Eddie finally decided to come inside for the night... well most of the night... HOORRRAYYYY.... This is the morning picture. He actuall yspent most of the night on Nikos bed but for my blunder during the night. I got up around 3 but did not want to turn on teh light so I assumed Niko was sleeping in his bed and reached out to find and pet him. I found Eddie instead and touch the top of his head whereupon he jumped up. Niko who had being a gentledog then took his bed back leaving Eddie to pace around a bit looking for another suitable place. After about half an hour I decided to see if he wanted to go out onto the deck,which he did. I awoke about two ours later at first light to check on him. He was waiting by the door and came right in and went upstairs. I went back to sleep in the chair as Eddie paced sat and thought in various places. I think he was actually listening intently as he "sat and thought". For a an almost blind fellow in a strange new world he is really doing great. I'm not sure but I suspect that his visual system may fluctuate in its performance. I wonder If it degrades due to stress or some other time varying factor. I really want to talk to a vet about this.

I should also mention our 11pm walk. Eddie indicted it was time and so I donned my apparel and we headed out. Eddie seemed a bit more assertive and set the agenda for the walk Leading with a very polite and effective manner, wielding his soft power expertly. On returning he ran ahead of Niko and me up to the house and stood checking out the gate for a bit waiting for us. Niko was hanging back preoccupied by something in the forest. We dilly-dallied a bit and then he followed us up onto the deck much more confidently than I have seen before.

After our walk we all hung out on the deck a while and I realized that the noisy back-flush of the water filter would happen later at 2am and probably terrify Eddie again as it had done three nights ago (It can be heard quite clearly from the deck). Niko clearly wanted to sleep inside and Eddie had been in and out of the house a couple of times before our walk as part of asking to go for the walk. Anyway I cranked up the fire and left the front door open and after a few false entries and hurried exits he finally felt comfortable enough in the house (just barely) that I could close the door. He was clearly conflicted but after he let me sit beside the bean bag bed on the deck and pet him for a while and after a bit more pacing about by both of us he came in. So two firsts he let me touch him on the deck and he came inside.
Time and events are really whirling about in my mind part of the reason for blogging in such detail.I wonder what thoughts and concerns are cneteral to his thoughts right now. I have clariffied my task as trying to expose him to new sitauation ot two everyday while maintaining a peaceful setting in which he can learn. On contemplating hte whole issue fo poor eyesight and echo location I realized that he not only must deal with strange new surroundings but that those surrounds keep changing as I move furniture around for example. I think it is most likely that up until now he has been in places where the structure and objects in his environment have been fixed. I think that idea that inanimate objects like chairs for instance changing postition must be new somewhat crazy... well chairs do have legs but no muscles.

Las night after I accidently rousted him from Nikos bed he paced and would not go onto the Bed I had placed where his Kennel had been. I moved it in plain view of him to a spot on the lading at thetop of the stairs thinking he was concerned about proximity to an escape reoute. He paced and considered this for a while and then I let him out. after letting him out I moved the bed back to original psoition, and when he came in teh second time after dawn I could see he was concerned about hte chage so I moved the bed back to landing and he seemed figure something out and become more comfortable. He clearly is making very detailed mental maps of his surroundings.