GETTING TO KNOW RUBY

It has been rather a long wait. It was nearly two years ago that we decided to bring over one of the long-haired Chihuahua puppies that Miriam breeds, to be an apprentice to Digby. Mind you, Digby has a few years in him yet, but we thought we should get another before he gets too old and grumpy to tolerate an upstart.

Miriam set aside "Dexter" for us, one of Baby Doll's litter. Sadly he was run over before he made it to Norfolk Island.

On September 18, Kea had a lovely litter. One of those puppies really won Miriam's heart. The rest of the litter was sold, but Miriam asked if we would like this little one. And I mean LITTLE. Although they were all born around 200 grams, this one only grew at half the rate. But she was by far the most active, and had the biggest appetite. She proved to be Miss Personality.

The new puppy finally arrived at Norfolk Island on the plane, along with Sarah and Emily, at 12.30 a.m. on Thursday morning, after a 3-4 days delay.

This was our first glimpse of her....

She was glad to be reunited with Sarah!

Neil, our Quarantine Officer, thought she was really cute.

We were all wondering what Digby would think of her. After a brief bout of sniffing of backsides, he decides he is not particularly impressed.... he has since learned to totally ignore her!

 Roany is still somewhat curious about the smallest dog he has ever seen.

 Mr Shingles cannot believe his eyes, and has remained cautious about the little newcomer.

 She had bonded with Sarah and Emily back in New Zealand, and is not yet too impressed with her new family. But funnily enough, she and Ed have fallen in love right from the start.

 Her first trip up the stairs to where Emily and Sarah sleep. This has now become her haven. She can actually slide underneath that gate at the top of the stairs! But she has not yet learned to come down the steps, so she gives a little bark for someone to come and fetch her.

 She is getting to know her new house and the front lawn.

 Sienna was keen to come and meet her ...and Jasper thought she was wonderful

 We have decided to call her Ruby Anna, because we recently had our Ruby Anniversary. This will help us to remember what year she was born.

 Ruby is now about 3 1/2 months old, and still has a little bit of growing to do.....but we do not think she will reach even half of Digby's size. Miriam and the girls gave us this stylish dog's bed for Christmas, and we are glad to say that Ruby likes it!