This is the leg ?..

?. or at least one of the legs, wearing one of the trainers, which will be treading the pavements alongside Jack; it's also (so I've been told) as much of hubby as I'll ever be allowed to publish on here.

We went to visit Jack again today, & by the ecstatic welcome we were given, he clearly remembered us. This time we stayed with him for over 2 hours, giving us all a chance to do some real bonding & to get to know one another better; we worked out his signal for needing the loo, & he worked out that mine is the lap he comes to for comfort. We were very impressed with his obedience: he didn't jump up when I told him 'no', & he got down as soon as I told him to; & even though the room (which doubles as the treatment room) was littered with interesting 'stuff', during all his sniffing investigations he didn't attempt to interfere with anything; so it's looking really hopeful that I'll be able to manage him without any difficulty (well, apart from during 'Noel Edmunds episodes'!)

We took with us a blanket & a rope pull which are to be his, & encouraged him to roll, chew, & generally leave his scent all over them, in the hope that when he gets here he'll gain some comfort in finding things which smell familiar. But Sunday feels a long way away, & it was heart-wrenching to have to leave him behind; we didn't fancy watching a repeat performance of the staff coaxing/dragging him back to his kennel, so one of them stayed with him in the visitors' room until we had driven away.

Whilst we were there we were shown his file, which told us a lot more about his background, & it's all good (well, up until very recently). You never know exactly what problems you may be taking on with a rescue dog, & he's clearly showing a little anxiety at the moment due to all the recent upheavals in his life - which must have come even harder as he was apparently a much loved (& we suspect pampered) pet to his previous owners, & it was with huge reluctance that they had to give him up. We were surprised to learn that he actually first went to the world famous Battersea Dog's Home, so Jack is a Londoner! But Battersea has several hundred dogs, & poor Jack had a particularly hard time settling there; also, Jack Russells aren't your typical London dog, & it was likely that it would take him a long time to find new owners; & so under a 'swap' scheme between various animal rescue charities, he came to a small centre in the countryside, where he would not only benefit from more staff attention (& be less overwhelmed by too many other dogs), but would stand more chance of quickly finding a 'forever' home. He only went to Battersea on 26th Feb, & came down here earlier this week; so on the plus side he hasn't been in kennels so long that he's become institutionalised, but at the same time he's had to cope with an awful lot of changes in a short space of time, & must still be wondering where on earth his previous owners have got to. He's clearly a 'couples' dog, as he spent a lot of time today sitting between hubby & I, constantly looking from one to the other for reassurance.
There was a lot of useful information in his file (he's very good with grandchildren, he played well with other dogs in the park, his favourite foods ?. and under the question: 'Where does he sleep?' the answer given was: 'Wherever he likes'!).
But there was also a big surprise in the records: the handwriting wasn't terribly clear, but after four people scrutinising it, we all concluded that his name isn't Jack after all, but he's actually called JOCK! We tried out both names, but they apparently sound the same to him as he responded equally to either, & so since we've got used to 'Jack' (plus he's debuted in blipland under that name), we've decided to stick with it; but in honour of his Scottish heritage we will be buying him a tartan collar.