I was busy assembling furniture and trying to get things in place, she was exploring.  She wasn’t fond of the elevator at first and also wasn’t fond of losing sight of me!  After a couple of days, I decided it was time to leave her for a few minutes.  The first time was maybe a minute or two.  She ecstatically welcomed me back. The next time was 5–10 minutes.  She acted like I had been gone a month when I got back.  Finally, I joined my friend for lunch at a cute restaurant across the street from the apartment.  When I returned, she was wailing!  It broke my heart.  However, I didn’t move here part time to just do dog friendly stuff!  I think they may frown on me bringing her to church, for instance.  Anyway, after two weeks, she is still happy to see me when I return, but all is quiet as I approach the door now.

We live in a new, very large complex.  There are ten buildings, all three stories tall, with 360 apartments in all.  We go for walks three to four times a day.  The pup loves that part!  And, since she has discovered the door stops here are the kind that go boinnnggg, she hits those a few times when I’m moving too slowly to take her out for a walk!  For those who have not met McKennzie, she absolutely loves every person she meets.  I think she has decided that their sole purpose for being here is to pet her!  There are a lot of dogs here, too.  And, until she gets to know them, she is scared of every single dog, especially the large ones.  Today, we were at the off leash park and a young woman walked up with two very large, friendly dogs.  Luckily, there are two fenced areas, so they went to the other field.  But McKennzie could see and hear them through the fence.  So, according to her, it was time to leave.  

One day, we went on a long walk in the complex.  I finally told her we needed to head back.  As I was approaching the building, she pulled on her leash, not wanting to go in.  She loves the outdoors, but is usually very compliant with my wishes.  I finally coaxed her in the door.  We walked down the hall, and she was still being reluctant.  As we approached the elevator, she headed towards the door to leave the building.  She was acting so strange for her!  Then I looked around.  I was in the wrong building.  We went outside, she headed straight for the correct building, scurried up the stairs, stopped for the elevator, and went straight to our apartment.  In my defense, the buildings are almost identical.  However, I’m not getting any younger!  I’m thinking of ordering a little ‘service dog’ vest for her.

Maybe then, I can take her to church with me.